Factors influencing local ecological knowledge of forage resources: Ethnobotanical evidence from West Africa's savannas

Naah, John-Baptist S. N.; Guuroh, Reginald Tang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.11.064

Cited by 33 publications

(43 citation statements)

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“…The critical role A. africana, P. erinaceus, and B. aegyptiaca play in providing fodder elicited men’s top-priority ranking. This finding accords with that of Naah et al [56] who reported that men are repository of local knowledge on forage. These trees also supply farmers with fuelwood, as well as several other services [57-59].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Functions of farmers’ preferred tree species and their potential carbon stocks in southern Burkina Faso: implications for biocarbon initiatives

Dimobe¹,

Tondoh

Weber

et al. 2018

Preprint

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29The success of terrestrial carbon sequestration projects for rural development in sub- 30Saharan Africa lies in the (i) involvement of local populations in the selection of woody 31 species, which represent the biological assets they use to meet their daily needs, and 32(ii) information about the potential of these species to store carbon. Although the latter 33 is a key prerequisite, there is very little information available. To help fill this gap, the

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Functions of farmers’ preferred tree species and their potential carbon stocks in southern Burkina Faso: implications for biocarbon initiatives

Dimobe¹,

Tondoh

Weber

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…Thus, local agro-pastoralists were distinguished into young (15–35 years), middle-aged (36–55 years), and old (> 55 years) adults. The ethnic and gender stratifications were also done based on dominant ethnic groups (e.g., Dagbani, Gurunsi, and Mossi) and males and females respectively [ 30 ]. Thus, the villages were generally nested within ethnic groups or aridity classes during the sampling process.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to the commencement of the face-to-face interviews, the structured questionnaires were pre-tested with two local agro-pastoralists and fine-tuned so as to avoid too late questionnaire changes and to ensure easy understanding of research questions [ 30 ]. Considering the wide geographical spread and dialectical differences within the study area (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the free list tasks described by Naah et al [ 30 ], local agro-pastoralists were asked to explicitly rank five forage plants (including crop plants/residues) from their free lists by starting from the most important to the least important forage plants or crop residues for their livestock (cattle, goats, and sheep). With respect to the seasonally variable importance of the free-listed forage plants, local agro-pastoralists were explicitly asked to separately cite and rank five of them particularly suitable for the dry season and the rainy season irrespective of livestock type.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the valuation of forage resources by local land users is a crucially important component of an adaptive natural resource management [ 28 ]. Specifically, in northern Ghana and southern-central Burkina Faso, very recent studies in the same study area focused on spectral indicators of forage quality [ 29 ], factors influencing the distribution of local ecological knowledge of forage resources [ 30 ], and environmental drivers of forage provision and erosion control [ 31 ]. Notwithstanding, these studies failed to address the aspect of local valuation criteria for available forage resources from the perspectives of local agro-pastoralists in the West African Sudanian savannas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating criteria for valuation of forage resources by local agro-pastoralists in West Africa: using quantitative ethnoecological approach

Naah

2018

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundThis paper provides an insightful quantitative ethnoecological analysis and affirms that agro-pastoralists have a multiplicity of criteria for valuating their natural forage resources. Rural households in West Africa are not only confronted with water resource scarcity but also have to cope with limited forage resources to feed livestock in both wet and dry seasons based on local knowledge. Local agro-pastoral social-ecological systems (SESs) in the study areas stem from the daily utilization of available forage resources by dominant domestic livestock (cattle, goats, and sheep) over the years. However, there is very little systematic knowledge documentation on forage-related valuation criteria in this part of the world. Hence, this study aimed at examining (1) forage resources used for different seasons and livestock types, (2) explicit forage-related valuation criteria and associated salience, and (3) effects of socio-demographic and climatic aridity on local valuation criteria.MethodsTo address these aims, a total of 526 individual ethnoecological interviews (encompassing Dagbani, Gurunsi, and Mossi ethnic groups) were conducted in 16 villages coupled with vegetation sampling of 144 plots in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Rigorous model selection, generalized linear mixed-effects models, cognitive salience indices, and descriptive statistics were applied.ResultsThe results revealed that majority (73%) of the agro-pastoralists regarded herbaceous forage plants to be very palatable for livestock consumption in the rainy season and for cattle while woody vegetation and crop-related forage plants were rather perceived to be more important in the dry season and for goats and sheep. The findings also indicated that climatic aridity significantly influenced the number of forage-related valuation criteria cited by agro-pastoralists for different seasonal and livestock types (p < 0.001). It was also found out that agro-pastoralists did not only judge forage plants based on their availability but also on other criteria such as palatability, stimulation of milk production, and healthy growth of livestock.ConclusionLocal agro-pastoralists’ knowledge on natural forage resources and their valuation criteria is geared towards sustainable domestic livestock production. This study is thus interesting and crucially important for fellow scientists, policy-makers, and other stakeholders in the agricultural production sector in local farming landscapes within West Africa and beyond.

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Gender and livestock feed research in developing countries: A review

et al. 2021

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Livestock productivity and the resulting economic benefits for smallholder farmers are constrained by a limited supply of quality feed. Gender influences both the drivers and constraints for feed technology adoption as well as the distribution of benefits from feed technologies; however, research with gender‐disaggregated data related to livestock feed practices and technologies has not previously been systematically collected and analyzed. This review examines the current scope and patterns in the literature and highlights opportunities that could benefit future livestock feeding research. The review identified 72 articles with gender‐disaggregated data related to livestock feeding, which were analyzed thematically based on the type of gender data collected: division of labor (44 articles), decision making (eight articles), knowledge (nine articles), and technology adoption (11 articles). Across nine different feed activities, women had a comparatively higher level of involvement than men in 49% of the observations (81), whereas men were more involved than women in 48% of the observations (79); equal involvement accounted for the remaining 3% of the observations (n = 7). However, individual feed tasks showed stronger involvement trends toward men or women. Women were more likely to be involved in the provision of feed to livestock than men (69% of observations, 24 observations), whereas men had higher levels of participation than women in fodder collection (54%, 19 observations) and grazing and herding (65%, 33 observations). Future research on women's roles in feed‐related activities could help to improve adoption, scaling, and sustainability of feed improvement interventions through the use of gender‐sensitive data collection tools.

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Factors influencing local ecological knowledge of forage resources: Ethnobotanical evidence from West Africa's savannas

Cited by 33 publications

References 45 publications

Functions of farmers’ preferred tree species and their potential carbon stocks in southern Burkina Faso: implications for biocarbon initiatives

Functions of farmers’ preferred tree species and their potential carbon stocks in southern Burkina Faso: implications for biocarbon initiatives

Investigating criteria for valuation of forage resources by local agro-pastoralists in West Africa: using quantitative ethnoecological approach

Gender and livestock feed research in developing countries: A review

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