Increasing water-use-efficiency for food production through better livestock management (Nile River Basin)

Goal

Livestock products comprise an important component of agricultural production, but have largely been ignored in water management for food security. Some knowledge of drinking requirements and physiology of water in domestic animals exists. However, the water required for production of animal feed far exceeds what animals drink, varies greatly across agricultural production systems, and has not been reliably determined. Knowledge of the impact of livestock keeping on water resources has not been adequately synthesized and applied to integrated river basin management, but degradation of water by livestock may exceed the total amount used.

There is great need to understand livestock-water interactions for improving livestock-water productivity. Water used to increase production of animal-based food products for people must be balanced with water demand for crop and fish production, ecosystem services and other human needs. Area-wide integration of livestock keeping practices in the context of integrated river basin management is required to encourage a shift animal production away from areas of conflict for water use. The general hypothesis is that better management of livestock-water interactions will contribute to increased water-use efficiency for food production in river basins.

Objective

This research sets out to improve food security, reduce poverty and enhance agroecosystem health by managing livestock for more effective overall use of water resources in the Nile basin. It addresses livestock-water interactions in rainfed pastoral, rainfed mixed crop-livestock, peri-urban and large scale irrigation systems of which are important priorities in the basin. It addresses two interlinked research and development (R&D) pathways to enhance long-term understanding of livestock-water interactions and to achieve short-term impact.

First, basin-wide mapping, spatial modeling and description of livestock-water hotspots will provide an improved knowledge base for immediate basin and national policy development. In the longer term, this policy will help target investment in community-based management of livestock, water and land resources.
Second, immediate improvements in community-based livestock and water management to benefit women and men with minimal investment and avaliable technology will be made. In the longer term, aggregation of local experiences and perspectives of key livestock-water interactions from diverse communities and consideration of their importance to food security and poverty reduction will enhance effectiveness of future policy for integrated river basin management.

Project outputs

training of graduate students.

a toolbox of proven tools and methods for water and livestock management.

extension materials.

NRM.

community development skills to enhance their collective capacity to undertake integrated livestock and water management and to access requisite technologies and information.

The project anticipates that increased know-how will be out-scaled in subsequent research and in CP synthesis activities to other basins where livestock are important.

Partners

Animal Agriculture Research Network (A-AARNET), CARE-Ethiopia, Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO), Ehttiopian Rain Water Harvesting Association (ERWHA), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Makerere University, Sudan's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Uganda's National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).