Publication Date
1989
Description
To become agriculturally self sufficient in the shortest possible time many agricultural projects in African countries sought increased production as the only priority and disregarded sustainability. As limits to land productivity are set by soil, climate and applied inputs there are critical levels of animal and human populations which can be supported. Lack of understanding of the potential land productivity and human and animal support capacity has resulted in inappropriate land use and development targets. In order to be able to predict the agricultural future of Africa to the year 2.000 F AO (1976) began the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) project that estimates the potential rainfed yields of 11 crops at two input levels. Millet, sorghum, maize and rice are the principal grain crops that contribute fodder for livestock in the dry season. The potential fodder productivity of these crops was calculated for 10 countries in West Africa using the land suitability estimates of FAO. The AEZ methodology was also used for fodder productivity estimations of the commonest forage legume, Stylosanthes hamata cv verano. For uniform comparisons between countries the dry matter (DM) that could be produced from only 25 % of the suitable land, at low and high inputs, were examined by ecological zones.
Citation
Mohamed Saleem, M A.; Velthuizen, H.T van; and von Kaufmann, R R., "Use of Land Resource Assesment to Estimate Potential Fodder Outputs and Animal Support Capacities in Some Countries in West Africa" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 37.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session12/37
Included in
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Use of Land Resource Assesment to Estimate Potential Fodder Outputs and Animal Support Capacities in Some Countries in West Africa
To become agriculturally self sufficient in the shortest possible time many agricultural projects in African countries sought increased production as the only priority and disregarded sustainability. As limits to land productivity are set by soil, climate and applied inputs there are critical levels of animal and human populations which can be supported. Lack of understanding of the potential land productivity and human and animal support capacity has resulted in inappropriate land use and development targets. In order to be able to predict the agricultural future of Africa to the year 2.000 F AO (1976) began the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) project that estimates the potential rainfed yields of 11 crops at two input levels. Millet, sorghum, maize and rice are the principal grain crops that contribute fodder for livestock in the dry season. The potential fodder productivity of these crops was calculated for 10 countries in West Africa using the land suitability estimates of FAO. The AEZ methodology was also used for fodder productivity estimations of the commonest forage legume, Stylosanthes hamata cv verano. For uniform comparisons between countries the dry matter (DM) that could be produced from only 25 % of the suitable land, at low and high inputs, were examined by ecological zones.
