Agriculture often involves the cultivation of the soil to grow plants and the raising of animals for human needs. Agriculture system in Sub Saharan Africa is mainly dominated by smallholder farmers who engage themselves in livestock keeping and other types of farming. Livestock production is a major sector with cows, sheep, pigs, poultry and other farm particular animals being kept as a source of livelihoods.

Globally, the highest total of livestock related greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming comes from developing world, which accounts for 75% of the global emissions from cattle and other ruminates.  Scientists working at International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi have attributed high GHG emissions in SSA as a result of poor feed quality and livestock related practices, a cow in SSA may consume as much as 10 times more feed mostly grasses to produce a kilogram of protein than a cow raised in richer regions.  Lack of efficiency in livestock production in developing countries of Sub Saharan Africa means that pastoralists in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia account for as much as 1,000 kg of carbon for every Kilogram of protein they produce.

Livestock in Africa rely mostly on grasses and "stovers" –the leaf and stalk residues of crops left in th field after harvest –for nutrition, Low precipitation and increasing temperatures experienced as a result of climate change has led to shortage of quality forage for livestock in Sub Saharan Africa .Over 54% of land in SSA occur in arid and semi-arid zones where drought is endemic and soils are less fertile making these areas unsuitable for cultivation of cereals and forage species. At International Livestock of Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi scientists are working on a new type of grasses in Brachiaria species. Brachiaria grasses are native to Africa with ability to adapt to African soils, produce high amount of biomass, enhance nitrogen use efficiency, and are known to increase milk and meat productions.

This program is a joint collaborative effort by different research institutions to promote the use of Brachiaria grasses in East Africa, about four main components are being investigated :

- To  integrate improved Brachiaria grasses in mixed smallholder crop-livestock systems and determine their role in improving milk and meat production in grazing and cut-and carry forage systems while reducing land degradation

- To facilitate the creation of forage seed production enterprises with guaranteed markets among poor farmers, mainly female farmers.

-Investigate the  ability of this grass to tolerate drought and adapt to Africa marginal soils ,animal nutrition and seed production identification and use of phytobiomes for potential agricultural applications as bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides.

- Capacity building of African scientists on Brachiaria grasses .

Currently Improved varieties of Brachiaria cultivars are being distributed to farmers throughout African countries for further evaluations .

Brachiaria are Climate-Smart Agriculture option to increase Africa's livestock productivity as well contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, ecological restoration and soil erosion control, and they play important role in reducing greenhouse gases and nutrient losses from soils.

Read more :

http://hub.africabiosciences.org/activities/research/302-climate-smart-brachiaria-grasses-for-improving-livestock-production-in-east-africa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiaria