Thanks for the good comments. There are opportunities for both grasses and legumes in SSA. I am seeing a lot of interest in the NRM value of forage legumes in this and other comments so we will try to build this in to our forage research agenda to better serve our users. Alan has posted the forages into use idea in the ideas pool so I hope you and others will ‘like’ that activity so we can get some resources to move forages off the shelf into use.

There is scope to develop appropriate varieties of lucerne for feeding chickens and other monogastrics.

Isabelle- From my viewpoint we can’t say that a forage/animal/tree genotype is “climate smart”, but we can use those as part of “climate smart interventions”. In the case of forages and tree fodders, there are some genotypes (species/cultivars/accessions) that are more tolerant to drought, others to flooding, or to some biotic constraints (i.e., insects, pests), and those are some of the problems associated to climate change. Then my point is that the selection of the proper genotype could be a component of a “climate smart interventions”. That is the beauty of having the forage collections characterized, because databases can be consulted to find a genotype that tailors a given constraint.

Links with the systems CRPs, L& F, LIVES and Africa Rising are important feedback loops to ensure upstream research is meeting farmers and systems needs for forages to drive the bioscience research agenda.

Interesting and difficult questions. There could be potential in smallholder non-commercial systems like free range pigs and chickens but it really depends on the economics, tradeoffs for land and labour and what other feeds are available and at what price. If land can be more profitably used for growing food crops then I doubt that smallholders would grow forages, especially in intensive systems where land is in short supply. There could be opportunities for production of forages through inter-cropping, relay cropping or using field borders to supplement the feed supply. I doubt forages can compete with low cost cassava as feed or sweet potato vines in Asia but there could be opportunities for forages in free grazing pigs in pig systems in Uganda if the market price supports using more inputs in these systems. Generally we see forages being used in cut and carry dairy systems where it is economically feasible to grow forages for feed. NRM values are always a benefit but again is the benefit economically more attractive than using available resources for crops?

Hi Jean, I think the most important gender components are, as you say, at the household level, when establishing crop or trait preferences, and then in the delivery component. Also, when e.g. storing the material in gene banks, it could be interesting to also add a ‘gender-sensitive’ household characterization that given crops and varieties are most relevant for, as mentioned in my first comment.

Danilo- I’m not quite getting your point, about “It is clear that there are not “climate smart” forage species, rather forage diversity can and should be used in “climate smart interventions”…. no silver bullet there?? 😉 this point needs more elaboration (at least for my understanding!)