ICRISAT Archival Report 2006 - The seedlings of success in the ...

with sub outcropping that geological formations soils with a more distinct horizon development have been found,
mainly calcisols and fluvisols. The sandy landscapes of the Kalahari system are generally flat to rolling: plains
incised by omiramba valleys or alternated with fossil (no longer moving) sand dunes. The most widespread
vegetation type is the Terminalia sericea – Combretum collinum shrubland, covering roughly 80% of the study area.
Three major natural resources land, water and cattle stand out as having much more value than any other in the study
area. Their use and management (or lack thereof) has important consequences for the future of the people and the
environment.
Communal farmers have little or no influence on major environmental, physical, economic or policy factors
affecting their livelihoods. There are however mechanisms that they can use to deal with reduced productivity of
rangelands and to mitigate adverse impacts on their livelihoods. Continuous monitoring and observation of existing
rangeland conditions is essential to detect any patterns or trends towards a decline in agricultural or ecological
activity. Easily recognizable and usable indicators are needed that provide farmers with relevant and timely
information about their rangeland and its productivity.
2. Description of the technology/strategy
Most methods being promoted for land use management are too scientific, time consuming and sometimes too
complicated to meet the needs of farmers. Very often, information is collected by farmers but very little is done to
use that data to make informed management decisions. This defeats the purpose of monitoring and very often leads
to a loss of motivation among farmers to continue with the monitoring system. It was against this background that
the Desert Margins Program (DMP) built on existing experiences in Namibia’s Program to Combat Desertification
(Napcod) and developed and tested an easy and practical Local Level Monitoring (LLM) system for use by livestock
farmers in the eastern communal lands of Namibia and other places.
2.1 Local Level Monitoring
2.1.1 The basis of the technology’s success
Building on past experiences from Napcod, DMP Namibia developed and tested an easy and practical LLM system
for use by livestock farmers in the eastern communal lands of Namibia and other places. The LLM method is based
on the development and application of a series of field guides using certain indicators. These indicators are livestock
condition, fodder availability, veld condition and changes in bush density, and rainfall.
Livestock condition reflects to a large extent, the condition and productivity of the veld that animals are feeding on.
A photo guide depicting five different livestock condition classes has been developed. These five condition classes
vary from very lean, lean, moderate, fat to extremely fat. On a monthly basis, farmers then score a representative
sample of their herd by comparing actual livestock condition to the closest condition class in the photo guide.
Fodder availability provides an indication of the number of livestock a given piece of land in a specific area is able
to sustain for a specific period of time. This is closely related to the availability of fodder that is in turn closely
related to rainfall and management impact. A photo field guide is developed for visual assessment of fodder
availability on a monthly basis. This field guide is area specific and includes a series of photographs depicting
various amounts of fodder available. These photographs range from veld with very little fodder to veld with a lot of
herbaceous material. Veld condition reflects the current condition of any piece of land and focuses on species
composition of the herbaceous layer, density, vigor and soil condition and fertility. A number of fixed-point
photographs are taken on the farm to develop a photo guide for assessment of veld condition. These permanent
points are visited annually, usually at the end of the rainy season, and the current veld condition is compared to the
condition of the same site on the photograph. The same picture guide developed to detect changes in veld condition
can be used to monitor changes in bush density and structure.
The LLM method is not designed to give an exact account of changes in the different parameters, but rather to be used
by farmers as a tool for debate and improved decision making at the grassroots level.
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