Astragalus algarbiensis is a wild herbaceous legume growing in Maamora, the most important cork oak forest in northern Africa. It is a plant of great importance as fodder in silvopastoral systems, and in the restoration of poor and degraded soils. The purpose of this study was to describe the...

Science-based sustainable management of agroforestry and silvopastoral systems is essential for their maintenance in a changing world. Using bibliometric and network analyses, we characterized how research is addressing the ecological and socio-economic dimensions of sustainable management of cork...

Biomass recycling plays a key role in the functioning of agro-silvopastoral systems. InWest Africa, the variability of rainfall impacts the management of this biomass to feed men, livestock, soil and plants. This study describes a conceptual model of action, based on "if-then-else" rules, which...

This thesis investigates water and nitrogen resource use patterns of trees and grasses, and examines the effects of competition between trees and grasses on resource storage in perennial grasses. Furthermore, the functionality of trees in two common human land use types in African drylands is...

This document summarises the major issue discussed by participants of a moderated E-Conference hosted by FAO Livestock Production Systems Branch of Animal Production and Health Division for 01 September to 30 September, entitled "Successes and failures with animal nutrition practices and...

Market-oriented production of gardening crops and cassava (Manihot utilissima) in the dry season is an increasingly frequent practice in Ségou, Mali. Traditionally, these crops are protected from roaming livestock with the help of dead fences. In order to provide a sustainable alternative to dead...

The effect of tree species on the characteristics of the herbaceous stratum, during the first five years of a fallow, was evaluated in the North of Cameroon (average annual temperature 28.2 °C, total annual rainfall 1050 mm). Treatments included a natural grazed herbaceous fallow, a natural...

The effects of drying temperature on chemical composition and nutritive value of leaves of the shrub legumes Acacia angustissima (Miller) Kuntze, Calliandra calothyrsus Meissn and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit were determined in two studies in Zimbabwe. In the first study, the effects of...

This paper analyses the uses of fodder trees along daily itineraries of cattle guarded by two herders in the village land of Kourouma in Burkina Faso. The herders, both Fulani, are representative of two distinguished situations of cattle herding. The first one guards the family herd and the second...

A lot of information is available on the biology, productivity, and feeding value of more than 100 native tree and shrub species found in Sahelian and Sudanese Africa. Many are very useful as animal feed during the dry season. Herders crop some of them intensively. They also produce fuelwood....