Projekt

In Benin, like in other coastal West African countries, many zebu cattle breeds are found in smallholder production systems as a result of cross-border transhumance from Sahelian countries. Crossbreeding zebu with the local taurine breeds has being increasingly practiced by smallholder cattle farmers as a way of intensifying meat and milk production. Yet, it is not known whether these crossbreeds perform better in converting pasture biomass and other on-farm resources to marketable products. While crossbreeding will likely continue in the future, recommendations for an appropriate support package for targeted breeds to maintain grazing systems with high plant biodiversity are required. Building upon the large quantitative and qualitative data collected from 2014 to 2017 in the framework of the Volkswagen Foundation senior fellowship project entitled "Cross-border and regional livestock mobility along the transect from the Sahel to Southern Benin: risks and opportunities for livestock production and agroecosystems" this project aims to identify possibilities for enhancing the productivity and sustainability of cattle farming systems in Benin and other countries in West Africa with similar agro-ecological conditions through a better understanding and management of genotype-environment interactions.To do so, we plan to deepen our knowledge of the management of sedentary cattle farming systems and envisage to use this as a ground for scenarios development to arrive at a sustainable cattle production systems in the region.

• Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stützel

  Universität Hannover
  Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
  Institut für Gartenbauliche Produktionssysteme
  Abteilung Systemmodellierung Gemüsebau
  Hannover
  

• Dr. Rodrigue V. Cao Diogo

  University of Parakou
  Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
  Porto-Novo
  Benin
  

• Dynamics of changes in the breed composition of pastoral and agro-pastoral cattle herds in Benin: implications for the sustainable use of indigenous breeds

• Land cover transitions and effects of transhumance on available forage biomass of rangelands in Benin.

• Farmers and herders perceptions on rangeland management in two agroecological zones of Benin.

• Feeding and spatial behaviours of transhumant cattle in southern Benin: implications for the sustainable management of rangelands

• The role of cattle attributes in buyers' choices in Benin