Record Details

Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

OAR@ICRISAT

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/9299/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2014.05.013
 
Title Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
 
Creator Valbuena, D
Homann-Kee Tui, S
Erenstein, O
Teufel, N
Duncan, A
Abdoulaye, T
Swain, B
Mekonnen, K
Germaine, I
Gérard, B
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
 
Description Crop residues (CR) have become a limited resource in mixed crop-livestock farms. As a result of the
increasing demand and low availability of alternative resources, CR became an essential resource for
household activities, especially for livestock keeping; a major livelihood element of smallholder farmers
in the developing world. Farmers’ decisions on CR use are determined by farmers’ preferences, total crop
production, availability of alternative resources and demand for CR. Interaction of these determinants can
result in pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Determinants, pressures and trade-offs are shaped by the specific
socio-economic and agro-ecological context of these mixed farms. The objective of this paper is to
provide a comparative analysis of the determinants of CR use and to examine some options to cope with
pressures and trade-offs in 12 study sites across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Drawing on socioeconomic
data at household and village level, we describe how cereal intensification and livestock feed
demand influence use, pressures and trade-offs of CR use across study sites, specifically cereal residue.
Our results show that in low cereal production and livestock feed demand sites, despite a low demand
for CR and availability of alternative biomass, pressures and trade-offs of CR use are common particularly
in the dry season. In sites with moderate cereal production, and low–moderate and moderate livestock
feed demand, alternative biomass resources are scarce and most residues are fed to livestock or used
to cover household needs. Subsequently, pressures and potential trade-offs are stronger. In sites with
low cereal production and high livestock feed demand, pressures and trade-offs depend on the availability
of better feed resources. Finally, sites with high cereal production and high livestock feed demand
have been able to fulfil most of the demand for CR, limiting pressures and trade-offs. These patterns show
that agricultural intensification, better management of communal resources and off-farm activities are
plausible development pathways to overcome pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Although technologies
can largely improve these trends, research and development should revisit past initiatives so as to
develop innovative approaches to tackle the well-known problem of low agricultural production in many
smallholder mixed systems, creating more sustainable futures.
 
Publisher Elsevier
 
Date 2015
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/9299/1/AgriculturalSystems_134_107-118_2015.pdf
Valbuena, D and Homann-Kee Tui, S and Erenstein, O and Teufel, N and Duncan, A and Abdoulaye, T and Swain, B and Mekonnen, K and Germaine, I and Gérard, B (2015) Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Agricultural Systems, 134. pp. 107-118. ISSN 0308-521X