Author Archives: SA

Animal Feeding / Cattle / Central America / CIAT / Climate Change / Dairying / Feeds / Forages / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua

Livestock and Fish science leadership promotes the development of Nicaragua’s livestock sector

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Recently, the Nicaraguan Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA) organized the “First International Congress on Challenges and Opportunities to Increase National Livestock Productivity” in Managua, Nicaragua. Highlighting the collaboration of CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish (L&F) within the model of collaboration based on alliances, dialogue, and consensus promoted by the country’s public sector, members of CIAT’s forages team presented the Program’s contributions to the development of the region’s livestock sector. Continue reading →

Climate-smart sustainable intensification: a business strategy for small cattle farmers in Central America
Animal Feeding / Capacity Development / Capacity Strengthening / Cattle / Central America / CIAT / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Extension / Feeds / Gender / Intensification / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Markets / Nicaragua / Value Chains

Climate-smart sustainable intensification: a business strategy for small cattle farmers in Central America

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Silvopastoral systems provide a broad range of environmental and productive benefits. The presence of trees in farm plots stabilizes hillsides, minimizes erosion, improves the soil’s water retention and nutrient balance, and provides feed and shade for cattle. These practices generate higher milk and meat yields while contributing to the resilience of production systems in the face of climate variability, which is manifesting in increasingly extreme ways in Central America. Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Cattle / Central America / Genetics / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua

Discussing cattle breeding priorities with Nicaraguan dual purpose cattle farmers

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As part of the “More milk and meat through better breeds” project, seeking to increase the productivity of dual-purpose cattle in Nicaragua through the use of appropriate breed types and the application of best husbandry practices, the Livestock and Fish team held focus group discussions in the action sites of Matiguas and Camoapa (Nicaragua). The … Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Cattle / Central America / CIAT / Communications / Dairying / Gender / Latin America / Livestock / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua / Research / Value Chains / Women

Reaching out to Nicaraguan livestock farming communities: ‘Because the farm belongs to all of us’

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Seeking to address issues regarding the way men and women livestock farmers understand and manifest masculinity in their lives by identifying behaviours and dynamics linked to traditional gender roles in rural communities, the Livestock and Fish program recorded two radio vignettes with a group of five community members, in collaboration with Radio Camoapa, a local radio station located in the center-north region of Nicaragua. Continue reading →

Cattle / Central America / CIAT / Gender / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua / Value Chains / Women

Characterizing actors in the dual-purpose cattle value chain in Nicaragua: A gender perspective

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To better understand the roles played by rural women in the dual-purpose cattle value chain in Nicaragua, as well as the institutional context in the territory as it relates to the theme of gender, the team of Livestock and Fish recetny carried out a Characterization and Mapping of Organizations and Actors in the Dual-Purpose Cattle Value Chain in the municipalities of Camoapa and Matiguás. Continue reading →

Capacity Development / Capacity Strengthening / Central America / CGIAR / CIAT / Communications / Crop-Livestock / Environment / Gender / HUMIDTROPICSCRP / Innovation Systems / Intensification / Knowledge & Information / Nicaragua / Value Chains / Women

The value of knowledge in rural development – ‘I also have a right to decide.’

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Increasing the productivity of small-scale production systems to make animal-source foods more readily available to poor consumers is a complex issue which requires a multi-faceted approach. With this concept in mind, scientists are working alongside territorial alliances to generate knowledge and initiatives to improve resource management through research. An example of this initiative, called the Learning Alliance. Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Central America / CIAT / Crop-Livestock / Feeds / Forages / Latin America / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Research

Tropical forage-based systems for climate-smart livestock production in Latin America

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Writing in the November 2014 issue of Rural 21, Livestock and Fish researchers from CIAT argue that tropical forage grasses and legumes as key components of sustainable crop-livestock systems in Latin America and the Caribbean have major implications for improving food security, alleviating poverty, restoring degraded lands and mitigating climate change. Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Cattle / Central America / CGIAR / CIAT / Feeds / Forages / Latin America / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua / Value Chains

Nicaragua’s dual-purpose cattle value chain: Strategy and implementation planning workshop

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On August 5 and 6, 2014, the Livestock and Fish team conducted a Livestock and Fish Strategy and Implementation Planning Workshop for the Dual-Purpose Cattle Value Chain (DPVC) in Managua, Nicaragua. The purpose of this workshop was to generate an exchange with local partners to track ongoing efforts in the value chain development work in … Continue reading →

Cattle / Central America / CIAT / Dairying / Livestock / LIVESTOCK-FISH / Nicaragua

Moving forward on competitive beef and dairy in Nicaragua

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The Central America team of the CGIAR Research Program Livestock and Fish started this year with the launch of the project “Competitive beef and dairy through sustainable intensification and specialized market access in Nicaragua,” with the objective of improving the competitiveness and income of small and medium cattle farmers in Nicaragua through the implementation of good farm management practices and the creation and strengthening of sustainable beef and dairy value chains. Continue reading →