Farmers compare notes during the selection exercise at KALRO research station in Katumani, eastern Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Samuel Mungai)

The inherent ability of Brachiaria grasses to grow in drought and marginal soils make them ideal forage for arid and semi-arid regions of East Africa. Native to Africa, Brachiaria grasses produce palatable and nutritious biomass and increase both milk and meat production. These grasses are good for the environment as they enhance nitrogen use efficiency, sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emission and ground water pollutions. These attributes make Brachiaria one of the most widely cultivated forages in South and Central America, and Australia.

Despite their copious presence across sub Saharan Africa, these grasses are yet to be explored and fully utilized as forage on the continent. The implementation of the Swedish funded research program “Climate-smart Brachiaria grasses for improved livestock production in East Africa” which is led by BecA-ILRI Hub in partnership with International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO); Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB); and Glasslanz, has led to the heightened publicity of the importance of Brachiaria grasses. As a result, there is now substantial interest in these grasses among farmers, policy makers and
researchers across the continent.

Kenyan farmers work with researchers to choose preferred local varieties for improvement
The enthusiasm of local livestock keepers was evident in the participation of more than 100 farmers from eastern Kenya in the project’s participatory variety selection process. This exercise was involved small scale farmers in the selection of Brachiaria grass varieties that best fit to their needs.
During the participatory varietal selection process, the farmers identified preferred varieties based
on their top five criteria – drought tolerance; soil erosion control; plant height at harvest; growth habit; and herbage colour. The selection took place at the project’s experimental plots situated at the KALRO – Katumani Experimental Station in eastern Kenya.

The participating farmers were representative of the 80% of milk producers in Kenya who operate
smallholder crop-livestock mixed farms on less than 10 ha and keep less than ten dairy animals. These farmers rely on fresh milk as an income source and are at pains to increase their production in a set up where natural grazing is limited or no longer available. Large scale on farm evaluations of selected Brachiaria grasses and livestock feeding trials in Kenya are planned to take place in
the next season.

Rwandan farmers try imported varieties

Farmer in Rwanda makes hay from improved variety of Brachiaria grass (photo credit: CIAT/Stephanie Malyon)

In Rwanda where land is under severe pressure from a rapidly growing population, farmers are experiencing difficulties in feeding their livestock. The average farm size in the country is among the smallest in sub-Saharan Africa at just over half a hectare, from which farmers must grow their
household food, cash crops and livestock feed. This has contributed to year round shortage of cultivated forages and resulted overuse and degradation of soils as well as decline in soil fertility.

Here, national partner RAB is working with Rwandan farmers to evaluate the performance of eight
different cultivars of this “wonder grass” which has been shown to increase milk and meat yields in cattle in South-America. The grass has proved popular among the farmers in Rwanda and farmer to farmer dissemination of grasses is happening with 33 farmers growing this grass at present. The initial feeding trials have demonstrated up to 78% increase in the milk production.

This collaborative effort of five different institutions hopes to revolutionize livestock farming  across eastern Africa.

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Ethel Makila, Communications Officer, BecA-ILRI Hub and Stephanie Malyon Communications Specialist, CIAT

For information on the Brachiaria grass planting materials in Kenya and the field trials being coordinated by KALRO Katumani research center, call Tel: 0722206986

Tadelle Dessie gives opening presentation during a multi-stakeholder workshop on small ruminant value chains in Ethiopia, March, 2013 (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet)

The Swedish funded “Harnessing genetic diversity for improved goat productivity” project is part of a program on livestock improvement through genetic diversity studies. The main goal of this project is to exploit existing genetic diversity in goats to improve goat productivity in Ethiopia and Cameroon.
Dr Tadelle Dessie, a scientist in animal genetics and breeding based at ILRI’s Addis Ababa campus, heads the Ethiopian component of BecA-ILRI Hub led project. In this interview, Dessie sheds light on the significance of the research activities being carried out in Ethiopia. (The interview was conducted by Tarni Cooper and Tim Hall.)

Q Why Ethiopia?

A Ethiopia has a population of nearly 24 million goats, seventy-five per cent of which are found in the arid or semiarid regions of the country. Ethiopia’s indigenous goats are very well adapted to the harsh environment, surviving and reproducing in an environment with a scarcity of feed and water, and without proper health care, housing or feeding. These animals support the livelihood of the poorest of the poor, in fact, it is commonly said in Ethiopia, “goats are the poor man’s cow”.

The large population and role of goats in supporting the livelihoods of poor people means that there is a critical need to improve productivity in order to sustainably provide income and food. This is the justification for this project.

Q What does the Ethiopian component entail?

A The project has five interlinked objectives: to define the breeding goals and selection objectives for various goat breeds and production systems in collaboration with the communities; to establish at least
one functional breeding programme per goat breed; to develop a methodological framework for the implementation of community based breeding programmes for smaller producers, including institutional arrangements; to assess the impact of the breeding programmes at an individual, flow, regional, and national level once they are established; and finally through a better understanding of the current challenges, to alleviate the constraints to market access experienced by goat keepers.

Q Where in Ethiopia is the project based?

A The activities in this project are being conducted in five sites – three in the northern regions of Amhara
and Tigray; one in central Ethiopia near Addis Ababa; and one in the southern Omo region near Kenya . There are large differences in goat production and farming systems between these regions, and three different goat breeds (two of the breeds are found in two sites each). Farming techniques range from keeping five goats to keeping 2000 goats. In some predominantly goat producing areas individual families keep 500 to 1000 goats, whereas in the south where goat keeping is complimentary to other
farming activities smaller herds of four or five goats per household are more common.

On 14 November 2013, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosted a roundtable discussion for researchers and science journalists in Nairobi on multi-institutional efforts to combat aflatoxins in Africa.

Aflatoxins are a toxic substance produced by Aspergillus flavus, a common fungus that grows on dead plant and animal material in the soil. This highly carcinogenic chemical contaminates staple foods like maize and can be transferred to livestock products like milk and eggs through animal feed. Not only does the contamination result in post-harvest food loss, but it also poses a serious challenge to public health.

Researchers from across Africa, Australia and USA have joined together to tackle this major threat to food safety and security. This 6-minute film features the the five panellists at the media briefing from the University of Nairobi, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Kenya, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA)-ILRI Hub, and ILRI. The panellists highlight some of the interventions being used to tackle aflatoxins in eastern Africa.

Read an ILRI news article about a filmed interview of two scientists leading work of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, Delia Grace, of ILRI, and John McDermott, of the International Food Policy Research Institute, who describe some of the risks aflatoxins pose, new options for their better control and why research to combat these toxins matters so much.

Read a related BecA-ILRI Hub article on a policy brief developed by the Capacity and Action for Aflatoxin Reduction in Eastern Africa (CAAREA) project on the importance of diagnostics to aflatoxin control. The brief was launched as one of a set of 19 briefs by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 5th November, 2013 in Washington DC.

Visit the CAAREA project information page.