This project is implemented with the ambition to improve fodder availability and nutritional quality for ruminants during dry periods in the Ghana Climate-Smart Villages.
The development of a multispecies fodder bank that concentrates the species with forbs, grasses and fast growing fodder legumes has been identified as an opportunity for ensuring sustainable all-year-round fodder production and availability. The fodder banks has been diagnosed as an innovative approach to improving livestock nutrition during dry seasons and fodder scarcity period.
- Establish a multi-species fodder bank with farmers to demonstrate efficacy for climate-smart livestock production
- Assess seasonal fodder productivity to accentuate implications on livestock feeding
- Assess soil carbon storage as influenced by the fodder bank
- Evaluate the economics of establishing a multispecies fodder bank
- Multispecies fodder bank adopted by pastoralists as a viable option for improved livestock nutrition
- Capacity of farmers built in the establishment and management of fodder banks
- Seasonal fodder biomass productivity at CSV known for decision making on best-bet feed improvement options
- Economic importance of fodder bank determined to inform local investment needs
The project is led by CCAFS in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Animal Research Institute (CSIR-ARI)