LivestockPlus — The sustainable intensification of forage-based agricultural systems to improve livelihoods and ecosystem services in the tropics

Authors

  • I. Rao Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • M. Peters Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • A. Castro Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • R. Schultze-Kraft Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • D. White Research4development&conservation, Burlington, VT, USA.
  • M. Fisher Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • J. Miles Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • C. Lascano Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • M. Blümmel International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
  • D. Bungenstab Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, Embrapa Gado de Corte, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil.
  • J. Tapasco Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • G. Hyman Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • A. Bolliger Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • B. Paul Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • R. van der Hoek Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • B. Maass Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • T. Tiemann Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • M. Cuchillo Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • S. Douxchamps International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
  • C. Villanueva Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica.
  • A. Rincón Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica), Bogotá, Colombia.
  • M. Ayarza Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica), Bogotá, Colombia.
  • T. Rosenstock World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya.
  • G. Subbarao Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), Tsukuba, Japan.
  • J. Arango Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • J. Cardoso Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • M. Worthington Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • N. Chirinda Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • A. Notenbaert Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • A. Jenet Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica.
  • A. Schmidt Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Lima, Peru.
  • N. Vivas Universidad del Cauca, Popayán, Colombia.
  • R. Lefroy Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • K. Fahrney Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • E. Guimarães Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • J. Tohme Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • S. Cook Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.
  • M. Herrero Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), St Lucia, Qld, Australia.
  • M. Chacón Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica. Conservation International, Arlington, VA, USA.
  • T. Searchinger Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
  • T. Rudel Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17138/tgft(3)59-82

Abstract

As global demand for livestock products (such as meat, milk and eggs) is expected to double by 2050, necessary increases to future production must be reconciled with negative environmental impacts that livestock cause. This paper describes the LivestockPlus concept and demonstrates how the sowing of improved forages can lead to the sustainable intensification of mixed crop-forage-livestock-tree systems in the tropics by producing multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. Sustainable intensification not only improves the productivity of tropical forage-based systems but also reduces the ecological footprint of livestock production and generates a diversity of ecosystem services (ES) such as improved soil quality and reduced erosion, sedimentation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Integrating improved grass and legume forages into mixed production systems (crop-livestock, tree-livestock, crop-tree-livestock) can restore degraded lands and enhance system resilience to drought and waterlogging associated with climate change. When properly managed tropical forages accumulate large amounts of carbon in soil, fix atmospheric nitrogen (legumes), inhibit nitrification in soil and reduce nitrous oxide emissions (grasses), and reduce GHG emissions per unit livestock product.

The LivestockPlus concept is defined as the sustainable intensification of forage-based systems, which is based on 3 interrelated intensification processes: genetic intensification - the development and use of superior grass and legume cultivars for increased livestock productivity; ecological intensification - the development and application of improved farm and natural resource management practices; and socio-economic intensification - the improvement of local and national institutions and policies, which enable refinements of technologies and support their enduring use. Increases in livestock productivity will require coordinated efforts to develop supportive government, non-government organization and private sector policies that foster investments and fair market compensation for both the products and ES provided. Effective research-for-development efforts that promote agricultural and environmental benefits of forage-based systems can contribute towards implemention of LivestockPlus across a variety of geographic, political and socio-economic contexts.

Keywords: Eco-efficiency, environmental benefits, livestock and environment, mixed farming, pastures, smallholders.

DOI: 10.17138/TGFT(3)59-82

How to Cite

Rao, I., Peters, M., Castro, A., Schultze-Kraft, R., White, D., Fisher, M., Miles, J., Lascano, C., Blümmel, M., Bungenstab, D., Tapasco, J., Hyman, G., Bolliger, A., Paul, B., van der Hoek, R., Maass, B., Tiemann, T., Cuchillo, M., Douxchamps, S., Villanueva, C., Rincón, A., Ayarza, M., Rosenstock, T., Subbarao, G., Arango, J., Cardoso, J., Worthington, M., Chirinda, N., Notenbaert, A., Jenet, A., Schmidt, A., Vivas, N., Lefroy, R., Fahrney, K., Guimarães, E., Tohme, J., Cook, S., Herrero, M., Chacón, M., Searchinger, T., & Rudel, T. (2015). LivestockPlus — The sustainable intensification of forage-based agricultural systems to improve livelihoods and ecosystem services in the tropics. Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales, 3(2), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.17138/tgft(3)59-82

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Review Article