livestock

This issue of Farming Matters by ILEIA explores the different ways pastoral societies are joining forces to challenge the policies that undermine their culture and way of life. For millennia, pastoralist societies have managed the rangelands of the world’s most challenging environments, producing food and providing ecosystem services for millions of households. The experiences, opinions and perspectives presented in this issue highlight the importance of pastoral societies for agroecology and the transformation of entire food systems. »

This book by KIT and SNV aims to identify the trends affecting pastoralism and pastoral productivity, which helps to understand the current changes in the performance of value chains which play a key role in pastoral adaptation. The book puts into perspective the conditions for sustainable growth of production that supports entrepreneurial performance and competitiveness of local actors in dynamic markets. The authors observe a clear move towardslivestock production becoming more market-oriented, which influences the position of all actors in the various value chains. »

This report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) examines the ways in which livestock and animal-sourced foods contribute to better nutrition. A case study of a Feed the Future dairy program in Rwanda is presented to understand how Feed the Future livestock programs can contribute to better outcomes for under nutrition. Using creative behavior change communications interventions, the Rwanda dairy program successfully built nutrition strategies into existing activities in addition to developing new activities. »

This literature review by CGIAR summarizes the research published about gender in the cattle sector in Central America. This includes the findings that (1) women lack access to and control over productive resources in the cattle sector and (2) extension services and training do not focus on women, likely because women’s contributions are undervalued. There is an urgent need to fill the enormous knowledge gap on gender dynamics in the dairy and cattle production value chains in the Central America region. »

This study, led by CIAT in collaboration with the Earlham Institute and Yale University highlights genetic elements that could accelerate the breeding of vital forage crops for animal nutrition in Africa and Latin America. The study identifies plants that undergo a biological phenomenon where they can reproduce clonally by apomixis. This means that they do not require egg cells to be fertilised by a male sperm or pollen grain. As result, the progeny (genetic descendants) are clones from the mother plant. A molecular diagnosis for reproduction enables quicker selection of the Brachiaria hybrid plants. By identifying candidate genes and genome regions linked to apomixis, this study opens the door to the use of molecular markers to efficiently select apomictic or sexual plants, a technique called marker-assisted selection (MAS). »

This book by the World Bank examines the challenges and opportunities facing the livestock sector and the people who depend on livestock in the dryland regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. It presents a novel way of thinking about pastoral development, grounded in a conceptual framework that focuses on the multiple shocks that drylands livestock keepers face and how those shocks can be addressed. »