Best practices in pasture management: Pasture Improvement

Revitalize Your Pastures, Sustain Your Livestock

This technology aims to maintain the best species and support their productivity in managed tracts of land known as pastures. These areas receive intensive inputs like fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation, distinguishing them from less intensively managed rangelands. Various approaches are employed, including controlling weedy patches, partially disturbing the land, and sowing improved grasses and legumes. Additional methods encompass under sowing croplands with grazing plant species, establishing shrub hedgerows along pasture margins, and planting grasses with high productive capacity.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

7•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 7/9; level of use 8/9

Project adoption1

Technology integrated in the ENSURE project.

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ENSURE
Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension

Kenya
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Uganda
Tanzania

Direct: 3,000,000

13.14 million

2024–2027

149,940 farmers trained
9,996 Training
2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected
350 agent trained

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive medium

The poor: Positive high

Under 18: Positive low

Women: Positive medium

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Limited access to affordable feed: Small livestock producers may depend on costly purchased feed when local pasture resources are insufficient.
Insufficient forage availability: Poor pasture management can limit the quantity of nutritious feed available to livestock.
Pasture degradation: Overgrazing and inadequate management can reduce the availability of productive forage species.
Weed invasion: Increasing weed pressure can reduce pasture productivity and the quality of available forage.
Challenges in pasture establishment: Producers may face difficulties selecting suitable species and applying appropriate establishment techniques.
Limited knowledge and skills: Farmers may lack the practical knowledge required for pasture establishment, weed control, reseeding, grazing management, and continuous pasture improvement.

Solution

Increased forage availability: Improved grasses and legumes provide additional sources of nutritious feed for small livestock producers.
Reduced feed costs: Locally produced pasture forage can reduce farmers’ dependence on expensive purchased feed.
Improved pasture productivity: Reseeding, improved species, weed control, and appropriate grazing practices help maintain productive forage resources.
Climate-adapted pasture establishment: Species selection is adjusted to local climate and agroecological conditions to improve establishment and productivity.
Improved livestock nutrition: Better availability of quality forage supports livestock nutrition, weight gain, and milk production.
Transfer of practical knowledge: The technology provides guidance on pasture assessment, input application, establishment, monitoring, grazing management, and continuous improvement.

Key points to design your program

Pasture Improvement increases feed availability, improves livestock productivity, and strengthens climate-resilient grazing systems through the establishment and management of improved forage resources. The technology can be integrated into livestock development, food security, climate resilience, sustainable land management, and rural livelihood programs. Its adoption contributes to SDG 1, 2,13 and 15 .

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess pasture conditions, feed shortages, soil fertility, grazing pressure, and livestock production challenges in target communities.
Facilitate access to improved pasture seeds, fertilizers, irrigation systems, and pasture management inputs adapted to local agroecological conditions and livestock systems.
Support training for livestock keepers, cooperatives, extension agents, women’s groups, and youth enterprises on pasture establishment, grazing management, forage conservation, weed control, and sustainable land management practices.
Invest in demonstration sites, pasture rehabilitation activities, extension services, and climate advisory systems to improve adoption of improved pasture technologies.
Promote the establishment of improved grasses, legumes, and climate-resilient forage species to increase feed availability, improve animal nutrition, and enhance livestock productivity.
Support the participation of women and youth in forage production, seed multiplication, and livestock enterprises to strengthen livelihoods and create employment opportunities.
Establish partnerships with ILRI, research institutes, livestock cooperatives, extension services, seed suppliers, and private sector actors to support scaling and sustainability.
Track key indicators such as pasture productivity, livestock weight gain, milk production, feed shortages, land condition, and adoption of improved pasture practices.

IP

Open source / open access

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology's development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology's readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 7 out of 9

Semi-controlled environment: prototype

Level of use 8 out of 9

Used by some intended users, in the real world

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Countries	Beneficiaries	Budget (USD) & duration	Key figures
ENSURE Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	Kenya Rwanda Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda Tanzania	Direct: 3,000,000	13.14 million 2024–2027	149,940 farmers trained 9,996 Training 2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected 350 agent trained

Project

Countries

Beneficiaries

Budget (USD) & duration

Key figures

ENSURE
Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension

Kenya
Rwanda
Burundi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
South Sudan
Uganda
Tanzania

Direct: 3,000,000

13.14 million

2024–2027

149,940 farmers trained
9,996 Training
2→3.5 tons/ha cereals production expected
350 agent trained

Figures in italic are from project plans and may change during implementation.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Mali	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Niger	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
South Sudan	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid		–		–
Subhumid	–		–
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

Assessment and Planning: Evaluate the specific pasture conditions, considering factors like soil type, climate, and existing vegetation.
Input Application: Apply necessary inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation, with consideration of the identified needs of the pasture.
Implementation of Improvement Techniques: Carry out techniques like controlling weedy patches, partial land disturbance, and sowing improved grasses and legumes. Additional methods may include under sowing croplands, establishing shrub hedgerows, and planting high-productivity grasses.
Monitoring and Management: Regularly monitor the progress of pasture improvement, assessing factors like plant growth, weed control, and overall productivity.
Implement management practices such as re-seeding, weeding, slashing, and controlled grazing to maintain optimal conditions.
Balanced Feeding and Grazing Management: Ensure that livestock have access to balanced nutrition from improved pastures, while avoiding overgrazing to prevent degradation.
Adaptation and Continuous Improvement: Adjust strategies based on feedback and changing environmental conditions, optimizing pasture productivity over time.