Livestock integration

Livestock plays a major role in the rural areas of East Africa and contributes with major inputs to the nutrient cycle of the farm, and to the livelihood of the families through animal products for the local market and home consumption. The focus of this sub-project is to identify challenges and potential solutions for integrated farming systems involving livestock in order to

  1. improve soil fertility and farm conditions for the crop-livestock system including high value crops, and
  2. improved product quality of the livestock products, under different conditions typical for arid, semi-arid and mountainous areas of East Africa, is therefore crucial for development of the agricultural sector.

Importance of integrating animals into the organic farming systems

  

‘ From the findings and experience of ProGrOV what do you see as an important issue for future research in organic agriculture in East Africa?’

There is a huge need to focus future research on how the balance between producing family food, food for sale and rear animals as partners on the whole organic farm can be made optimal, fair and sustainable, no matter whether we talk about certified or non-certified organic farming.