Record Details

Constraints to Forage Production and Rangeland Management in Afghanistan

MELSpace

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Constraints to Forage Production and Rangeland Management in Afghanistan
 
Creator Ates, Serkan
 
Contributor Louhaichi, Mounir
Feindel, David
 
Subject agropastoral
post conflict
 
Description Afghanistan covers an area of 65.3 million ha of steep and mountainous land which is not very conducive
to farming. The availability of land and water resources for agricultural production is limited and
marginal at best. Crop production is mostly confined to pockets of irrigated land, with some rain-fed areas
in the north of the country and at higher elevations. Yet, agriculture is the main livelihood that provides
resilience to poor farmers and is a major contributor to the war-torn Afghan economy. Livestock is the
most important farming component and about 8 million farmers depend entirely on a crop-livestock
system for their livelihoods. The prevalent livestock production systems are: sedentary villagers; settled
transhumance; and nomadic pastoral. Insufficient feed production and availability is the key constraint for
the livestock sector. The lack of forage of sufficient quality limits productivity, and the effect worsens
during drought. While meager, rangelands and cultivated forages are the two major feed sources for
livestock. Overgrazing, land tenure issues, conversion of rangelands into rain-fed cropping systems, and
climate change, including drought, have caused widespread rangeland degradation (Pittroff, 2011).
Improving the supply of quality fodder could contribute to reducing household food insecurity and
poverty in Afghanistan. Although substantial investments have been made in the development of
agriculture in Afghanistan (Pittroff, 2011), forage development has drawn limited attention by donors and
implementing agencies (Motamed, 2008). This paper outlines the major constraints to forage production
and rangeland improvement in Afghanistan.
 
Date 2016-07-16
2017-02-23T13:54:59Z
2017-02-23T13:54:59Z
 
Type Conference Paper
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/reporting/download/hash/U0pRNB0u
Serkan Ates, Mounir Louhaichi, David Feindel. (16/7/2016). Constraints to Forage Production and Rangeland Management in Afghanistan. Saskatoon, Canada: Alan Iwaasa (Curator), H. A. (Bart) Lardner, Michael Schellenberg, Walter Willms, Kathy Larson.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/5938
Open access
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher International Rangelands Congress