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Sustainable Crop-Livestock Systems for the Bolivian Highlands.
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edited by Corinne Valdivia |
Back |
Sustainable Crop-Livestock Systems for the Bolivian Highlands.
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|
edited by Corinne Valdivia |
Most of the world's small ruminants live in the world's arid and semi-arid zones. It is in these regions where the fortunes of the rural poor depend most heavily on livestock production. Small ruminants, sheep, goats, alpaca and llama are particularly important for livelihood of small rural producers in these regions. This is particularly true in areas characterized by "agro-pastoralism", the combination of livestock and rainfed crop production. Crop production in these areas is the most important source of livelihood, but it is also a risky endeavor. Crops and animals alike are threatened by frequent droughts. Livestock often play a crucial role in these systems because they are the only "perennial crop" that farmers have. They can utilize native rangelands and the residues of failed crops and provide the capital reserves needed to meet financial emergencies.
While animal production is important for the economic survival of farmers living in drought prone environments, there is some question as to whether production systems in such areas are themselves sustainable. Periodic droughts that expose soils to erosion, clearing of fragile soils for crop production, and overgrazing, all contribute to the deterioration of these production systems.
While agropastoral systems contain the largest numbers of animals and people in the arid and semi-arid regions, relatively little research on the sustainability of these systems has been conducted. Studies have either concentrated on the use of natural pastures by domesticated animals or upon the impacts of crop production on soils. Thus past research has avoided examination of the most important part of any agropastoral production system--the interaction between crops and animals. The articles found in this book are the first step toward a study of agropastoral systems in the Bolivian Altiplano.
The SR-CRSP is a research program on small ruminant production sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program involves 10 U.S. institutions and counterpart research institutes in Kenya, Morocco, Indonesia and Bolivia. SR-CRSP research is intended to improve the production and utilization of small ruminant products by small farmers and the rural poor. The U.S. institutions involved in the semi-arid agropastoral research are Texas Tech University, University of Missouri-Columbia, Utah State University, and Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development. The University of California-Davis is the management entity of all the SR-CRSP.
Research on sustainable agropastoral systems has been a major program area of the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program (SR-CRSP) since 1989. At that time it was recognized that there was a need for new approaches to the sustainable management of Third World rangelands. Most attempts to develop pasture management systems in the Third World over the past 30 years had failed, and there was a pressing need for new approaches to the protection of these fragile environments. At the same time, theoretical developments in arid land ecology, had called into question the basis for many of the techniques used by resource managers in drought prone areas. Thus research on sustainable agro-pastoral systems was seen as an important area for small ruminant research.
After searching the globe for possible research sites of an agro-pastoral research program, Bolivia was chosen as the site for this effort. A memorandum of understanding was signed in 1991 between the SR-CRSP and IBTA (Instituto Boliviano de Tecnología Agropecuaria) to begin research on Bolivian agro-pastoral systems. One of the first steps toward developing a research program in Bolivia was to familiarize U.S. scientists with the latest thinking on agricultural sustainability under semi-arid conditions, and research on small ruminant agro-pastoral production systems, their ecology, and internal dynamics. Previous research in Peru had shown feed resource as a main constraint to livestock production.
The mechanism chosen to do this was a workshop. Presenters were experts on Bolivian agro-pastoral production systems, the ecology as well as their dynamics and constraints, and scientists who could outline recent methodological and theoretical developments relevant to the study of agro-pastoral systems in arid environments. Seven papers were commissioned to serve as the basis of discussions at the workshop about critical research issues in the Bolivian Altiplano. Bolivian, U.S., and Peruvian researchers and potential participants in the SR-CRSP in Bolivia participated in the discussions. This volume contains these papers.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that in many ways made the workshop possible. We would like to acknowledge the presenters for their excellent job. In Texas Tech we need to thank Fred Bryant and his team, among them Morty Ortega, for the organization of the logistics, and making us all feel welcome. In Missouri we need to thank JoAnne Williams for all her work to get all of us (Bolivians included) there. We appreciate Joyce Turk, and John Malechek, for accepting the role of chairpersons, and Eduardo Segarra for facilitating the discussions. We also thank Keith Jamtgaard for conducting the panel discussions, and Peter Burfening, Arturo Flórez and Domingo Martínez for their participation as panelists. We also appreciate the participation of Constance McCorkle who was in the original planing of this workshop. Contents of this Volume
Even though the SR-CRSP will conduct its research on agro-pastoral systems in Bolivia, the programs goal is a global one. Consequently it was important to identify research issues which would contribute to the sustainable development of agro-pastoral systems in drought prone areas throughout the world. In order to achieve this objective, two types of papers were commissioned --three papers which took a broad theoretical perspective and four which focussed specifically on Bolivia. Workshop discussions were directed towards developing linkages between the two types of papers.
The first three papers were commissioned from persons who are recognized experts in the areas of ecological theory, sustainable agriculture and farming systems research. The purpose of these papers was to focus the attention of those interested in the Bolivia research program on issues that had global importance. The first paper in this group is that of James Ellis. Ellis outlines the recent theoretical developments in ecological theory which served as the catalyst for the development of the SR-CRSP research program on sustainable agriculture. Next Thurman Grove and Clive Edwards provide us with a general framework for studying agricultural systems, the interrelationship between animals and crops and the sustainability of these systems. David Norman's paper builds upon his considerable experience with farming systems research and discusses ways for integrating social, economic, biological and ecological data in order to understand the logic of production systems. Norman also discusses how theories of household or peasant economics contribute to this process.
The four papers specifically concerned with Bolivia were designed to give an overview of the nature of agro-pastoral systems in the Bolivian highlands. Deborah Caro's chapter presents three types of livestock production systems in the Bolivian Altiplano. She describes the dynamics of these systems as well as the constraints faced by producers in each one of them. Juan Carlos Quiroga's paper gibes an overview of the ecology of Bolivia with special reference to soils. climate and physical features. Michael Painter looks at changing patterns of land use in the Bolivian Highland and indicates what the impact of these changes has been on agro-pastoral production systems. Both the Caro and the Painter papers discuss the implications of their findings for agro-pastoral development. The final paper in this group, by Humberto Alzérreca, gives an overview of Bolivian research to date on small ruminants and on Bolivian pastures and ranges.
Together the seven papers assembled in this volume, represent an excellent statement about the state of our knowledge of research on the sustainability of production systems in drought-prone areas, as well as the nature of agro-pastoral systems in highland Bolivia. We hope that these papers will be of as great a use to their readers as they were to the participants in the Lubbock workshop.