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Re-assessing the fodder problem

Published by:
Publication date
16/03/2010
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Working Papers & Briefs
Focus Region:
Asia and the Pacific
Sub-Saharan Africa
Focus Topic:
Land / Water / Resource Management
Type of Risk:
Biological & environmental
Commodity:
Livestock
Source
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/R4D/Output/183797/Default.aspx http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/livestock/60692-reassessing-fodder.pdf
Author
Mona Dhamankar

F odder makes up 70 percent of livestock inputs and is crucial to the livelihood of poor livestock-keepers in most developing countries. However, several factors continue to threaten its supply. Most livestock-keepers depend on agricultural crop residues and grass provided by the grazing of common or fallow land supplemented by cultivated grasses. But most crops are rain-fed and can’t be relied on. In addition, shifts in crop type and variety tend to reduce the availability of feed, as does encroachment from other land uses. Over-grazing often leads to the degradation of grazing ground, and to make matters worse, a consistent push to develop crossbred animals that are more productive but input-intensive, has accelerated the problem.