Current livestock systems research projects

An ecosystem service approach to agricultural security in a sacred landscape mosaic
The ecosystem service concept has been promoted as providing an effective framework by which economic and ecological values can be integrated within the scope of development and poverty alleviation. We adopt the ecosystem service approach to ensure optimal agricultural productivity while simultaneously enhancing options to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor and securing biodiversity conservation. »»

Wildlife-livestock conflicts in Bandhavgarh National Park in India
In many regions of the world, policy-makers face the challenge of designing policies that will promote the conservation of endangered wildlife without jeopardising the resilience of poor farmers in marginal areas. This interdisciplinary project focuses on assessing how alternative policy approaches perform in the context of carnivore-livestock conflicts, with an empirical application to Bandhavgarh National Park in India. »»

Agroforestry for carbon sequestration to improve small farmers’ livelihoods
Sustainable agroforestry can increase resilience against environmental change, enhance carbon sequestration and generate income, which will result in improved livelihood of small livestock farmers in Central America. An improved plant health is an indispensable prerequisite to render the concept of agroforestry attractive to small farmers and promising to policy makers interested in the potential benefit of carbon sequestration. This project will focus on plant productivity and carbon sequestration potentials as well as increased plant health in silvopastoral and pasture-afforestation systems. »»

Reversing soil degradation by tropical legume trees using GIS analysis
Selling wood for dendrothermal electricity production is a new supplemental and stable income opportunity for smallholder farmers in the Meegahakivula region of Sri Lanka. To guarantee an adequate supply of wood, the introduction of legume fodder trees (e.g. Gliricidia sepium) has been promoted. This allows for an innovative combination of increased income by selling wood and by raising goats using fodder leaves, as well as by regenerating the soil fertility of degraded land. »»

Benefits of cover crop legumes in smallholder crop-livestock systems in Central America
Due to population growth in poor rural areas of the Nicaraguan hillsides, land use has been intensified in a way that adversely affects soil fertility. Crop and livestock productivity has therefore declined, leading to the decrease of income and to food insecurity. Cropping is limited to two short and successive rainy seasons, and livestock suffers from forage shortages during the following five-month dry season. An underutilised and drought-tolerant cover legume, Canavalia brasiliensis (canavalia), appears to be promising, when introduced into the traditional Nicaraguan maize-bean-livestock system. »»

Improving small ruminant productivity in dry areas
The scarcity of feed is common to all dry areas and limits the production capacity of small scale and resource-poor farmers. Two separate approaches attempt to alleviate this need: First, to include non-conventional feeds (e.g. by-products of the food industry) and second, to integrate cropping and livestock activity (e.g. by making use of crop residues). The objective of this project is to develop market-oriented approaches towards efficient use of available feed resources and the productivity and profitability of Awassi dairy sheep production systems in Syria. »»

Camel milk products of high hygienic quality and safety
In East Africa, camels play a central role as milk suppliers. Camel milk is consumed as untreated fresh or fermented milk “susa”. Due to the advancing urbanisation, camel milk is increasingly commercialised and consumed in urban areas. Poor hygienic and transport conditions plus spontaneous fermentations result in major public health concerns and product losses. The objective of the project is to improve the existing camel milk products by developing qualitatively superior marketable products with better storage properties. »»

Zinc fluxes from the soil into the food chain in arid agro-ecosystems
Zinc deficiency is recognised as a major problem of human nutrition worldwide. It is particularly severe where populations depend on cereals as staple food and have an insufficient dietary intake of zinc from legumes or animal products (a widespread situation in arid regions of developing countries). Biofortification of food crops is a promising strategy to fight mineral malnutrition in these countries. In addition to breeding for crop varieties with enhanced zinc efficiency, the adaptation of farming practices such as fertilisation and other soil amendments has potential, as well, to improve the zinc density of consumed parts of food plants. »»