Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for Next Generation (RISING) project has conducted action research on livestock feed and forages starting in 2012 to bridge gaps on feed availability and quality. The objectives of this paper are to share approaches on how Africa RISING project enabled smallholder farmers to intensify feed and forage resources; present research findings of selected cultivated forages, fodder trees, and postharvest feed and forage utilization innovations; and highlight key lessons evolving from the feed and forage action research and scaling interventions. The project established partnership with CGIAR and local partners, conducted participatory need assessment, prioritized researchable issues, identified and validated different forages and utilization innovations, and created development partnership to facilitate wider scaling. Training activities and multistakeholder platforms were used to enhance cross learning of project partners. The cultivated forages grown under farmers’ fields and management conditions provided high biomass yield of good nutritional quality. For instance, oat (Avena sativa L.)–vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) mixture, lablab [Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet], vetch–desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) intercropping, sweet lupin (Lupinus albus L.), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), and fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L.) yielded on average 15, 3.4, 5.5, 2.9, 15.3, and 20.2 t dry matter ha⁻¹, respectively. Animal response trials showed an increase in milk yield of 30–50% with supplementation of oat–vetch mixture and fodder beet. Feed wastage was considerably reduced (>30%) due to the use of feed troughs and storage sheds, with high economic incentives to invest in such innovations. Integrating and intensifying feed and forage resources and postharvest innovations at farm level remains a priority to improve livestock productivity and food security.

• Rhizobium inoculation & P fertilizer on food-feed traits of grain legumes were studied. • The treatments improved grain and haulm yield of the legumes. • The fodder quality traits improved concomitantly. • The technology provides low cost option to improve whole plant productivity.

The practice of applying fertilizer inputs on an unimproved natural pasture is limited in tropical grasslands. A study was conducted to evaluate the response of degraded natural pasturelands in terms of species composition, forage yield, and quality to the application of different types of fertilizer. The study was conducted in two districts in the central Rift Valley of Ethiopia with contrasting agroecologies. The treatments were control (no application of fertilizer), commercial fertilizer (50 kg urea ha^–1 and 100 kg diammonium phosphate [DAP] ha^–1), cattle manure (7.5 t ha^–1), wood ash (3 t ha^–1), and lime (7.5 t ha^–1). Soil physical properties were not altered following application of the treatments, but chemical properties, including soil pH (P < .01), electroconductivity (EC) (P < .001), total nitrogen (TN), and P (P < .001) were affected. Soil TN increased from 0.11 to 0.32% following the application of cattle manure. The pH increased from 5.9 to 7.3 with wood ash application. Herbage dry matter (DM) yield increased (P < .001) from 1.88 to 6.65 t ha^–1 with chemical fertilizer. The herbage crude protein content increased (P < .01) from 96 to 157 g kg^–1 with manure application. On the other hand, the neutral detergent fiber tended to decrease (P < .05) following manure application. Partial cost‐benefit analysis indicated a positive economic gain from the direct sale of pasture hay for all treatments except for lime. The results indicated that fertilizer inputs offer feasible options to improve pasture productivity and enable rural farmers to benefit from their land resources.

Urochloa grasses have shownpromising results for smallholders to cope with feed shortages in tropical Africa. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of two Urochloa hybrids, Mulato‐I and Mulato‐II, in the Ethiopian highlands when managed under different plant spacing and harvesting stages. Treatments included three plant spacings for root splits (0.5 by 0.25 m, 0.5 by 0.5 m, and 0.75 by 0.75 m between rows and plants, respectively) and three harvesting stages: (a) 60 d of growth; (b) 90 d of growth corresponding to 50% bloom, and (c) 120 d of growth (corresponding to full bloom). Experimental plots were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications, and observations on the same established stands were made in two consecutive years. Varietal differences were observed in plant height (Mulato‐II: 42 cm; Mulato‐I: 72 cm), and herbage accumulation (Mulato‐II: 3.0 Mg dry matter [DM] ha^–1; Mulato‐I: 10.6 Mg DM ha^–1). Plant spacing also affected the above variables, but year of harvest influenced herbage accumulation. The rate of herbage accumulation tended to be constant, while that of crude protein (CP) declined and fiber concentration increased significantly with advancing maturity. Overall, the decline in quality at full bloom stage appears to be compensated by the greater herbage accumulation, suggesting that farmers can have enough time window to harvest the forages. While Mulato‐I was superior in herbage accumulation, Mulato‐II was found to be better in forage quality. The two grasses have potential to supply good quality forage provided proper management practices are applied.

Small-scale cultivation of irrigated fodder is emerging as a vital production system in mixed farming communities. Efficient water management plays a key role in enhancing forage production, especially in the face of changing climate. A field-scale experimental study was conducted in Robit Bata kebele, Ethiopia, with the following objectives: (1) to examine the effects of conventional farmers’ irrigation scheduling versus climate-based irrigation scheduling; and (2) to assess the influence of water-lifting technologies (manual pulley and solar Majipump) on dry matter yield (DMY), water productivity (WP), irrigation labor productivity (ILP), and water productivity in terms of crude protein and metabolizable energy (WP.CP and WP.ME) of Napier grass. The experiment used 10 farmers’ plots each with a size of 100 m². Half of the plots were treated using farmers’ scheduling while the other half were treated using climate-based irrigation scheduling. Monitoring of irrigation water use and crop yield took place over two irrigation seasons from November 2020 to June 2021. Results showed there was an interaction effect of irrigation management (p = 0.019) and water-lifting technologies (p = 0.016) with season on DMY. The highest DMY occurred in the first irrigation season with climate-based scheduling and solar Majipump use. The interaction effect of irrigation management and season affected WP (p = 0.047). Climate-based scheduling had a higher WP in the first season, while farmers’ scheduling had a higher WP during the second season. On average, the solar Majipump outperformed the pulley, achieving 5 kg m⁻³ WP compared to the pulley’s 4 kg m⁻³ (p = 0.018). Emphasizing the seasonal impact, it is recommended to promote full irrigation (climate-based) in the first season for maximum yield and WP. Conversely, in the second season, advocating only deficit irrigation is advised due to water scarcity and sustainability concerns. Statistical parity in DMY and lower WP with full irrigation in the second season supports this recommendation, addressing the challenge of optimizing water use in the context of a changing climate and ensuring sustainable smallholder agriculture practices. Therefore, implementing appropriate irrigation management alongside efficient water-lifting technologies holds the potential to enhance fodder productivity and bolster smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. Future research should explore the comparative benefits of irrigated fodder versus other crops and the overall advantages of investing in irrigated fodder over vegetables.

Duringthe main cropping season, Ethiopian farmers deliberately weed faba bean (Vicia faba L.) fields much later than recommended and use the weed herbage mass as feed. This study examined the rationale behind farmers’ practices and explored options to further improve productivity. The study involved two experiments. The first compared the overall benefit from the traditional weed management regime against the frequent weeding recommendation. Sixty farmers participated, each preparing two plots. The plots were randomly assigned to either traditional (one late weeding) or improved (two early weeding) management. The second examined the suitability of intercropping faba bean with oat (Avena sativa L.). It involved a 5 × 3 factorial experiment, three management practices (traditional, improved, and faba bean oat intercropping) and five faba bean varieties repeated over 3 yr. In the first experiment the improved weed management increased grain yield (2.49 vs. 2.12 Mg ha^–1) compared to the traditional. But the traditional management produced higher (P < .01) weed forage biomass (2.12 vs. 0.27 Mg ha^–1) compared to the improved. The analysis showed the opportunity costs associated with the loss in weed forage biomass were not convincingly offset by the economic gains from increased grain yields. In the second experiment, grain yield was again highest for the improved weed management and lowest for the intercropping. Analysis of economic returns revealed that the intercropping management provides greater benefit over the traditional management practice. Farmers’ decisions have a rational economic basis and building on the traditional practicewith improved forage intercropping would allow to further optimize productivity.