Integrated livestock systems in Nepal and Indonesia : implications for animal traction programs in west Africa

This paper, prepared by members of the West African Animal Traction Networkshop Committee on the basis of their participation in the Second Crop-Livestock Systems Research and Monitoring Tour of Nepal and Indonesia, reports the lessons African farmers can learn from their Asian counterparts. These include, inter alia, that: (1) animal traction can be profitably used in highly intensive farms of small area, even when population pressures are high; (2) expensive metal plows are not required for successful animal traction; (3) work oxen and milking animals can be effectively zero grazed where free grazing may result in crop damage; and (4) forage trees can provide a valuable contribution to the feeding of draft animals and other ruminants while helping to control erosion and contributing to fuelwood production. Detailed discussions of animal traction procedures in Nepal and Indonesia are included. A 57-item bibliography (1978-86) and 19 illustrations are appended.