Trade-offs and synergies associated with maize leaf stripping within crop-livestock systems in northern Ghana

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Queenslanden_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationBioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity for Development Studiesen_US
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten_US
cg.coverage.countryGhanaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2GHen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionWestern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierFred Kizito: 0000-0002-7488-2582en_US
cg.creator.identifierJawoo Koo: 0000-0003-3424-9229en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.dataurlhttps://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/nmfefsen_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103206en_US
cg.identifier.iitathemeSOCIAL SCIENCE & AGRICUSINESSen_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Africa Risingen_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Environment and Production Technology Divisionen_US
cg.identifier.publicationRankAen_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn0308-521Xen_US
cg.issue103206en_US
cg.journalAgricultural Systemsen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.iitaAGRIBUSINESSen_US
cg.subject.iitaAGRONOMYen_US
cg.subject.iitaFOOD SECURITYen_US
cg.subject.iitaMAIZEen_US
cg.subject.iitaMARKETSen_US
cg.subject.iitaPLANT BREEDINGen_US
cg.subject.iitaPLANT PRODUCTIONen_US
cg.subject.iitaSMALLHOLDER FARMERSen_US
cg.subject.iitaSOCIOECONOMYen_US
cg.subject.iitaVALUE CHAINSen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hungeren_US
cg.volume193en_US
dc.contributor.authorKomarek, Adam M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRahman, N.A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorBandyopadhyay, A.en_US
dc.contributor.authorKizito, Freden_US
dc.contributor.authorKoo, Jawooen_US
dc.contributor.authorAddah, W.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-16T12:05:53Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-07-16T12:05:53Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/114318en_US
dc.titleTrade-offs and synergies associated with maize leaf stripping within crop-livestock systems in northern Ghanaen_US
dcterms.abstractCONTEXT The accessibility and availability of forages is a common concern in crop-livestock systems in West Africa; however, options to increase forage production may entail trade-offs within the farm system that can be challenging to quantify explicitly. OBJECTIVE This study examined how maize (Zea mays L.) leaf stripping affected maize and sheep productivity and associated labour requirements, and farm system trade-offs and synergies in four communities in the Northern Region of Ghana. METHODS Maize leaf stripping involved removing almost senesced leaves from maize plants below the cob level at silking. We combined data from three sources: on-farm maize trials with 28 farmers from two seasons (2017 and 2018), on-farm sheep feeding trials where the pasture-based diets of weaner sheep were supplemented with stripped maize leaves fed in pens (conducted in 2019), and farm survey data from 117 households (conducted in 2014), seven of which were in the on-farm maize trials and owned sheep. We examined the trial data using linear mixed-effects models. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Maize leaf stripping had no significant effect on maize grain yield but had a significant positive effect on maize forage protein yield from leaf and stover. Offering maize leaves to weaner sheep had a significant positive effect on average daily liveweight gain, estimated marginal mean was 29.3 g with maize leaves and −10.9 g without maize leaves. For the maize-sheep systems of the seven households, non-inferential statistics suggested that on average maize leaf stripping reduced total maize grain production by 12% (range −46 to 38) and increased maize forage protein production from leaf and stover by 90% (range −16 to 298). Stripping the maize leaves from one hectare of land took an extra 34 h (range 27 to 42) of labour, which was counterbalanced by reduced labour time for grazing as sheep were fed the maize leaves in pens. For the 117 farmers, heterogeneity in maize areas planted and livestock numbers resulted in heterogeneous production and labour effects of maize leaf stripping. Farmers qualitatively described how maize leaf stripping released labour so children could spend more time at school rather than shepherding. SIGNIFICANCE We quantified in northern Ghana how maize leaf stripping altered crop and livestock productivity and associated trade-offs and synergies in the farm system, including labour. Changes in crop management often have implications beyond the crop's field and examining these implications can provide insights into the suitability of alternative farm management options. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Download : Download high-res image (97KB)Download : Download full-size imageen_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2021-07-09en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationKomarek, A.M., Rahman, N.A., Bandyopadhyay, A., Kizito, F., Koo, J. & Addah, W. (2021). Trade-offs and synergies associated with maize leaf stripping within crop-livestock systems in northern Ghana. Agricultural Systems, 193, 103206: 1-13.en_US
dcterms.extent1-13en_US
dcterms.issued2021-10en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherElsevieren_US
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll5/id/7842en_US
dcterms.subjectcropping systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectmaizeen_US
dcterms.subjectghanaen_US
dcterms.subjectlabouren_US
dcterms.subjectlivestock systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectstrippingen_US
dcterms.subjectsustainable intensificationen_US
dcterms.subjectleafsen_US
dcterms.subjectproductivityen_US
dcterms.subjectsynergismen_US
dcterms.subjectsheepen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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