Mixed Farming :Scop e and Constraints inWes tAfrica n Savanna Promotor: Dr. Ir. H.va nKeule n Hoogleraar bijd eleerstoelgroe p PlantaardigeProductiesysteme n y-f- 'i, Mixed Farming :Scop e and Constraints inWes tAfrica n Savanna Maja Slingerland Proefschrift Terverkrijgin gva nd egraa dva ndocto r opgeza gva nd erecto r magnificus vanWageninge nUniversiteit , dr. CM.Karssen , inhe topenbaa r te verdedigen opvrijda g2 Jun i 2000 desnamiddag st evie r uur ind eAul a ThesisWageninge n University, ISBN 90-5808-242-3 Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences Also published inTropica l Resource Management Papers, No. 34 (2000) ISSN0926-949 5 Thecompletio n ofthi sPh D thesis was financially supported byWageninge n University Cover design:Pie t Kostense &Maj a Slingerland Coverphotos : Maja Slingerland &Georg e Bazie RIB!!'.;': i il;,:K VVACFM\K:r\' 0 ,(JSI,« ° Propositions 1. Only wealthier farmers can and will become mixed farmers. This thesis 2. Resource-poor farmers and semi-nomadic pastoralists must be stimulated to participate in technology development, so that they can influence the research agenda and be co- responsible for development and extension of technologies adressing their specific needs. This thesis 3. You can not sell a cow and drink its milk. A proverb 4. Appropriate credit facilities at farm level are a prerequisite for optimal animal production and undisturbed integration of crop and livestock production on mixed farms. This thesis 5. A cart should be considered more important in mixed farming than a plough. This thesis 6. Mossi crop farmers and Fulani herdmen use different strategies to cope with uncertainties such as unreliable rainfall conditions: Mossi increase control over scarce resources whereas Fulani increase mobility to track changes and find the scarce resources. This thesis 7. Mixed farming and population growth lead to a decrease in quantity and quality of animal feed for herds of Fulani herdsmen, and thus endanger their production. This thesis 8. A mixture of different farming systems, rather than an unique mixed farming model, is needed to satisfy the variety of societal needs. This thesis 9. Farming systems development isno t so much explained by climatic conditions, soil type and other natural factors, but can be explained on the basis of differences in population density. Boserup, 1965 10. More people will imply smaller shares for each, not only in terms of food but also in terms of government services such as schooling and health care. Malthus, 1798 11. Classification of farming systemsbase d on farm household characteristics isa sdifficul t as making client profiles based on information onclientcard s in supermarkets becausei ti s verydifficul t toderiv eone smotive sfrom one sbehaviour . Anonymus 12. Alsmense nt egerin g inaanta l zijn, lopenz egevaa r hun onafhankelijkheid teverliezen ,e n alsz et etalrij k zijn, hun vrijheid. Aristoteles 13. Het isnie tt ehope n datd estrij d tussen Kai'ne nAbe l alsvoorbeel d dient voord erelati e tussen Mossie nFulani . 14. Onthaasten? Sorry, geen tijd voorgehad . Robvan den Berg, in:Boeken, in NRCHandelsblad 31 december 1999 15. Infutur e theonl ymobilit y left forFulan i mayb eth emobil etelephone . Propositions associatedwith the PhD thesis of Maja Slingerland: Mixedfarming: Scope and Constraints in the WestAfrican Savanna. Wageningen,Jun e2 ,200 0 To - My parents Cor Slingerland and GreRo s - My partner AndiTa n - Thefamil y of Dr. AdamaTraor e Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank Leo Stroosnijder, who is the project leader of the program "Management ofNatura l Resources inth e Sahel", ajoin t research program of theUniversit y of Wageningen, the Netherlands and the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. He stimulated me to write a PhD proposal, allowed me to dedicate a considerable part of my working time at theAntenne Sahelienne tom y PhDresearch , and facilitated my annual visitst o theNetherland s for supervision andliteratur eresearch . Many thanks go to Herman van Keulen who accepted me as PhD candidate and supported me through the entire process of writing,from th e proposal through some articles to the final thesis. As an authority on the Sahel he fully understood the issues at stake and he supervised the contents of the thesis. As a warm and open person he coached me with full understanding for deadlinesan dtemporar y set-backs.H e showed highpersona l involvement and was a useful discussion partner, especially with regard to possibilities for development in the Saheliancountries . Some of the data used in this thesis have been derived from work performed by other scientists participating in the 'Management of Natural Resources' program. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Jan de Graaff who allowed me to use his extensive database concerning the villages Kaibo Sud V5, Yakin and Barce and who was co-author of one of the articles (Section 5.4 inChapte r 5).I highl yappreciat eth ecollaboratio n withMa xRietker k inth e researchi nNazino n forest, andi nwritin gth earticl ebase do ni t(Sectio n 7.3 in Chapter 7).I ow e thanks to Michel Mulders, Johan Leenaars and Willem Hoogmoed for basic data on soils and rainfall (Chapter2) . I specially want to thank Teunis van Rheenen who initiated me in scientific writing and isco-autho r of four articles (Chapter 5).H e also provided the output of the SHARES model for chapter 2 and the associated comments. He has a very stimulating personality and a contagious enthusiasm which arebot hhighl y appreciated. Special thanks also go to Jan Willem Nibbering who is at the basis of many ideas that have been elaborated in Chapter 5 and who is also co-author of four articles. His fine-tuning throughjudiciou s corrections andcritica lquestion simprove d thearticle s tremendously. Also, Iwoul d like to express my gratitude to the following students who participated in severalresearc htheme san dwithou twho mthi sthesi swoul dno thav ebee npossible : R.Meuldijk , J. Suurmond, S.va nDonge nan dM .va nVee n forresearc h on farming systemsan d farmers motives (Chapter 4); G.J. Prins, A.M. de Ruiter, G. Tapsoba for research on the financing role of livestock (Chapter 5); W. van Waveren for research on animal traction (Chapter 6);F . Elskamp, S. van den Berg, Kelly Smeets and Herald Hiemstra for research on behaviour of goats, sheep and cattle on pasture (Chapter 7); Adama Ouedraogo and Ruben Blijdorp for theresearc h onDetarium microcarpum inNazino n forest (Chapter7) . Many University staff was involved inth e supervision of these students and I owethe m my gratitude: Ignas Heitkonig, Pieter Kettner, Henk Udo, Ton Cornelissen, Henk Moll, Jan Neuteboom, Gerrit Zemmelink, all from Wageningen University and Jelte van Andel from Groningen University. I would particularly like to thank Ype Poortenga from the University of Tilburg, who agreed to sent and supervise two students studying cross cultural psychology to conduct studies to support mywork . I also want to thank Hennie Halm for the analysis of the vegetation samples in the laboratory ofth e Department of Agronomy. The people working at the AntenneSahelienne have made the office feel like a second home for me during the 6 years I spent in Burkina Faso. Therefore, I like to thank Wim van Driel, Joop Begemann, Paul Kiepe, Rose Nikiema, Abdoulaye Mando, Moumini Savadogo, Adama Belimvire, Roger Kabore, Marie-Louise Nebie, Sylvie Bi-Lani, Antoine Ouedraogo, Moussa Sidibe (Bala), Philipe Yanogo, Andre Ruamba, Damien, Salif, Laurent, Baba, the cleaners, the guards. Many thanks go to all local assistants that have participated in the gatheringo fdata ,bu t especiallyBoureim aDiallo ,Ouma r Sonde,Rouk y Sonde,Sylvi aNikiema , Monique Damiba and Filomene Sorgho. Lastly, but not least, I am grateful to Adama Belemvire,wh owa ss okin dt oprepar e someo fth emap s forme . Additionally, I highly appreciate the discussions and social get-togethers with Arie Jongejan and Hans Schoolkate, who hosted and facilitated me in Manga. Thanks to them co­ operationwit hth ePDI/ Zprojec t andnationa l serviceswa s easy. Ials oow ethank st o thepeopl e of the Dutch Embassy in Ouagadougou, many of which became colleagues and friends. I am specially thinking of Danielle and Marco, Jan Kees and Myrthe, Chris and Richard, Ingrid and Arthur, andSonia . All people from INERA, DSAP, CNSF, CIRAD, ORSTOM, IDR, UO, CIRDES, ICRISAT, ILRI, LARENSTEIN,ICRAF , etc.tha t provided me with data, advises and criticism arehighl y appreciated for their contribution. Finally, I like to thank all Mossi and Fulani livestock owners and crop producers that collaborated, although they knew that the research would not generate results that were directly applicable and beneficial to them. They not only collaborated but also shared their homes, food and thoughts with me andmad e me feel atease . None of this work could have been performed without the long-lasting support of my partner, Andi Tan,m y family, andm y friends Eltje and Erik, Ronald and Marianne, Frank and Dieuwke,Pau l and Monique, to namejus t some of them. Their faith inth e accomplishment of this work kept me going, their moral support kept me optimistic, ourjoine d holidays kept me relaxed. Table of contents 1 General introduction:policy ,cro pan dlivestoc kproductio n 1 2 Spatial andtempora l heterogeneity ofnatura lresource san d landus ei nth estud yare a(Kaib oi nZoundweog oprovince ) 21 3 Institutional environment:Agricultura l Knowledge Systems 37 4 Farming systems development inWes tAfrica n Savanna: criteria,concept s anddrive s 51 5 Financing roleo flivestoc k 88 6 Exploring thepotentia l ofanima l traction inth eNort h 157 Sudanzon e ofBurkin a Faso 7 Villageterritor y landus e for grazingan d fuel wood 169 8 General discussion 213 9 Conclusions andrecommendation s 243 References 251 Summary 275 Samenvatting 279 Resume 285 Curriculum vitae 291 1 Generalintroduction :Policy ,cro pan dlivestoc k production Introduction In West Africa, and in particular in the Sahelian countries, crop and animal production depend largely on factors that can hardly be influenced by farmers, researchers, extension workerso rnationa lpoliticians .