Journal of Fisheries & Livestock Production
Open Access

The livestock sector remains a major contributor to rural livelihoods and the national economies of many West African nations. At least 100 million poor people including women in West Africa rely on livestock as part of their livelihood strategy.

In the arid and semiarid agro-ecological zones of West Africa, livestock husbandry provides the main source of employment for the majority of the people and is by far the most important source of revenue. For both crop farmers and pastoralists, livestock serve as a productive asset to generate income, and form a key element in food security strategies in many countries.It is reported that the changing frequency of extreme climate conditions such as droughts and floods has had greater impacts on livestock and the associated livelihoods than average trends from climate change (that is, average change in precipitation and temperature).

Constraints which limit productivity of dairy cows in such production systems are multifactorial (Speedy and Sansoucy, 1991) and a comprehensive management package should be developed accordingly. There is an urgent need to adapt dairy production and to devise strategies to further improve productivity in this system. The survey also obtained on-farm information on seasonal changes in potential pasture production and herd requirements. This information can establish an on-farm feed plan.

The results of this study, which have been reported in section 4, provide estimates of the possible demand for fishmeal and fish oil if the culture of carnivorous aquatic species continues to expand at similar rates to historical values. These projections are also dependent on the accuracy of the assumptions that have been made on the future levels of commercial aqua feed use, marine resource inclusion, and feed conversion efficiency.The replacement of fishmeal will probably occur less rapidly in developing countries than in developed countries. Environmental and ethical concerns, as well as economic factors, are likely to become important more rapidly in developed countries.

There is substantial evidence that climate change is already impacting West African livestock, fishery and crop production sectors and would continue to have disastrous effects in the future if appropriate mitigation and adaptive measures are not in place.While policy developments are advancing, governments would have to raise the levels of national agricultural investments and create adequate and effective financial mechanisms to achieve large-scale landscape adoption of CSA. Further, research for development and dissemination of CSA technologies has to be intensified in the region.