1

Livestock Water Productivity and its implications for developing countries

Harnessing WP in crop-livestock systems of SSAAn IWMI-ILRI-ICRISAT-BMZ workshop, 24-26 September 2007, Addis Ababa

Presented by Don Peden but with many contributors

2

First key message

Reduce poverty (People) Increase food production (Livestock) Reduce pressure on scarce water

resources and the environment

Integrating livestock and water development in developing countries can help:

3

Second key message Water used for African animal

production be easily be reduced by more than 50%.

4

Third key message

We need a water accounting framework to unravel the complexity of livestock-water interactions.– specifically Livestock water productivity (LWP)

5

LWP framework emerged from research supported by:

&

6

The CAsynthesis

Water for food; water for life was launched at World Water Day (22 March 2007) in Rome and Stockholm

This presentation builds on the chapter, “Livestock and water for human development”

7

The CA synthesis:

One key action point:

Increasing water’s productivity is an effective means of intensifying agricultural production and reducing environmental degradation.

Integrating livestock in a balanced way to increase the productivity of livestock water is important in rainfed areas.

8

CA & CPWF: We used a livestock water productivity

(LWP) assessment framework

LWP = ∑(Net beneficial outputs)

∑(Depleted water)

Benefits: Milk, meat, hides, manure, wealth savings, cultural roles

Depleted water: Evaporation, transpiration, discharge/flood

LWPSchematicRain Surface inflow

Non-productivedepletion

Transpiration

Gro

un

d H

2O r

ech

arg

e

• A water accounting approach• Scales: Field & farms to large river basins

Agricultural production

system

Water loss or depletion

LWPSchematicRain Surface inflow

TreesPas-ture

Feedcrops

Foodcrops

Gra

in

Res

idue

s

Eva

po

-ra

tio

n

Dis

char

ge

& f

loo

d

Co

nta

mi-

nat

ion

Non-productivedepletionTranspiration

Availableanimal feeds

Drinking WaterConservingstrategies

GW

H2O

rec

har

ge

Benefitsfrom

plants

FeedSourcingstrategies

Imp

ort

ed f

eed

NetAnimalbenefits

Meat, milk, hide,manure, power

& wealth

Productivity-enhancingstrategies

11

Strategy 1: Strategic feed sourcing Focus on water for feed that can be 50 to 100

times more than drinking. Make effective use of crop residues/byproducts. Improve pasture by transferring evaporation

and excessive run-off to transpiration. Remember, procuring feed is a primary African

livelihood challenge with high labour costs.

12

Strategy 1: Strategic feed sourcing Science has failed to understand water cost

of feed production. Varying methods &concepts. A 70 fold variability in WP of feed is probably

not a biological reality.

Example reported water productivity of animal feeds

Feed WP (kg/m3)

Irrigated sorghum 6.0 – 8.0

Irrigated alfalfa 1.1 – 1.7

USA rangeland 0.1 – 0.7

13

Strategy 2: Enhance animal productivity Improve: Animal nutrition & veterinary care. Animal genetic resources. Access to markets & value-added

animal products. Grazing, watering and housing. Reduced labour and other costs. But, distinguish production from

productivity.

Drought hardy Kenana cattle, Gezira, Sudan

14

Strategy 2: Enhance animal productivity

Provide: Alternative wealth savings Drought risk insurance. Apply: Animal/water demand management

approach. Integrate Animal Sciences into

agricultural water development

Drought hardy Kenana cattle, Gezira, Sudan

15

Strategy 2: Enhance animal productivity

Farm power: Water used to maintain draft animals is an

input into crop but not animal production. Ethiopian soils too heavy for people power. Trade-off between using water and petrol.

16

Strategy 3: Reduce grazing and watering impact on water resources

Limit conversion of range to annual croplands >Grass is best vegetation to protect soil<

Reduce run-off, erosion, sedimentation. Promote transpiration, infiltration, soil water

holding capacity & vegetation cover.

17

Strategy 3: Reduce grazing and watering impact on water resources

Community management of range & water. Limit stocking rates and grazing pressure. Establish riparian buffer zones. Apply zero grazing and watering. Adopt conservation agriculture. Provide quality drinking water for dairy cows.

18

Strategy 3: Reduce grazing and watering impact on water resources

Restrict animal access to water to avoid: – Loss of riparian & aquatic habitats.– Risk to human health.– Water quality loss.– Sedimentation.

19

Case 1 Preliminary Comparison of WP in rainfed farming in Ethiopia

* Source: LWP from ILRI; Grain WP from ECSA (2005); Tomato WP from SG2000.

System & Scale

Commodity WP(US$/m3)

Rainfed mixed crop-

livestock

Multiple animal products &

services

0.68

Water harvesting & drip irrigation

Tomatoes 0.73

Rainfed grain production

Teff 0.28

Barley 0.18

Wheat 0.18

20

LWP compares favourably with house-hold water harvesting WP.

Even without efforts to increase either LWP. But improved methods and filling data gaps

still needed. And complexity of mixed crop livestock

systems is challenging.

Case 1 Preliminary Comparison of WP in rainfed farming in Ethiopia

21

Case 2 Cattle corridor, Nakasongola, Uganda (Problem: Low LWP)

Overgrazing; charcoal making; lost vegetation High run-off + evaporation Reduced infiltration Contaminated domestic water.

WHAT IS WATER PRODUCTIVITY OF THIS LAND?

22

Case 2 Cattle corridor, Nakasongola, Uganda (Problem: Low LWP)

Ecosystem flips to LOW WP state. Termites dominant. Without vegetation, clay soils expand

with light rain sealing surface, preventing infiltration & limiting plant production.

23

Case 2 Cattle corridor, Nakasongola, Uganda (Problem: Low LWP)

Better design and community management of community ponds and drinking troughs.

Better watering practices. Reseeding upslope pasture. Erosion control.

24

Case 3 Household water harvesting (with Sasakawa Global 2000 in Ethiopia)

Problem: Rainfed farming; low productivity; very poor

households (<$300/year); high drought risk. Long treks for water for people & animals. Milk production < 3 litre/day/cow. Highly degraded land and water resources.

25

Integrating livestock and crop productionCase 3 Household water harvesting –

Underground tank

Home consumption

Give waterZero-grazing & hybrid cow

Adding value & markets

Benefits> $1500

High LWP

26

Key Message #1Integrating livestock & water development in developing countries can help:

Reduce poverty. Increase food. Reduce pressure on

scarce water and the environment.

27

Key Message #2

LWP compares favourable with irrigated horticulture.

Water depleted by livestock keeping could be easily be reduced by more than 50%.

28

Key Message #3

A water accounting framework could be a useful tool to help target interventions that will increase agricultural water productivity.

29

We offer the prototype LWP framework as a tool for use in this

BMZ project.

THANK YOU!