The livestock sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity due to inadequate supply of... more The livestock sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity due to inadequate supply of affordable high-quality animal feed year-round, with more acute gaps in the drought-prone regions of the country. This paper presents the economic benefits and insights into the role of cultivated forages, such as densification into pellets, in bridging gaps in feed supply. Nutrient requirement calculations for feedlot and dairy animals and meeting those requirements using cultivated forage-based diets are presented. However, forage crops need a viable forage seed supply system to assure access to quality assured seeds. This study thus explores the role of forage seed systems and presents intervention areas for Ethiopia. Results suggest diets containing greater than 85% cultivated forages can sustain daily body weight gain up to 1 kg in growing animals. The costs of nutrients from cultivated forages are up to 15-fold lower than those from conventional feed resources. The diets based on ...
Livestock productivity has remained low in sub-Saharan African countries compared to other places... more Livestock productivity has remained low in sub-Saharan African countries compared to other places on the globe. The feeding component is the major limitation, in both quantity and quality. Among other inputs, feeding takes 55–70% of the costs involved. Livestock play a major role especially in smallholder mixed farms through provision of household nutrition and income through milk and meat. Equally, fertilization of cropland benefits from livestock manure, and livestock often act as insurance and savings by providing liquidity for unforeseen and urgent financial needs. Increasing livestock productivity would enhance the fore-mentioned benefits contributing to well-being and livelihoods. Toward this endeavor and with smallholder dairy farmers' participation, we undertook an evaluation of 10 selected forages from Urochloa Syn. Brachiaria and Megathyrsus syn. Panicum genus and compared them with Napier grass, i.e., Cenchrus purpureus Syn. Pennisetum purpureum commonly grown by farm...
The Techfit tool provides a means to identify suitable feed technologies to address four key cons... more The Techfit tool provides a means to identify suitable feed technologies to address four key constraints: dry season feed availability, growing season feed availability, feed quantity and feed quality. It is difficult to monitor animal feed availability and quality directly, this is because biomass is not necessarily utilised on the day of growth and deficits can be supplemented with imports from other locations. Instead of monitoring feed availability and quality directly, we estimate proxies, including: length of cropping period (LCP), total annual animal feed production, coefficient of variation of feed production and the proportion of crop residues. Remotely sensed and other spatially representative data provide a basis for generating these proxies.
The livestock sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity due to inadequate supply of... more The livestock sector in Ethiopia is characterized by low productivity due to inadequate supply of affordable high-quality animal feed year-round, with more acute gaps in the drought-prone regions of the country. This paper presents the economic benefits and insights into the role of cultivated forages, such as densification into pellets, in bridging gaps in feed supply. Nutrient requirement calculations for feedlot and dairy animals and meeting those requirements using cultivated forage-based diets are presented. However, forage crops need a viable forage seed supply system to assure access to quality assured seeds. This study thus explores the role of forage seed systems and presents intervention areas for Ethiopia. Results suggest diets containing greater than 85% cultivated forages can sustain daily body weight gain up to 1 kg in growing animals. The costs of nutrients from cultivated forages are up to 15-fold lower than those from conventional feed resources. The diets based on ...
Livestock productivity has remained low in sub-Saharan African countries compared to other places... more Livestock productivity has remained low in sub-Saharan African countries compared to other places on the globe. The feeding component is the major limitation, in both quantity and quality. Among other inputs, feeding takes 55–70% of the costs involved. Livestock play a major role especially in smallholder mixed farms through provision of household nutrition and income through milk and meat. Equally, fertilization of cropland benefits from livestock manure, and livestock often act as insurance and savings by providing liquidity for unforeseen and urgent financial needs. Increasing livestock productivity would enhance the fore-mentioned benefits contributing to well-being and livelihoods. Toward this endeavor and with smallholder dairy farmers' participation, we undertook an evaluation of 10 selected forages from Urochloa Syn. Brachiaria and Megathyrsus syn. Panicum genus and compared them with Napier grass, i.e., Cenchrus purpureus Syn. Pennisetum purpureum commonly grown by farm...
The Techfit tool provides a means to identify suitable feed technologies to address four key cons... more The Techfit tool provides a means to identify suitable feed technologies to address four key constraints: dry season feed availability, growing season feed availability, feed quantity and feed quality. It is difficult to monitor animal feed availability and quality directly, this is because biomass is not necessarily utilised on the day of growth and deficits can be supplemented with imports from other locations. Instead of monitoring feed availability and quality directly, we estimate proxies, including: length of cropping period (LCP), total annual animal feed production, coefficient of variation of feed production and the proportion of crop residues. Remotely sensed and other spatially representative data provide a basis for generating these proxies.
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Papers by An Notenbaert