Project Title: Development of Seasonal Nutrition and Resource Management Strategies for Smallholder Dairy Systems
Description: Seasonal fluctuations in feed supplies are a continuing problem for smallholder farmers in many areas of the developing world. Although purchased feeds from off-farm sources may be used in times of shortage to redress this imbalance, these inputs are only available to those farmers with a significant disposable income. It might be expected that the poorest farmers, who rely to a greater extent on feedstuffs available on-farm or gathered from communal areas, are often those most susceptible to seasonal constraints. In order to develop technical interventions appropriate for poor farmers, which are likely to have impact at the farm level, it is important to understand the influence of seasonal effects on the complex interactions between supply and demand of feed resources. Currently, research planning often relies on static diagnosis techniques carried out at the start of a project. Although PRA methodology can access some seasonal information, the level of detail and accuracy that can be achieved is not clear. For example, PRAs carried out at different times of year may produce unreliable results where farmers problems are seasonally dependent. In some areas it may be necessary to augment the qualitative data, with quantitative information describing the farming system and changes in available resources across the year. Longitudinal monitoring techniques have potential to more adequately describe seasonal changes in feed resources and use. However, they can be cumbersome due to the problems of data handling. Furthermore, it is not always clear where such detailed data is required and where qualitative information can suffice.This project examined ways in which longitudinal data can be used to pre-test proposed interventions and to prepare extension material which will facilitate discussions with farmers leading to on-farm adaptive research or uptake of existing technologies.
Partners: Natural Resources Institute. International Livestock Research Institute.
Funded by: Department for International Development.
Status: Completed, March 2002.
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