Thread by @BiovIntCIAT_eng

Stefan Burkart, sr. scientist of the #TropicalForages Program presents in the @IGC2023 Grassland Policies, Social Issues, and Ecosystem Services session the keynote 'Public policies for the development of a sustainable, forage-based cattle sector in Latam: A comparative analysis'

@IGC2023 LatAm is essential in the global cattle industry since it contributes > 25% of global🥩supply and 10% of 🥛supply. A sector that generates both internal and external benefits. However, the environmental effects of traditional or conventional production should be considered.

@IGC2023 Although the countries express a political will to promote sust. practices, the advances are dissimilar. Even though, the implemented policies should not be abandoned, but rather persist and be expressed in tangible effects. It is necessary to assume them as a long-term process.

📚For further reading, check out the #OpenAccess journal article in @FrontiersIn Sustainable Food Systems: Public Policies for the Development of a Sustainable Cattle Sector in Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica: A Comparative Analysis (2010–2020)

👉doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.…

@FrontiersIn Next, Atieno Otieno, livestock systems scientist of the #TropicalForages Program on behalf of @Annotie presents 'Environmental co-benefits of improved forages in smallholder dairy systems of Kenya' in the @IGC2023 Livestock Production Systems session, a study funded by @giz_gmbh

@FrontiersIn @Annotie @IGC2023 @giz_gmbh Livestock is important for👥people (employment, income, food & nutrition, cultural value, resilience) and the🌍planet: biggest land user & for the natural resources involved (manure, soil, energy, water use, GHGe). Therefore, Sustainability is a big issue and needs to be managed

"Integrating improved forages in livestock production systems as a triple-win/climate-smart solution: increasing year-round availability of feed quality and quantity; increasing livestock productivity and efficiency; reducing GHGe intensity; and improving land productivity".

🔴 #HappeningNow at the @IGC2023: The #TropicalForages Plant Breeder Rosa Jauregui showcasing her poster on analyzing the genotype-by-environment interaction in a breeding population of interspecific 𝘜𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘢 hybrids.

Check the full version here: hdl.handle.net/10568/130404

@IGC2023 @roujau Jacobo Arango sharing with colleagues the preliminary and promising results of the project 'Using genetic diversity in deep root systems of 🌱forage grasses and 🌾rice to capture carbon in tropical soils' at the @IGC2023.

Check out the poster: hdl.handle.net/10568/130383

@IGC2023 @roujau @Jacobo_ABC @CGIAR @BezosEarthFund @grass_scientist @CiniroJr_ABC @MICHAELSELVARA7 @MaraFernandalv7 @Annotie @MarceQuinteroT @MayesseSilva 🔴 #HappeningNow: Stefan Burkart, senior scientist of the #TropicalForages Program, presenting the study 'Economic benefits of sustainable, forage-based cattle systems in 🇨🇴Colombia and 🇳🇮Nicaragua' at the @IGC2023 Livestock Production Systems session.

"Cattle production plays a key role in the rural economies of Latin America, i.e., for food security and poverty alleviation. However, it’s associated strongly with negative environmental impacts, but it is also heavily affected by climate change".

"This study aimed to provide an overview of the economic viability of improved forage varieties in sustainably intensified cattle production systems in Colombia and Nicaragua and a contribution to reducing financial and knowledge barriers to adoption".

"In all evaluated cases, the suggested interventions were superior to the respective base technologies, independent from the production system".

Dig into the results of these studies:
📚doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.…
🔖hdl.handle.net/10568/126338
🔖hdl.handle.net/10568/116195

At the 4th day of @IGC2023 Mary Atieno, scientist of the #TropicalForages Program presents the Feeds and forages intervention strategies for improved livestock nutrition and productivity in the Northwest Highlands of 🇻🇳 Vietnam, a joint research with @ILRI , #NOMAFSI, and MARD.

@IGC2023 @ILRI In this research, different farming systems types were evaluated:
•Intensive systems in the lowlands with good access to markets and capacity for innovation.
•Mixed crop-livestock system in the mid-altitudes.
•Remote extensive systems in high altitudes, low access to markets.

Good capacity building has been achieved, but challenges persist like farmers' traditional way of feeding their animals impeding the adoption of improved forages, or optimal utilization. Also, some techniques are labor-intensive and require several steps and materials.

CGIAR Scientist Mounir Louhaichi from @ICARDA & the #LivestockandClimateInitiative (co-lead by @BiovIntCIAT_eng) showcasing his presentation 'Silvopastoral restoration to enhance ecosystem services and increase farmers' income' at the @IGC2023 Thursday presentations session.

@ICARDA @IGC2023 @Jacobo_ABC The last presentation of the #TropicalForages Program at @IGC2023: Anja Lienert, Ph.D. student from @UniHohenheim/@atsaf_ev scholar presenting advances of her thesis work 'Spatio-temporal dynamics of the dual-purpose cattle value chain in the 🇨🇴 Colombian Amazon'.

@ICARDA @IGC2023 @Jacobo_ABC @UniHohenheim @atsaf_ev "This research aims to improve the understanding of factors that influence the adoption of sustainably intensified cattle husbandry systems in the Colombian Amazon, addressing potential gaps like availability of information, the process of innovation diffusion, among others".

The studied region has the highest deforestation rate in the country: > 30,000 ha in 2019 (≈ 20% of the deforested area in 🇨🇴 Colombia); a region shaped by immigration, armed conflict, internal displacement, coca plantations, guerrillas, and paramilitary forces.

The qualitative research focused on the identification of challenges and opportunities; the establishment of hypotheses for Social Network Analysis and a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) with a Participatory Rural Appraisal and a value chain approach.

The findings allowed to map the entire value chain of beef and dairy; four categories of farmers with their characteristics and main market channels. Also, the differing levels of remoteness mean differences in production systems and enabling environments for adoption.