Background
Livestock - Environment - Watershed project

he Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative has identified, at a global scale, the consequences of increased demand for animal protein on natural resources. LEAD has highlighted the close interaction between government policies and the environmental impact of livestock production.

Many of the world's grazing areas are threatened with degradation. Livestock production plays a crucial role in the management and utilisation of semi arid and arid lands of India. Under these conditions, animal husbandry is the traditional and major source of livelihood of people with arable farming playing more of a complementary role. Farmers make use of common property resources, pastures and water to keep their animals. In general there is a decrease in overall availability of these resources while there is still an increase in overall livestock numbers. An increase in competition can result in a switch from communal grazing to mixed farming systems, most likely first to crop residues, followed by cut and carry, and feed from farm sub-systems. Changes in the prevalence of systems can be an indication for a response to such a pressure. With population growth, the area under arable crops is expanding. The crops leave straw and weeds after harvest valuable by livestock. But the crop encroachment disrupts pastoral areas, causing artificially local grazing pressure and an irregular overgrazing. Access to water can be limited by cultivation of river banks, irrigation and sometimes water diversion upstream also large areas of traditional dry season pastures, on soils having the best water-holding capacity, are converted into cropland. Trees usable for browsing are cut to clear fields if they are not traditionally protected in agro-forestry parks.
The principal negative environmental impact of livestock in semi-arid zones is land degradation with reduction of vegetative cover, increase in soil erosion, artificial increase in aridity by run-off, sometimes encroachment of pasture by weeds and exotic scrubs, and the loss of domestic animal biodiversity. Rapid depletion of natural resources, more especially the common property resources, partly due to growing human and livestock population and due to adoption of non sustainable practices, have seriously affected the poor, marginalized and landless people, especially women, who have depended on these resources for maintenance of their livestock and their own livelihood.

Watersheds have become recognised as a key and discrete development unit in rural development. To achieve sustainable increase of productivity and management, integrated approaches have been recommended. The intensification and diversification of production is viewed from a livelihood perspective. For sustainable livelihoods, the trade-off between agricultural productivity, equity and sustainability is critical. A preliminary study on Livestock-Environment Interactions in Watersheds in India concluded that the Watershed Development Policy of the Government of India does not include a livestock component. Because of this, livestock is not systematically included in watershed management projects and the socio-economic and environmental importance of livestock is not analysed. The need to fill this void calls for an in depth study of the actual policy framework and recommendations for to improve the design and policies of future programmes.

The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, (SDC) Natural Resources Management concept paper for India states as its goal to “contribute to the sustainable improvement of livelihood systems of the rural households in the rain fed areas through increased productivity of natural resources by improved land use management, including livestock production and dairying”. In pursuit of this goal SDC has been a pioneer in introducing innovations and new concepts in watershed development since the mid-nineteen eighties, through Participative Integrated Development of Watersheds. The merging of the land use and livestock development programmes under one natural resources management sector is of particular relevance for the watershed development programme. Various collaboration programmes on watershed development have been launched, with Government and Non Government partners, in the States of Karnataka, Andrah Pradesh and Rajasthan. A study on relationships and interaction between the changes livestock production system and the environmental effects on communal and individual land use/crop and animal productivity in watersheds would provide additional insight in watershed management by the people and would be an important input for programme development.

For the LEAD Initiative one of the critical "hotspots" of the livestock and environment interaction is the watershed and land degradation. To achieve a sustainable livestock production and to encourage stewardship of resources, the people that depend on the land for their livelihood must have a say in, and more responsibility for its management. Measures must also be adopted to improve marketing and institutions for drought preparedness and to ensure access rights to grazing and water resources.

The LEAD Initiative has assembled a wide array of design and planning tools to assist the decision making process on sustainable issues related to the interaction livestock, environment and development. These tools include impact analysis programs, predictive computer models, geographical information systems, databases, socio economic analysis programs and relevant information material. One of these tools is the Livestock and Environment Toolbox which helps the decision makers to identify appropriate technology and policy interventions within the domain of animal production-environment interactions. The Toolbox is still very general and the need for modules for specific cases has risen in several case studies. A set of decision support tools including a module of the Toolbox for watershed management in India would be a powerful aid to introduce the livestock and environment interaction concept to fill the existent policy void.

Rationale for the study in the context of the watersheds

Watersheds in the Indian context have come to be acknowledged as key and discrete units in rural development. Integrated Watershed Development Programs have clearly established that they are an important vehicle to achieve the objectives of: 1) increases in production and availability of food, fodder and fuel, 2) restoration of agro ecological balance and, 3) in improving the livelihood status of the village communities.

The intensification and diversification of production systems in watersheds has to be viewed from a livelihood perspective. For sustainable livelihoods, the trade off between productivity, equity and sustainability is critical.

Various collaborative watershed development projects (WDPs) have been implemented in India, involving Government and NGO partners in many states. These in general are believed to have brought out certain changes in livestock production systems also, involving shift from extensive system with low productive stock to stall-fed systems with relatively high producing animals, using increased quantity of forages, improved use of Common Property Resources including upper marginal areas, improvement of livestock management systems. This, of course, may not be true in all situations. Watershed development programmes are often not recognized as providing substantial benefits to livestock-based livelihood dependence, especially through enhanced productivity of biomass that is or should be accessible to marginal farmers or landless.

Presently the general scenario witnessed in most of watersheds is that increased emphasis is placed on soil and water conservation efforts in preference to productivity linked best agronomic practices.

Similarly livestock production is often not complementing crop production to the desirable extent. Often, fodder is not grown as a part of crop rotation, which otherwise would enhance soil fertility and reduce the incidence of pests and diseases. Nor are crop by products sufficiently valued as feed inputs for livestock.

Though livestock is generally considered as of high importance particularly for resource poor families, there is a lack of an explicitly spelled out priority. If at all included, livestock activities are considered under income generating activities, restricting its perspective and focus, under watershed programmes.

Though the importance of livestock in watershed management is generally recognized, there is a conspicuous absence of data and analysis on watershed management- livestock interaction at the strategic, institutional as well as on the operational level. As a matter of fact livestock does not seem to be considered a priority in the relevant strategy papers.

This deficit corresponds also with the lack of systematic research and documentation of livestock activities in government and donor sponsored projects in India. In relation to small ruminants, there is a wide spread bias concerning their negative role on environment. Small animals such as poultry and pigs are not treated at all.

Livestock's interaction (directly and indirectly) with the natural resources is neglected in strategy and policy, particularly with reference to addressing the issues on rural poor and poverty and gender. But the critical issue is to ensure that such interactions do not lead to depletion of natural resources, which will be inimical to the development of both the livestock and natural resources.

There is a fast growing demand for livestock products and theincreasing dependency on livestock for sustainable livelihood systems in the developing countries, particularly in the rural areas. Therefore, a critical understanding of and the need for evolving appropriate measures to promote livestock while preserving the natural resource base is imminent for countries such as India.

The theme Livestock Environment Interactions (LEI), itself is quite new and there is a general lack of information on the theme. The levels of awareness and interest on LEI, among the field level workers, NGOs, Research institutions, Donor agencies and Government agencies seem to be rather poor. There is a great need to promote this awareness and interest among the above and to bring greater conceptual clarity and broad perspective, on the theme in India and with implications for other countries/ regions where investments in watershed development are likely to have an impact on natural resource based livelihoods including livestock.

Working hypotheses

Livestock keeping is of prime importance in semi-arid areas for the livelihood of resource poor households and the sustainability of agriculture based production systems.

The management of CPR (access, changing size, productivity) is critical to livelihood security.

Watershed management activities contribute to the increase of income from livestock on a sustainable basis, i. e. without the depletion of natural resources.

Through participatory approaches and promotion of the organization of the stakeholders in a watershed the productivity of land based Common Property Resources has improved and the access by resource poor households has become more equitable.

Benefits from livestock keeping are invested in the sustainable management of natural resources.