Improving livelihoods in crop-livestock systems

1. Improving Livelihoods in Crop-Livestock
Systems in Southern Africa
Sep 2010
Innovation systems
Innovation Platforms (IPs) give stakeholders in value chains the opportunity to collectively identify bottlenecks and bring about new initiatives that can elevate farmers to higher levels
of both production and market participation.Mozambique,Namibia,and Zimbabwe have efficiently identified the most critical bottlenecks for farmers:lack of access to basic market
infrastructure and production-enhancing technologies.The IPs help to address these constraints by initiating partnerships between farmers,market players and support services,and
instill confidence in markets.
Meat in many parts of Mozambique is sold at informal markets.The IP in Mapai,
Mozambique,decided that the lack of infrastructure for livestock commercialization was
their biggest constraint.They encouraged local government to support the construction
of an abattoir to improve meat quality control and public health.It also contributed
to improving local institutions for more transparent market operations,payments and
movement control.
Lack of access to animal health inputs resulted in high mortality rates for farmers
in Hoachanas,Nambia.By engaging in the IP,the private sector saw this as an
opportunity to sponsor an animal health outlet that would be managed by local
farmers’associations.Farmers are now able to reinvest cash from livestock sales towards
purchasing inputs that will increase livestock productivity.
Despite the many goats available for sale,formal market channels such as auctions were
missing in Gwanda,Zimbabwe.Project partners sourced funding and established goat
auction facilities to ensure more organized and transparent goat markets that reward
quality.More than US$ 50,000 was generated from the goat sale pen in 2009.Spillover
benefits from the auctions include:price increases,new farmers’associations and
generated commitment from local government to support small stock.
Mortalities are highest in the dry season due to lack of feed.ICRISAT-Bulawayo trained
farmers and extension staff using Farmer Field School principles on technology
packages (such as urea treatment of stover (shown above),silage making,animal health
and market criteria) to encourage the use of crop residues as an alternative source of
feed.
Way forward
• There is need for policies and projects that facilitate greater investment in livestock marketing and processing infrastructure as well as production-enhancing
technologies.One way of enhancing these investments is by facilitating partnerships between government agencies and private sector.
• ICRISAT can contribute by making the IP approach available and facilitating new forms of collaboration as an efficient way to generate context-specific solutions in
livestock production and marketing.