Livelihood diversifying potential of livestock based
carbon sequestration options in pastoral and agro
pastoral systems in Africa
Mohammed Y Said
Augustine Ayantunde, Shem Kifugo, Zipporah Musymi, Jan de Leeuw, Keith Shepard, Ermias, Jonas Koala, Didier Zida, Louis
Savadogo, Briggite Kaufman, Hussein Tadiche Wario, Hassan Roba, Uwe Richter, Jan Pfister and Asch Folkard, Kenea Feyisa and
Ayana Angasa
Collaborators: ILRI, ICRAF, INERA, DISTL, Hawassa University, University of Hohenheim

Outline of Presentation
• Global emissions of greenhouse gases
• Characterization of Pastoral and agro-pastoral
systems in Africa
• Livelihood diversifying potential of livestock based
carbon sequestration options
• Case examples – Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Kenya
– current research

Current Emissions
Source: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Cumulative Emissions
Source: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

Characteristics – pastoral and agropastoral systems
Farming System
Arid pastoral-oases
Agro-pastoral
Pastoral
Rainfall (coefficient of variation)
<33%
>33%
N
1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000 Kilom eters
High variability of rainfall in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas
Source: de Leeuw et al (in press)

African pastoral and agro pastoral societies in Savanna areas are considered vulnerable
to climate change
This is so because these systems are mainly practiced in the dry arid and semi arid areas
where climate is highly variable
What opportunities exist to strengthen resilience of
local communities to climate change?
Rangelands deliver a number of environmental services: Elsewhere communities have
benefited from PES such as wildlife
Perspective from this
study
The local communities could play a crucial role in carbon
sequestration while at the same time diversifying their
livelihood by adopting Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation (REDD) strategy

Climate Change
•
Rainfall have remained steady over the past 20 years, but reduced by 15%
below 1920-69 average
•
Temperature have increased by 0.6oC Celsius since 1975
Source: Funk et al., 2012

Climate change - Kenya

Quantification of carbon stock in savannah
woodlands in Burkina Faso (1992 – 2013)
Jonas Kola, Didier Zida and Luis Savadogo (INERA)
Photos: Didier et al., 2013

Study sites location

Experimental design in Laba and Tiogo

Silvicultuture treatment applied to each
experimental site
Grazing
Fire
Selective cutting
Grazing
No Fire
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
Number of plots of
2500 m2
4
4
4
Annual early fire
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
4
4
4
3 year fire exclusion
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
4
4
4
No fire
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
4
4
4
Annual early fire
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
4
4
4
3 year fire exclusion
No Cutting
Selective cutting
Cutting + Direct seeding
4
4
4
No Grazing

Woody vegetation studies
 Selective tree cutting :
– Tiogo : December 1993
– Laba : January 1994
 Measurement, cutting and
weighing of trees in 48 plots
per site.
 Maping and yearly follow up
of all stumps
Photos: Didier et al., 2013

Woody vegetation studies
 Construction of
allometric function
for predicting woody
biomass :
- Weighing all cut trees
- Mesurement of
variables
(girth, height, ....).

Construction de tarifs de cubage
Satisfactory function for 11 fuelwood
species (0,528 < R2 <0,880)
 Best function:
Anogeissus leiocarpa (R2 = 0,880
; p<0,001) ;
 Weak function : Acacia
macrostachya (R2 =0,528;
p<0,001).
Source: Didier et al., 2013

Herbaceous vegetation studies
 Annual inventory in each plot
since 1992 to 2011.
 Annual assessment of
herbaceous biomass (1993- 2011)
 Impact of grazing intensity on soil
infiltrability and herbaceous
biomass
Photos: Didier et al., 2013

Early fire behaviour
 Factors:
 Livestock (exclosure vs free grazing)
 Type of vegetation (Perennial vs
annual grasses)
 Burning direction (Wind direction vs
opposite wind direction)
 Parameters assessed:
 Combustion efficiency ;
 Rate of spread of fire
 Flame height;
 Fire temperature in a gradient (-10
cm; -2 cm; 0 cm; 50 cm; 300 cm; 500
cm) with sensors.
 Resident temperature time (T>60°C)
Source: Didier et al., 2013

Scaling up
Evaluating carbon sequestration
options in African Pastoral lands
Zipporah Musymi – PhD

Integrate remotely sensed signals and field data to
Investigate the effect of different land management options
including grazing, prescribed cutting and fire on the above
carbon stocks
Investigate the effect of different land management options
including grazing, prescribed cutting and fire on surface
albedo
Investigate the overall radiative forcing (from albedo and
above ground carbon sequestration) of different land
management options
Feasibility of managing
land for carbon sequestration
Investigate the possibility of using High Resolution remote
sensing data (Ge-oeye) to map above ground carbon

Carbon mapping- Flowchart
Source: Musymi, 2013

Implementation carbon mapping- Concept
Automation
Source: Musymi, 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Source: Pfister 2013

Participatory rangeland use analysis to understand
grazing management and decision making by Borana
pastoralists in S. Ethiopia
PhD study of Hussein Tadiche Wario
supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Brigitte Kaufmann, Dr Hassan Roba, Dr. Uwe Richter
38

Scenario analysis
• Conduct participatory scenario planning exercise in
feedback seminars
• Alternative grazing management scenarios explored
based on the map and the current grazing system
• Analyze tradeoffs for adopting each of the
management scenarios
• Modeling alternative scenarios?

1) Participatory rangeland mapping
Source: Wario et al., 2013 40

Digitizing the grazing units’ map
1. Overlay of community grazing
units’ map on Google earth
2. Polygons plotted along grazing unit
borders
Source: Wario et al., 2013 41

Solar powered GPS devices carried by
herders and use of cameras
One day herd grazing itinerary
Source: Wario et al., 2013 42

Example: grazing movement of one herd over a year
March 2012 –April 2012
Dry season grazing reserve, had good
grass growth, is part of lowland area
liked by livestock, enhances faster weight
gain and good mating rates
March 2011-May 2011
Wet season grazing area. Cattle
camp moved to lowland, Good
grass variety, area liked by
livestock, faster weight gain,
better mating frequency
June-July 2011
Cattle camp moved to
settlement near the mountains.
This grazing unit is on the
Mountain, dry season reserve,
good grass cover, close to
traditional wells. Small area
exhausted within a month
Aug 2011-Sept’ 2011
The grazing unit has tree and shrub
species that shade leaves hence had
good leave litter during this period
Oct 2011-Feb 2012
Cattle camp moved to lowlands,
grazing same unit as March-May
2011, good grass amounts and
reproductive performance
enhancing
Source: Wario et al., 2013 43

Modelling based on
existing datasets
Which
livelihood decisions
work well?
Household
decisions
What
livelihood decisions
do people make?
Experimental games
How do people value
different livelihoods?
Discrete choice
experiments

Economic games
Introduction
Games as experiments
• Behavioural economics
• Controlled settings
• e.g. co-operation, common-pool
resources, public goods
• Mostly lab-based, undergraduate
populations in USA/Europe
• Highly abstract
This study:
• Game tailored to real situation
• Played with local people, familiar
with decision-making context
• Dynamic resource; droughts
Source: Aidan 2013

Economic games
Effects of “in-game” variables on decision-making
Allocation of resources
to livestock
Proportion of cattle
grazed illegally
Source: Aidan 2013

Thank you