A short-term improved fallow system based on forage legumes for enhancing crop and livestock components of mixed farming systems was tested in the subhumid zone of West Africa. As part of the evaluation, the ability of 11 legume species (Centrosema macrocarpum, C. pubescens, Stylosanthes guianensis, Pueraria phaseoloides, Mucuna pruriens, Zornia glabra, Dioclea guianensis, Arachis pintoi, Aeschynomene histrix, Calopogonium caeruleum, Flemingia macrophylla) to accumulate biomass and nitrogen after dry season harvest of herbage was assessed at 2 sites in south-west Nigeria.

In a short-term improved fallow for crop-livestock farming systems of subhumid west Africa, rotational effects from a range of forage legumes on a subsequent maize crop were studied at two sites in south-west Nigeria. Nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) export from the fallows in the form of dry season herbage and subsequent nutrient accumulation in the green manure biomass were correlated with growth patterns of maize subsequently grown on the legume plots.

The purpose of the project "Increasing livestock productivity in mixed crop-livestock systems in South Asia" is to develop a crop-livestock typology that will ultimately improve the effectiveness of technical and socio-economic interventions aimed at improving animal performance and protecting the natural resource base at farm level in South Asia.

The Borana people are the predominant ethnic group on the Borana plateau in southern Ethiopia. Though traditionally transhumant pastoralists, they have recently increased their reliance on crops. Rainfall in the region averages between 353 and 873 mm; variability is high, with coefficients of variation ranging from 0.21 to 0.68. Anecdotal evidence implies that the vulnerability of pastoralist households to drought is increasing; stock levels increase dramatically during good rainfall years but plummet when rainfall is poor, indicating that the drought cycle is becoming more pronounced.

The aim of this workshop was to consider methods of immunisation against East Coast Fever (ECF) and other forms of T. parva infection using the infection and treatment method or infection without treatment, and to identify needs for further research to improve vaccine quality and suitability; to consider present and future demands for T. parva vaccine and how these can be met; to review recent progress in developing alternative vaccines for the control of theileriosis caused by T. parva, to consider related research needs, and to identify training and information needs.

Forest resources share attributes with many other resource systems that make difficult their governance and management in a sustainable, efficient and equitable manner. Destruction or degradation of forest resources is most likely to occur in open-access forests where those involved, or external authorities, have not established effective governance. Conventional theories applied to forest resources presumed that forest users themselves were incapable of organizing to overcome the temptations to overharvest.

A project proposal whose aim is to promote more appropriate resource management on smallholder crop-livestock farms in East Africa is described. Prototypes of mixed farming systems will be developed to characterise farming systems according to their management objectives. These prototypes will then be used to map improvements of the farming systems by combining prototyping and simulation modelling. Scenarios will be explored to assess natural resource management interventions that promote sustainability of these prototype-farming systmes.

Livestock kept or produced in smallholder farming systems are an important component of the agricultural economy in the developing world. The role of livestock on smallholder farms varies widely, providing draught power for crop production or as a production activity for subsistence needs or market sale under systems ranging from extensive pastoralist to intensive, peri-urban feeder and dairy systems.