LiveGAPS: Informing investment decisions to increase livestock yields sustainably [Africa]

The challenge

Livestock are crucial to the livelihoods of more than 900 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, there are large production yield gaps in livestock systems in these two regions. This means that most of the time, farmers produce much lower yields than they could achieve. To increase yields sustainably, development agencies and donors need to have better information to enable good decision making. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation want to invest in development in Africa, but are unsure where and how to best deploy resources.

Our response

CSIRO, with partners¹, look for pathways to achieve sustainable yield increases in dairy, small ruminants and poultry systems in Ethiopia, India, Tanzania and Nigeria. Our approach is to:

• Collate current baseline data and quantify yield gaps
• Identify best-bet interventions to increase productivity sustainably
• Model impacts of interventions on livestock production and household income, and identify trade-offs

Impact

CSIRO, with partners¹, provide development agencies and donors with information for achieving sustainable yield increases in livestock systems.

• Our work has been used by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to better understand the contemporary state of livestock systems in the geographies and for the priority species on which the foundation focuses its work
• This allows assessment of feasibility and investment needs, enabling better informed investment decisions

¹Partners include Supporting Evidence-Based Interventions (SEBI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the University of Tasmania (UTAS).

Contact Mario Herrero for more information.