Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa
The process of consulting stakeholders, particularly farmers, in developing appropriate indicators for sustainability evaluation of low-input ruminant systems is often compromised by limited awareness and understanding of the sustainability concept by farmers in developing countries. Insights from f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Environmental and Sustainability Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972720300428 |
| _version_ | 1818449903620194304 |
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| author | Tawanda Marandure Kennedy Dzama James Bennett Godswill Makombe Obert Chikwanha Cletos Mapiye |
| author_facet | Tawanda Marandure Kennedy Dzama James Bennett Godswill Makombe Obert Chikwanha Cletos Mapiye |
| author_sort | Tawanda Marandure |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The process of consulting stakeholders, particularly farmers, in developing appropriate indicators for sustainability evaluation of low-input ruminant systems is often compromised by limited awareness and understanding of the sustainability concept by farmers in developing countries. Insights from farmers’ challenges present useful prospects for developing context-specific sustainability evaluation indicators for low-input ruminant systems. In the present review, a meta-analysis was used to develop farmer challenge-derived indicators for the sustainability evaluation of low-input ruminant farming system in sub-Saharan Africa. Key ecological challenges reported were low forage quality, poor soil quality, feed shortages and; economic challenges were low poor marketing structure, high cost of labour, and poor transport network, poor marketing infrastructure; and social challenges were rural to urban migration, lack of animal breeding management and inadequate access to information. The corresponding derived ecological indicators were biomass quality, soil quality, high winds; economic indicators were available marketing infrastructure, labour costs, transport networks; and social indicators were rural to urban migration, animal management training and access to information. The review shows that farmers’ challenges can be transformed to indicators for assessing the sustainability of the low-input ruminant farming system in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T20:42:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-819de9f77a054f689b74595d076d99f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2665-9727 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T20:42:48Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental and Sustainability Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-819de9f77a054f689b74595d076d99f42022-12-21T22:48:12ZengElsevierEnvironmental and Sustainability Indicators2665-97272020-12-018100060Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan AfricaTawanda Marandure0Kennedy Dzama1James Bennett2Godswill Makombe3Obert Chikwanha4Cletos Mapiye5Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa; Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, Ryton Gardens, Wolston Lane, Coventry, CV8 3LG, UKDepartment of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South AfricaCentre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, Ryton Gardens, Wolston Lane, Coventry, CV8 3LG, UKGordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South AfricaDepartment of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa; Corresponding author.The process of consulting stakeholders, particularly farmers, in developing appropriate indicators for sustainability evaluation of low-input ruminant systems is often compromised by limited awareness and understanding of the sustainability concept by farmers in developing countries. Insights from farmers’ challenges present useful prospects for developing context-specific sustainability evaluation indicators for low-input ruminant systems. In the present review, a meta-analysis was used to develop farmer challenge-derived indicators for the sustainability evaluation of low-input ruminant farming system in sub-Saharan Africa. Key ecological challenges reported were low forage quality, poor soil quality, feed shortages and; economic challenges were low poor marketing structure, high cost of labour, and poor transport network, poor marketing infrastructure; and social challenges were rural to urban migration, lack of animal breeding management and inadequate access to information. The corresponding derived ecological indicators were biomass quality, soil quality, high winds; economic indicators were available marketing infrastructure, labour costs, transport networks; and social indicators were rural to urban migration, animal management training and access to information. The review shows that farmers’ challenges can be transformed to indicators for assessing the sustainability of the low-input ruminant farming system in sub-Saharan Africa.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972720300428ChallengesMeta-analysisRuminantsSmallholder farmersSustainability indicators |
| spellingShingle | Tawanda Marandure Kennedy Dzama James Bennett Godswill Makombe Obert Chikwanha Cletos Mapiye Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa Environmental and Sustainability Indicators Challenges Meta-analysis Ruminants Smallholder farmers Sustainability indicators |
| title | Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Farmer challenge-derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low-input ruminant production systems in sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | farmer challenge derived indicators for assessing sustainability of low input ruminant production systems in sub saharan africa |
| topic | Challenges Meta-analysis Ruminants Smallholder farmers Sustainability indicators |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972720300428 |
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