Integrating crop-livestock research and development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Option, imperative or impossible?

An analysis was made of the contributions to increasing the productivity of crop–livestock systems by over 100 DFID-RNRRS research projects and relevant work carried out by ILRI and its partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. Important lessons and critical challenges were highlighted to inform future donor investment. It was concluded that integrating crop–livestock R&D in Sub-Saharan Africa remained an imperative if crop and livestock research were to have a lasting impact on reducing poverty, improving the livelihoods of small-scale crop–livestock farmers and encouraging national economic growth.