Poster prepared by Ben Lukuyu (ILRI), Fred Kizito (CIAT) and Leonard Marwa (TALIRI) for the Africa RISING ESA Project Review and Planning Meeting, Lilongwe, Malawi, 3–5 October 2018.

1. Research on integration of livestock in agricultural systems of Babati District
Ben Lukuyu1, Fred Kizito2, and Leonard Marwa3
1International Livestock Research Institute, 2International Center for Tropical Agriculture 3Tanzania Livestock Research Institute
Contact: b.lukuyu@cgiar.org
This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
September 2018
We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this work. We also acknowledge the
support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their
contributions to the CGIAR system
Partners
Challenges & Study objective
 Limited availability and low quality of feed and inadequate forage seed
distribution systems
 Seasonal scarcity of feed and related to this is lack of suitable methods
to process and conserve feed for the scarcity season.
 High costs of commercial feeds
 Poor livestock housing and feeding practices hence high feed wastage
on farms
Main study objective: Increasing livestock productivity and production
through more nutritious animal feed in Babati district
Figure 1: Napier grass Dry Matter yield (t/acre) per harvest in different Agroecological zones
Climatic zone KK 1 KK 2
ILRI
16837
ILRI
16835
ILRI
14984
ILRI
16803
Humid highlands: Altitude: 2150-2450 m
asl; Rainfall: 1200 mm/yr
4.86 6.96 3.13 9.29 1.47 4.34
Semi-humid uplands: Altitude: 1500-
1850 m asl; Rainfall: 900-1100 mm/yr
2.63 4.90 12.08 - - -
Semi-arid midlands: Altitude: 1200-1500
m asl; Rainfall: 750-900 mm/yr
8.81 6.33 3.16 6.12 8.49 1.73
Figure 2: The impact of introducing feed choppers on feed intake, wastage, feeding time and milk yield in
smallholder farms in Babati District
FARM
(N=14)
Mean Feed Offered (kg) Mean feed wasted (kg)
Mean time (hrs) to chop
and feed
Mean daily milk yield
(kg)
Unchopped Chopped Unchopped Chopped Unchopped Chopped Unchopped Chopped
Mean 51.9 26.8 9.4 1.7 4.1 2.7 8.3 9.9
Max 65.2 34.4 17.86 4.6 8 4 12.9 15.2
Min 37 23 0 0.9 0.2 1 2.7 6.2
P(T<=t) 3.06204E-08 0.00017 0.012367412 0.026014545
Sig. Level *** *** * *
% change 48 82 35 17
Introduced technology/ies
I. More nutritious and more productive forage varieties
II. Improved processing technology to increase the supply and quality of
animal feed
III. Least cost home made feed rations based on local feed resources
IV. Improved housing as a means of improving livestock productivity
Evidence
• Napier grass varieties and intercrops increased biomass yields by 13-
88% relative to natural forages (Fig. 1)
• Napier grass varieties increased feed quality by 43-45% Crude protein.
• Napier grass and legumes intercrops increased beneficial rainwater
available for transpiration by 17–58%.
• Forages increased moisture retentions in the soil by 44% and soil run off
by 17%
• Forage choppers reduced feed wastage by 82%, feed intake by 42% and
reduced feeding time by 42% (Fig. 2)
• Enhances participation of men in feed processing by 50% and increased
participation in group activities by 36% (Fig. 2)
• Crop residue based feed rations increased milk production by 17%
• Improved chicken housing increased weight gain by 23%, mortality rates
by 25%, and feed cost of producing 1 kg of chicken meat by 59%. (Fig. 2)
Picture 2: A Napier grass plot under
scaling planted in Sabilo village
Picture 1: Napier grass (KK1) intercropped
with Desmodium in Long village
Picture 3: An improved chicken house build
using local materials in Hallu village
Picture 4: A farmer mixing different types of
chopped feeds in Seloto village
Approaches of taking the technologies to scale
• The livestock team used Farmer Research Groups (PFRG) approach
that allowed researchers, extension and farmer groups to jointly bulk
forage planting materials, incubate small-scale feed processing,
formulate feeds rations, promote improved housing, link farmers to
community chick brooders, markets for eggs and chickens, and
building technical capacity on feed and forage production at several
levels: farmer trainers, extension.
• Organizational innovations around the feed value chain. These
included use of stakeholder meetings started in 2016 to link NGOs to
our work.
Proposals for the future
Research
• Research to generate evidence on integration of Napier grass under
different management regimes and combinations with legumes in
high and low water environments needs to continue.
• More research is needed to demonstrate impact of forages and crop
residues based feed rations on cow productivity and also understand
farmer preferences, socio-economic, and other benefits
• Research to reduce feed wastage and chicken mortality on farms
through improved feeding troughs and housing is still needed
Scaling
• Strengthen small-scale business models – small-scale feed
processing, forage seed merchants, fodder marketing models
• Strengthen partnerships with local NGOs such as COSITA, FIDE,
REGREENING who are willing to promote livestock technologies