Ex ante trade-off assessment of improved forage use in western Kenya and southern Ethiopia

Improved forages have been developed and promoted by research and development organizations globally over the past couple of decades to diversify feed baskets and increase the quantity and quality of available feed. However, the use of these improved forages is associated with different yield potentials, land requirements, effects on livestock productivity, and related impacts on income and food security, which are also influenced by agroecology, season, and management. Farmers’ preferences depend on their specific production objectives and challenges, and the weighing of these multi-dimensional benefits and trade-offs. The objective of the research was to explore selected impacts and trade-offs as well as the role alternative forage grasses can play in the mixed crop-livestock systems of Kenya and Ethiopia.

Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.