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DocumentThe rangelands of the arid/semi-arid areas: Challenges and hopes for the 2000s 1998
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No results found.Do we need to worry about the rangelands in the arid and semi-arid areas? Is there hope for these resources in the year 2000 and beyond? Is it valid to assume that the world's marginal rangelands will survive the extraordinary pressures which started around the mid-1950s as a result of the sharp increase in human population density? What can modern technologies bring to these areas, other than disaster and over-use? Nowadays, domestic animals are trucked to the remotest corners of the ea rth and plants that used to flourish under very irregular and scanty rain hardly get a chance to germinate. The seed banks are depleting rapidly, and the seasonally-rich grazing areas are turning irreversibly into barren lands. These are the cries of the times, and the agonies of the helpless. However, nature has its own defense mechanisms and strategies which it has maintained throughout the history of our planet. This paper explores the fore-mentioned issues from a historic and stati stical perspective. Issues relating to the validity and long-term sustainability of approaches to monitor and manage the extensive rangelands in a changing world are substantiated and discussed. Attention is also given to the socio-economic and technical relevance of high tech and conventional approaches towards understanding the dynamics of vegetation and livestock, the consumption habits of graziers, and the market forces. Consideration is given to the balance between natural and man -made defenses and strategies and responsibilities at national and regional (e.g., GCC) levels are explored, proposed and/or recommended. -
BookletIncreasing sustainable livestock productivity for healthier diets in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya
Investment case
2024Also available in:
No results found.In Kenya, the livestock sector accounts for an estimated 4.4 percent of the country's GDP but it employs about 50 percent of the agriculture labour force, alongside other jobs created along value chains. While livestock production in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) has high potential for improving the livelihoods of pastoral households, its contribution towards national development is largely underestimated and receives less attention. Pastoralist food systems suffer from diminished natural resources and extreme weather conditions resulting in spikes of food insecurity and acute malnutrition. This investment case portrays the multiple social, economic and health benefits derived from sustainably increasing the productivity of milking animals among pastoralist communities, especially with the engagement of women as agents of change and caregivers. It provides entry points to remove barriers for upscaling this type of investment, taking into account the needs for climate change adaptation and mitigation in pastoralist settings. -
No Thumbnail AvailableBook (stand-alone)Environmental Impact Assessment (Volume I) of Livestock Production in Grassland and Mixed Rainfed Systems in Temperate Zones and Grassland and Mixed-Rainfed Systems in Humid and Subhumid Tropic and Subtropic Zones (Except Africa)
Volume I - Executive Summary, Delineation of Zones-Production Systems and Appendix
1996Also available in:
No results found.Concerns about degradation of forests and other natural resources, growing awareness about potentially adverse climate changes, and a greater consciousness worldwide about the need for protection of the earth’s environment have led to increased attention on agricultural and animal husbandry practices. These concerns are a natural and predictable reaction as human population continues to increase at unparalleled numbers each year. For example, in 1950 there were just 2.5 billion people in the wor ld. Forty years later, in 1990, this planet had 5 billion. By 2025 human population is expected to reach 8.5 billion people. In just seventy-five years-the life span of an average person in an economically developed country-population will have increased more than it did in all the previous history of the world. Little wonder that agricultural scientists as well as non-agriculturalists feel the time has come to take bold action to save our remaining forest habitat, prevent and even reverse land degradation, and develop a plan which will assure future generations of sustainable agricultural practices. This report focuses on worldwide livestock grazing and mixed farming systems in Temperate and Humid-Subhumid Tropic and Subtropic Agroecological Zones. Excluded are all lands of Africa, all Tropical Highlands, and Arid and Semiarid Tropics and Subtropics. The scope of this focus is massive as it includes 60 percent of the world’s people, 50 percent of the pasture land, 65 percent of t he arable land, 59 percent of the world’s cattle, 44 percent of the sheep and goats, as well as similar proportions of other forage-consuming animals.
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