The Borana rangelands of southern Ethiopia are characterised by extensive livestock production in response to the area?s natural characteristics - aggregate mean rainfall ranges between 300 and 900 mm per annum with high seasonal and inter-annual variability. Though traditionally transhumant pastoralists, the Boranas have recently increased their reliance on crops, with evidence of communal pastures becoming either privatised, or accessible to only a small sub-group of individuals or households.

This workshop was conducted to identify and prioritise areas of rumen ecology which are promising for their potential impact on improving nutrition status of tropical ruminants, to develop a rumen ecology research programme for ILRI based on relevance to developing countries and ILRI's comparative advantage vis-a-vis other institutions, to identify potential collaborators in advanced research institutes, and to define model(s) of collaboration.

Poor nutrition because of poor quality feeds and fluctuating feed supply is a major constraint to tropical livestock productivity. The need to supply greater quantities of quality fodder requires development of both new forages and feeding strategies that will enhance the efficiency with which conventional on-farm feed resources are used. Research at ILRI has identified a range of herbaceous forages and fodder tree species which can be used to alleviate the constraints of lack of feed and which can be incorporated as part of sustainable farming systems.

? The Rwanda Dairy Competitiveness Program II

(RDCP) was estimated to have resulted in a

strong decrease in the GHG emissions intensity

of milk production, defined as the GHG

emissions per unit (liter) of milk produced.

Extensive cattle production systems reduced

their GHG emission intensity by an estimated -

4.11 tCO2e per 1000 l of milk (-60%), while

intensive production systems reduced their

intensity by an estimated -1.7 tCO2e/1000 l (-

47%). The decrease in GHG emission intensity

This manual is intended as a teaching aid for extension level technicians. Deals with rural milk processing at individual smallholder or small producers cooperatives levels using experiences from Ethiopia. Concentrates on traditional products, i.e, product that are easily made, need little specialised equipment and easily adapted to the rural processing plant.