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Limited supply of quality feed is the most important factor limiting livestock productivity in many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Having a systematic inventory of available feed resources, identifying main challenges and potentials for improvement is the first step towards designing development strategies to improve feed quality and quantity. The objective of this study was to review the available feed resources and their quality in West African Sahel across different agro-ecological zones and to identify the research gaps and strategies to improve feed resource availability. The West African Sahelian zone is home to 135 million people who herd 173 million head of ruminant livestock. The main feed resources for grazing ruminants are pastures and crop residues; commercially formulated feeds are increasingly being used in poultry and pig production, particularly in peri-urban areas. Feed resources for livestock are diverse and vary markedly across agro-ecological zones in the West African Sahel and across seasons in terms of type, quantity, and quality. Given that crop residues are among the most important feed resources, there is need to invest in promoting adoption of proven methods for improving their quality and preserving it. Given poorly developed feed markets in the Sahelian rural areas and cities, strengthening the feed value chain is critical for improving the feed resource base in West Africa. Additional critically important needs are to increase awareness about the importance of feed quality, to create quality-based feed marketing systems, and to appreciate and enhance women's roles in feed production.

Limited supply of quality feed is the most common problem limiting livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Routine feed evaluation is indispensable for formulating balanced rations, feed characterization, safety, and minimizing the environmental impact of livestock. Traditional wet chemistry has not met this demand in SSA because it is time consuming, expensive, reliant on imported reagents and equipment that requires regular maintenance. Near Infrared Reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) is a rapid and accurate alternative. NIRS can help meet the need to characterize locally available forages and feeds on the continent, thus allowing formulation of optimally balanced and safe rations, facilitating establishment of nutritive value-based pricing, and improving feed marketing and environmental stewardship. Though several NIRS systems have been purchased in many SSA countries, few are currently used. Reasons include high upfront costs, lack of requisite technical capacity, lack of access to comprehensive wet chemistry-based databases to develop and validate robust and accurate predictive equations, lack of access to or relevance of existing validated equations, and limited awareness about the value of NIRS. Recently developed portable devices can dramatically reduce cost, while providing flexibility and comparable accuracy to benchtop systems. Formation of NIRS consortia and communities of practice including public-private partnerships that link equipment, pool resources, and provide periodic training and troubleshooting, can address many of these problems. This paper elaborates the potential for using NIRS to improve feed analysis in SSA countries, the reasons for the low use of existing systems, and strategies to improve the adoption and use of NIRS.

Purpose Different livestock production systems contribute to globally Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) emission differently. The aim of this paper is to understand variation in emission in different production systems and it is also important for developing mitigation interventions that work for a specific production system. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors used the Global Livestock Environmental Assessment interactive model (GLEAM-i) to estimate the GHG emission and emission intensity and tested the effectiveness of mitigation strategies from 180 farms under three production systems in northern Ethiopia, namely, pastoral, mixed and urban production systems. Findings Production systems varied in terms of herd composition, livestock productivity, livestock reproductive parameters and manure management systems, which resulted in difference in total GHG emission. Methane (82.77%) was the largest contributor followed by carbon dioxide (13.40%) and nitrous oxide (3.83%). While both total carbon dioxide and methane were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in urban production system than the other systems emission intensities of cow’s milk and goat and sheep’s meat were lower in urban systems. Improvement in feed, manure management and herd parameters resulted in reduction of total GHG emission by 30, 29 and 21% in pastoral, mixed and urban production systems, respectively. Originality/value This study is a first time comparison of the GHG emission production by various production systems in northern Ethiopia. Moreover, it uses the GLEAM-i program for the first time in the ex ante settings for measuring and comparing emissions as well as for developing mitigation scenarios. By doing so, it provides information on the various livestock production system properties that contribute to the increase or decrease in GHG emission and helps in developing guidelines for low emission livestock production systems.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the status of the open access (OA) movement on the African continent, and if there is any financial or moral exploitation by dominant “foreign” world powers. OA provided the African intellectual community with a tool to prove its academic prowess and an opportunity to display cultural and intellectual independence. OA publishing is prone to abuse, and some in Africa have sought to exploit the OA boom to profit from non-academic activity rather than use this tool to glorify Africa’s image and diversity on the global intellectual stage. These issues are explored in detail in the paper. Design/methodology/approach The authors broadly assessed literature that is related to the growth and challenges associated with OA, including the rise of OA mega journals, in Africa. Findings African OA journals and publishers have to compete with established non-African OA entities. Some are considered “predatory”, but this Jeffrey Beall-based classification may be erroneous. Publishing values that African OA publishers and journals aspire to should not equal those published by non-African publishing entities. Africa should seek solutions to the challenges on that continent via Africa-based OA platforms. The budding African OA movement is applauded, but it must be held as accountable as any other OA journal or publisher. Originality/value African scholars need to reassess the “published in Africa” OA image.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Pastoralist communities all over Africa have been facing a variety of social and economic problems, as well as climate risks and hazards for many years. They have also been suffering from climate change and extreme events, along with a variety of weather and climate threats, which pose many challenges to herders. On the one hand, pastoralist communities have little influence on policy decisions; however, on the other hand, they suffer to a significant extent from such policies, which limit their options for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Also, the socio-cultural legacy of herders, and their role in food security and provision of ecosystem services, as well as their efforts towards climate change adaptation, are little documented, particularly in Eastern and Southern African countries. There is a perceived need for international studies on the risks and impacts of climate change and extreme events on the sustainability of pastoralist communities in Africa, especially in eastern and southern Africa. Based on the need to address this research gap, this paper describes the climate change risks and challenges that climate threats pose to the sustainability and livelihoods of pastoralist communities in eastern and southern Africa. Also, it discusses the extent to which such problems affect their well-being and income. Additionally, the paper reports on the socioeconomic vulnerability indices at country-level; identifies specific problems pastoralists face, and a variety of climate adaptation strategies to extreme events through field survey among pastoralist communities in a sample of five countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The study has shown that the long-term sustainability of the livelihoods of pastoral communities is currently endangered by climate change and the risks and hazards it brings about, which may worsen poverty among this social group. The study suggests that a more systematic and structured approach is needed when assessing the climate vulnerability of individual pastoral communities, since this may help in designing suitable disaster risk reduction strategies. Moreover, the paper shows that it is also necessary to understand better the socio-ecological systems (SES) of the various communities, and how their livelihoods are influenced by the changing conditions imposed by a changing climate.

A thriving black-market economy of scam scholarly publishing, typically referred to as ‘predatory publishing,’ threatens the quality of scientific literature globally. The scammers publish research with minimal or no peer review and are motivated by article processing charges and not the advancement of scholarship. Authors involved in this scam are either duped or willingly taking advantage of the low rejection rates and quick publication process. Geographic analysis of the origin of predatory journal articles indicates that they predominantly come from developing countries. Consequently, most universities in developing countries operate blacklists of deceptive journals to deter faculty from submitting to predatory publishers. The present article discusses blacklisting and, conversely, whitelisting of legitimate journals as options of deterrence. Specifically, the article provides a critical evaluation of the two approaches by explaining how they work and comparing their pros and cons to inform a decision about which is the better deterrent.

Recently, there has been an alarming increase in the number of “academic” papers published in vanity journals and publishers. Such journals, dubbed predatory because their main objective is making money out of authors, compromise or completely abandon the peer review system. An increase in publishing with such journals, which is common in developing counties, will affect the quality of science, excellence, development, and individual researchers' and institutions' professional reputation. In this article, the author discusses strategies for individual researchers and institutions for identifying and discouraging publishing in predatory journals. Moreover, suggestions on how to deal with faculty who have published and already bestowed positions on the grounds of papers published in predatory journals are also given. Strategies and suggestions discussed in this article can provide insights to librarians and publication officers on how to curb the problem of predatory publications.

The global increase in the demand for and production of animal-source foods (four-to five-fold increase between 1960 and 2015), which has been mostly concentrated in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), provides smallholder livestock producers with an opportunity for improving their livelihoods and food and nutrition security. However, across livestock production systems in many LMIC, limited supplies and high cost of good quality feed severely constrains exploitation of this opportunity. In many of such countries, feeds and feeding-related issues are often ranked as the primary constraint to livestock production and increased consumption of animal-source foods. Here we review the complex biophysical, socio-economic and technological challenges related to improving quality feed supply and the reasons for generally low adoption of apparently proven feed enhancement technologies. We describe also successful interventions and conclude by recommending strategies for improving quality feed supply in LMIC that account for and overcome the prevailing challenges., Highlights • Livestock production in developing countries is constrained by limited supply of quality feeds. • There are many technologies that can improve supply of quality feed for small holder producers. • Complex set of bio-physical and socio-economic factors limit the adoption of technologies and thus limit the improvement in supply of quality feed. • The failures of adoption of feed improvement technologies result from systemic constraints and inadequate attention to sociocultural and economic factors. • Success is often driven either by market incentives and or an innovative affordable approach that provides solutions to multiple problems.

Understanding environmental philosophies and wisdom of tribal communities provides insights into sustainable ways of living and conservation. Many tribal communities rely on oral traditions for storage and communication of ecological, cultural, and religious wisdom. An evaluation of the Gāli Sāre, or the camel praise poetry, practiced in the form of sung poetry by the Afar nomads of the Horn of Africa, revealed that as well as being praise of the camel, the Gāli Sāre poems are oral eco-poetry and reflect biophilia. Issues such as biodiversity, environmental crises, livelihoods, clan politics, and landscapes are addressed in the poems, while conveying themes of abundance, drought, changing landscape, and livestock raids. In these oral poems, the animate and inanimate environment, including rangeland plants, mountains, rivers, lakes, animals, the weather, and spirits, are used in metaphoric, symbolic, and realistic expressions. Embedded in these poems are the ecological and social philosophy and wi...

Recently, the world has witnessed a colonial-like rush and scramble for farmlands in the global south by big multinational corporations from wealthy countries, a phenomenon that has steadily increa...

This research was undertaken to understand variation in local knowledge between two ethnic/livelihood, gender, and age groups on indigenous fodder trees and shrubs (IFTS) and correlate local criteria-based valuation with laboratory-based valuation. The study involved 160 respondents, formal interviews, species identification tests, and scoring of trees. Fodder samples taken from the top 20 preferred species were scanned using NIRS (Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy) and their nutritive value was assessed. ANOVA, non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis median comparison test, and Spearman's rank correlation were used to analyze the data. Local people used diverse criteria falling under three categories: animal-based (5), plant-based (4), and multipurpose criteria (11). Knowledge of fodder trees varied significantly (P

Atriplex nummularia (oldman saltbush) is widely planted on salt-affected land to provide a vegetative cover, which can be used as an alternative feed resource. The study was conducted to evaluate the replacement of commercial concentrate with oldman saltbush (SB) leaf on the feed intake, live weight gain, and carcass parameters of local sheep. Twenty-five sheep with an age of 6 months and weighting 14.60 ± 2.47 kg were used in randomized complete block design and distributed into five equal groups, with five animals each. The selected sheep were fed with the dietary treatments for 2 weeks for adaptation and continued until the end of the study, which lasted for 90 days. In the control treatment (SB-0), sheep were fed 100% concentrate mix, while in SB-5, SB-10, SB-15, and SB-20, 5, 10, 15, and 20% of the concentrate mix was replaced by SB, respectively. Wheat straw and water were given at ad libitum throughout the experiment period. Data on feed intake and live weight gain were recorded daily and weekly, respectively, for 90 days. Three animals from each treatment were slaughtered for carcass analysis. Atriplex nummularia leaf (Oldman saltbush) contained 92.02% dry matter (DM), 21.99% crude protein (CP), 24.77% ash, 58.27% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and 26.56% acid detergent fiber (ADF). Dry matter intake, live weight gain, and carcass parameter were not statistically different among the treatments. Result indicated that concentrate feed can be replaced with Atriplex nummularia leaf up to 20% in sheep diet without negative effect on growth performance and carcass characteristics.

This study in northern Ethiopia investigated local people's perception of climate change and the role of indigenous silvopastoralism in adaptation to that change. Two hundred and forty respondents participated in a questionnaire survey and group discussions. Local communities perceive climate change in terms of biophysical and socioeconomic indicators. In selecting, evaluating and comparing fodder trees for a climate-resilient silvopastoral system, local farmers used 20 criteria of varying importance and belonging to three categories: animal-based, plant-based and multipurpose. In terms of suitability for climate-resilient silvopastoral system, Ficus thonningii was ranked first among the top 10 species of trees with a composite score of 8.7 out of 10, followed by Cordia africana, Eucalyptus cameldulensis and Rhus natalensis. Locally developed protocols for propagation and use of F. thonningii have enabled establishment of a climate-resilient, sustainable silvopastoral system. As this practice combines cli...

Silvopasture is a tree-based livestock production system where trees and shrubs planted on pasturelands, backyards, and farmlands provide fodder as well as other multiple benefits. Silvopastoral systems are more adapted to changing climate and weather, as foliage production from trees and shrubs is less affected by such changes than grasses. Moreover, unlike conventional grass-based pastures, which contribute to green house gas emissions through land conversions and increased enteric methane production from livestock, silvopastoral systems contribute towards mitigation of green house gases though direct sequestration of atmospheric carbon and reduction of enteric methane production. Similarly trees and shrubs in silvopastoral systems contribute to general ecological integrity through improvement of soil fertility, soil and water conservation and farm and pastureland productivities. Appreciating the different benefits of silvopastoral system a lot of fodder tree species mainly Cystisus proliferus, Sesbania sesban and Leucaena leucaocephala have been introduced into the dryland livestock production systems of Ethiopia. However, such species did not bring envisaged benefits of increased livestock production and climate change adaptation, because most of these species, being exotic, failed to adapt to local socio-ecological settings. It is therefore, argued that locally adaptable species selected by local farmers, like F. thonningii explained in this paper, are more efficient in improving the productivity of livestock in drylands while at the same time increasing their capacity to adapt to recurrent drought or changing climate. Therefore, increased intervention and investment aimed at identification, promotion and implementation of indigenous species for silvopastoral system based practices is recommended for achieving climate resilience and increased productivity in the livestock sector of the dry lands.

Ficus thonningii is a multipurpose browse tree in northern Ethiopia. Despite its importance, techniques for quantifying its browsable biomass have not been developed. To develop best-estimation equations, the dendrometric parameters total height (H), crown height (CH), crown diameter (CD), diameter at stump height (DSH), diameter at breast height (DBH), crown depth (CDp), crown area (CA) and crown volume (CV) were measured from 12 sampled trees comprising three age ranges. Leaves and edible twigs of the sampled trees were clipped, oven dried, weighed and recorded as dry weight (DW). Regression analysis and a multicollinearity test were employed to remove non-significant predictors of DW. Results showed that only CV, CA, CD, CDp and DSH showed a strong correlation with DW. There was high collinearity between CD and CA, CD and CV, and CA and CV. However, CV and DSH had a higher correlation with DW than their counterparts, which suggested their use in the model. Therefore, the best allometric equation was: D...

Ficus thonningii (FT) is an important multipurpose fodder tree providing economic and ecological benefits across arid and semi-arid areas in Africa. Despite its availability in many Sub-Saharan African countries, there is lack of information on its effect on animal productivity. Twenty-four male weaned highland goats of age 7 ± 1.5 months were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized block design. All animals were fed wheat straw, water, and salt licks ad libitum. The control group (T1) was fed concentrate mixture at 2 % of their body weight, while in T2, T3, and T4, 25, 50, and 75 % of the weight of concentrate (DM basis), respectively, was replaced by sun dried FT leaf meal. FT leaf meal had acceptable levels crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and tannins and has resulted in increased body weight in all treatments. Goats fed T3 diet showed significantly higher (P