From the Field Grass forages: an unlikely weapon against poverty and drought

In Tanzania, drought has decimated many farmers’ harvests, including Silas’ maize, which he relies on for an income. In his village of Mbuzii in Lushoto, in the east of the country, one-fifth of farmers generate around 40 percent of their income from milk. “Cows give manure for crops and provide milk all year, which we can sell to buy sugar or pay school fees. Banks will lend money if you have a cow,” explained Mdoe. But investing in higher quality varieties of grass for livestock like Napier or Brachiaria hybrids like Mulato II, which improve livestock health and the amount of milk produced by up to two liters per cow a day, is not that simple for many farmers. "A cow is a small industry."

Long drought, no feed

Farmers who don’t have grass on their farm need to collect it from where it grows wild, which can be a full-time job during the dry season, or take between 3-4 hours a day at other times of year. Every day, cows needs at least 50-60kg of forages for basic health - two heavy bundles – and hiring labor costs the same as two-to-four liters of milk. So most cows are under-fed with low-quality wild grasses, which keep milk and meat production low. Low-quality feed also means livestock across east Africa typically produce more greenhouse gas emissions - in particular methane - per kilo of meat and milk produced, because they are more difficult to digest.