XI. Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions and recommendations(¹)

¹ Original: French; prepared by M. Skouri and H.N. Le Houérou

1. Analysis of the present situation

2. Conclusions

3. Recommendations

A symposium on browse in Africa was organised by ILCA at its Headquarters at Addis Ababa from 8 to 12 April, 1980.

Some fifty specialists attended representing the following disciplines: ecology, forestry, animal husbandry, zoology, range management, nutrition, economics, sociology, agronomy, veterinary science.

After having heard or read some 50 papers (including 14 regional and sectorial reports) the participants reached the following conclusions and recommendations.

1. Analysis of the present situation

Browse species play an important role in the extensive animal production systems of Mediterranean and inter-tropical Africa. The role varies from one ecological zone to the next, becoming greater as the zone becomes more arid. Likewise the fragility of browse ecosystems increases with the degree of aridity.

For several decades browse has been disappearing at an ever increasing pace, thus jeopardizing the future of animal production under the extensive systems of the arid, semi-arid and montane zones which contain over 60% of African livestock.

On the other hand, encroachment of undesirable woody plants sometimes constitutes a break on the animal production systems in the sub-humid and humid zones.

Regeneration of trees and shrubs thus appears to be a prerequisite to improving animal production systems in the arid, semi-arid and montane zones and to controlling erosion and expanding desert encroachment.

Browse is the very basis of the diet of camels, goats and many wild herbivores and it plays a vital role as a complementary source of proteins, minerals and vitamins for cattle and sheep during the dry seasons.

Furthermore, browse plays a specific role in the dynamics of African rangeland ecosystems because of its phenology and perenniality. It is also important in efforts to control erosion, maintain soil fertility, provide fuelwood, various craft items, pharmacopoeia and food for people.

Since time immemorial, herders, nomads and sedentarised farmers, as users of browse, have recognised its importance. Rural populations make great use of woody plants in their strategies of subsistence or market production, but in some cases overexploiting them to the point of destruction. Conversely, until recently, both scientists and technicians have underestimated the role of browse in animal production, as a result of difficulties in quantifying the primary production of browse and its use by livestock and wild animals.

Animal production specialists have, in the past, found it more important to study and improve on the grazers (cattle and sheep) than on the browsers (goats and camels).

In the last century, traditional extensive animal production systems maintained an equilibrium with the environment, in keeping with the low human and animal population densities.

Progress in medical and veterinary skills during the last few decades, however, has led to a considerable increase in human and animal populations, thus upsetting the balance between supply and demand, and causing environmental degradation (desertization).

This imbalance grows worse by the day and constitutes a very serious threat to extensive animal production systems in Africa.

It seems necessary to find a new equilibrium which, in many cases, requires regeneration of tree/shrub populations through appropriate management methods and the intensification of browse production, especially through plantation operations wherever they are technically possible, economically viable and socially acceptable.

Extensive animal production development projects generally have to cope with socio-economic constraints which are the result of the disruption of traditional socio-economic structures. This disruption causes situations of conflict among groups of herders on the one hand and between herders and farmers on the other. These conflicts have a strong detrimental effect on resources management. It is often triggered by interventions — of laudable intent — but based on studies that do not give sufficient attention to socio-economic considerations. These interventions often seek to settle herders in unsuitable areas and integrate them into a trade economy. Moreover, traditional adaptive mechanisms are not tailored to cope with the demand resulting from the heavy population increase. The present situation will only improve if the socio-economic system is restructured for the purpose of improving the present management systems and imparting greater responsibility to the herders by having them participate more intimate in managing their lands. This entails developing management models that are better adapted to the new situation created by the pressure of population and the expectations of a higher standard of living.

2. Conclusions

On the basis of the above considerations, the symposium stressed:

1. The importance of implementing pastoral zone development strategies in the various African countries, based on an integrated ecological approach and aimed at ensuring rational use of natural resources and improving the standard of living of the people;
2. The need to develop research programmes that meet the socio-economic development requirements of the countries concerned and that are designed to overcome gaps in knowledge of the main fields related to the exploitation methods for the rational use of grazing lands especially those in which browse species are prevalent.
3. In order to achieve these objectives, the symposium participants concluded:
1. that it is necessary to identify a number of rangelands or pastoral ecosystems where browse is an integrated part of the system and to monitor the utilization of browse within these systems and to further study the structures and functioning of "grazed ecosystems", stressing browse.
2. thorough analyses of animal production systems based on grazing lands which comprise various proportions of browse should be conducted; these analyses should focus on technical, as well as institutional, legal and socio-economic aspects;
3. it is proposed that management models of these rangelands or pastoral ecosystems should be constructed so that new techniques may be introduced in order to increase productivity thereby improving the living conditions for pastoralists, while conserving natural resources.
4. It is concluded that research programmes and studies are required on the most common and representative browse species found in the major ecological zones; which are or might be, important in livestock and wildlife diets, with particular emphasis on:
1. the biology and physiology of these species;
2. breeding and genetic improvement to prepare productive material, which are adapted to the climatic conditions in the main ecological zones;
3. the dynamic relationships between browse and grasses;
4. the demography and dynamics of browse ecosystems in the main ecological zones and under various exploitation systems;
5. preparing low cost plantation and regeneration methods and techniques, including agro-forestry methods;
6. determining their nutritive value with particular reference to digestibility and methods of exploitation on a sustained yield basis;
7. formulating herd feeding and management plans that optimize the available fodder resources, including browse species;
8. establishing methods and techniques of fencing with defensive live hedges;
9. developing semi-intensive grass-browse systems suitable for extension in the humid inter-tropical zones.
5. Comparing the performance of different domestic and wild herbivores that consume browse with a view to adapting herd structure and composition according to the type of vegetation available. Amongst the domestic animals, special attention should be given to camels and goats, which have been neglected in the past;
6. Describing the influence of wild herbivores on various ecosystems and the role these animals can play in optimizing the use of available browse by diversifying the consumer resource base for animal protein production.
7. Studying the effects on agro-pastoral systems of integrating browse species and the possibilities of management and utilization of these species;
8. Encouraging research on methods to evaluate primary and secondary production and to monitor pastoral browse ecosystems;
9. Assisting in defining and designing administrative measures and regulations for enforcing laws on rational rangeland management and protection with particular reference to non-destructive methods of chopping branches of browse trees. These methods should be included in pastoral and forestry codes.
10. More important emphasis should be put on curricula and training programmes in African countries for the management of grazing ecosystems including the role of browse in the equilibrium of those systems.

3. Recommendations

In order to ensure efficient implementation of the above conclusions the participants felt it was necessary to promote international cooperation in the field of browse and it uses. This cooperation should be channeled through a programme that brings together various national, bilateral and international development and research organizations. The following recommendations are therefore presented:

ILCA should play a leading role in ensuring the implementation of such a programme which should include:

1. early publication of the report of this symposium which should be broadly disseminated to appropriate countries and organizations;
2. establishment of a browse documentation system open to all research and development organizations in Africa;
3. publication of a periodical newsletter containing information on scheduled or ongoing development projects and research and rapid dissemination of the main results obtained.;
4. establishment of a seed bank and exchange of genetic materials;
5. production of browse-related research and development projects;
6. introduction of a coordination mechanism designed to ensure rational distribution of research on improving the use of resources and to avoid duplication;
7. ILCA serving as a catalyst by working with other national, bilateral and international research and development organisations such as FAO, UNESCO, CTFT, IBRD, IBAR, ICRAF, IEMVT, ODM, ORSTOM, USAID, IDRC, SIDA, CILSS, UNDP and others.
8. convening, on the initiative of ILCA, a meeting as early as possible devoted to the implementation of the aforementioned cooperative programme.