Livestock Farmers Field Schools: A strategy for promoting the rehabilitation and diversification of farms with degraded pastures

Abstract

Pasture degradation is a serious problem in Tropical America since it is estimated that between 50-80% of pasture areas are degraded and in Central America alone they represent almost 7 million hectares. Pasture degradation has important ecological (eg reduction in C capture, soil erosion and compaction, loss of biodiversity), and social (eg greater distances travelled with animals) and economic (lower income per cow and per hectare) implications. The causes of pasture degradation are many and very complex. (a) failures in the selection of species and in the establishment of pastures; (b) inadequate pasture management, such as lack of fertilization or inappropriate use of fire; (c) failures in grazing management, such as overgrazing, or lack of adequate rest periods; (d) biotic factors, such as the presence of pests and diseases; and (e) abiotic factors, such as excess or deficit of rains, faults in drainage and low fertility of the soils. But, all these factors are exacerbated by the inadequate access of producers to scientific knowledge, market information, credit and services, a problem that has been exacerbated as a consequence of structural adjustment programs that have weakened the services of research and extension in most developing countries. This situation has motivated the search for new options to improve the access and participation of livestock producers in the processes of generation, adaptation, adoption and appropriation of technological interventions that respond to the needs and opportunities of producer groups, especially those with fewer resources, and one of them is the implementation of Cattle Ranchers Field Schools.