Livestock water productivity in mixed crop–livestock farming systems of the Blue Nile basin: assessing variability and prospects for improvement

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cg.coverage.countryEthiopiaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ETen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierAmare Haileslassie: 0000-0001-5237-9006en_US
cg.creator.identifierKatrien Descheemaeker: 0000-0003-0184-2034en_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2009.06.006en_US
cg.issn0308-521Xen_US
cg.issue1-3en_US
cg.journalAgricultural Systemsen_US
cg.river.basinNILEen_US
cg.subject.ilriLIVESTOCK-WATERen_US
cg.subject.ilriLIVESTOCKen_US
cg.subject.ilriCROP-LIVESTOCKen_US
cg.subject.ilriWATERen_US
cg.volume102en_US
dc.contributor.authorHaileslassie, Amareen_US
dc.contributor.authorPeden, Donald G.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGebreselassie, S.en_US
dc.contributor.authorAmede, Tilahunen_US
dc.contributor.authorDescheemaeker, Katrien K.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2010-01-13T10:49:55Zen_US
dc.date.available2010-01-13T10:49:55Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/390en_US
dc.titleLivestock water productivity in mixed crop–livestock farming systems of the Blue Nile basin: assessing variability and prospects for improvementen_US
dcterms.abstractWater scarcity is a major factor limiting food production. Improving Livestock Water Productivity (LWP) is one of the approaches to address those problems. LWP is defined as the ratio of livestock’s beneficial outputs and services to water depleted in their production. Increasing LWP can help achieve more production per unit of water depleted. In this study we assess the spatial variability of LWP in three farming systems (rice-based, millet-based and barley-based) of the Gumera watershed in the highlands of the Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. We collected data on land use, livestock management and climatic variables using focused group discussions, field observation and secondary data. We estimated the water depleted by evapotranspiration (ET) and beneficial animal products and services and then calculated LWP. Our results suggest that LWP is comparable with crop water productivity at watershed scales. Variability of LWP across farming systems of the Gumera watershed was apparent and this can be explained by farmers’ livelihood strategies and prevailing biophysical conditions. In view of the results there are opportunities to improve LWP: improved feed sourcing, enhancing livestock productivity and multiple livestock use strategies can help make animal production more water productive. Attempts to improve agricultural water productivity, at system scale, must recognize differences among systems and optimize resources use by system components.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsLimited Accessen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationHaileslassie, A.; Peden, D.; Gebreselassie, S.; Amede, Tilahun; Descheemaeker, Katrien. 2009. Livestock water productivity in mixed crop–livestock farming systems of the Blue Nile Basin: assessing variability and prospects for improvement. Agricultural Systems, 102(1-3):33-40. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2009.06.006en_US
dcterms.extentp. 33-40en_US
dcterms.issued2009-10en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCopyrighted; all rights reserveden_US
dcterms.publisherElsevieren_US
dcterms.replaceshttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/40612en_US
dcterms.subjectlivestocken_US
dcterms.subjectwater productivityen_US
dcterms.subjectfarming systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectriver basin managementen_US
dcterms.subjectcerealsen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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Improving water productivity of crop-livestock systems of Sub-saharan Africa
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