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Integrating crops and livestock for improved food security and livelihoods in rural Zimbabwe

Integrating crops and livestock for improved food security and livelihoods in rural Zimbabwe Presentation topic. ZimCLIFS Project Overview G.J. Manyawu – Project Coordinator). 1. Background. 1. Background cont’d.

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Integrating crops and livestock for improved food security and livelihoods in rural Zimbabwe

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  1. Integrating crops and livestock for improved food security and livelihoods in rural Zimbabwe Presentation topic ZimCLIFS Project Overview G.J. Manyawu – Project Coordinator)

  2. 1. Background

  3. 1. Background cont’d Figure 1. Food insecurity index (FII) and total cereal production and yield for Zimbabwe. Source: Potgeiter, Davis & Rodriquez (undated, ACIAR report)

  4. 1. Background cont’d Lack of capital, frequent droughts, soil degradation (ave rural HH uses 19 kg of fertilizer/ha) Use of inappropriate technologies (e.g. Lvstksector = 6% to GDP in SADC; takes up to 87% of all land devoted to farming). poor access to input/output markets (In Africa only 20-25% of total Agric products are marketed & only 10-15% is processed) These limit the opportunities for smallholder (SH) farmers in Zimbabwe to improve income and livelihoods.

  5. Project Goal To identify, test and prove ways to increase agricultural production, improve household food security, alleviate poverty and thereby reduce food-aid dependency in rural Zim through better integrated crop and livestock production and market participation.

  6. Project objectives • Increase the productivity of SH crop-livestock households in SAR and SHR by identifying and adapting appropriate technologies and associated management practices • To improve farmers’ access to resources, technologies, information and markets by characterising and strengthening crop (maize, sorghum, legumes) and livestock (goats, cattle) value chains

  7. Project objectives • increase the skills of research and extension staff in the design and implementation of integrated farming systems research for development programs in Zimbabwe • increase the skills of agribusiness to target and scale out knowledge generated by the project elsewhere in Zimbabwe.

  8. Summary The ZimCLIFSprojectaims to assist farmers to intensify and integrate crop-livestock production systems through the use of Innovation Platforms (IPs) to promote the adoption of appropriate technologies and value chain innovations.

  9. Research Collaboration Scientific staff Project Coordinator CG (ILRI, CIMMYT and ICRISAT) Scientists / CSIRO / Univ. Queensland NRS Students Field Staff Agritex /DLPD/Vet/DR&SS Implementing Partners (CADS / CTDT) Field Officers (ICRISAT) Collaborating Institutions RDC’s , UZ, Land O’Lakes, Milk Zim,

  10. Activities in since Nov. 2012 Improving productivity of crops and livestock at farm level by: Identifying best-fit technologies • most promising value chain innovations from the outputs of PRA and IPs, • outputs from previous research and whole farm simulation modeling (AIT and APSFARM). Identified technologies (Yr1) included: Mainly on Sustainable Intensification: • alternativecereal-legume rotations and intercropping practices to intensify crop and fodder production under contrasting soil management technologies

  11. Activities cont’d • alternative livestock and fodder production and conservation technologies for cattle (dairy and beef) and goats Developing appropriate tools for baseline diagnostics and better targeting of technologies and innovations to households with contrasting characteristics Establishing IPs as vehicle for knowledge sharing and value chain development.

  12. Achievements to date Hosting a stakeholder inception workshop in Oct. 2012 to share the scope of the project and agree on operational framework Identified promising value chains: goats, groundnuts, maize in semi-arid region (SAR) and maize, dairy, beef and goat in sub-humid region (SHR). Establishment of trials across the two different agro-ecologies: -

  13. Trials established across the two different agro-ecologies: -

  14. 2. Achievement to date • Area sown to crop/forage trails = 59.59 ha • Farmers engaged = 303 (172 /131). • Commenced IP establishments in Feb 2013 (trained 12 res. and 18 ext. staff) • Combined baseline & producer level VC survey completed in May to benchmark 1400 HHs. • Used simulation modellingto map farmer typologies and evaluate current crop & lvskproduction systems and to identify suitable winter feeding technologies.

  15. Acknowledgements • This work is financed by ACIAR • It is implemented in a partnership with • ILRI, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, CSIRO and QAAFI. • It contributes to the CGIAR Research Program on: • CRP 1.1 (SRT1, 2 & 3), • CRP 3.2(SI 2, 9 and 19) • CRP 3.7.

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