Sustainable Grazing: How West African Farmers are Adapting to Climate Change
"Discover the traditional knowledge and innovative strategies used by local agro-pastoralists to ensure livestock health and forage sustainability in the face of increasing environmental challenges."
Across West Africa, rural communities face a dual challenge: increasing water scarcity and limited natural forage to feed their livestock. This scarcity threatens not only livestock health but also the livelihoods of families who depend on them. The good news is that local agro-pastoralists aren't just standing by; they're actively employing generations of traditional knowledge and innovative strategies to adapt. Understanding these methods is crucial for building resilience in the face of climate change.
For centuries, these communities have developed intricate social-ecological systems centered around the daily utilization of available forage resources. Cattle, goats, and sheep form the backbone of these systems, relying on carefully managed local plants for sustenance. While the reliance on local knowledge is evident, a comprehensive, documented understanding of forage-related valuation criteria has been missing, making it difficult to scale and support these effective practices.
A groundbreaking study has now shed light on this critical area. Researchers delved into the practices of Dagbani, Gurunsi, and Mossi ethnic groups across Ghana and Burkina Faso, examining the types of forage resources used, the specific criteria used to value these resources, and the impacts of both socio-demographic factors and climate aridity on local valuation practices. The findings offer valuable insights into how these communities are not just surviving, but thriving, in a changing environment.
Conflict Over Land and Water
The cited Sahel study identifies competition over land and water, as well as livestock damage to crops, as common causes of farmer–pastoralist conflict. It cautions that such conflicts are often linked not to larger environmental change processes such as climate change, but to inappropriate land zoning, governance and unequal power relations. The source provides no conflict statistics or quantified climate impacts.
Testing Grazing Strategies
A central Texas study set out to compare rotationally grazed pastures and forage cover crops with continuously grazed pastures and supplemental forage oats over a 10-year period; the supplied summary does not report which performed better. A 2023 synthesis describes a rapidly growing body of research and practical experience on climate-adaptation tools for US grazing-land managers facing directional climate change and greater variability. These sources describe approaches and research aims, not evidence that any single strategy works everywhere. Their US focus also limits what they establish about West African grazing systems.
What Forage is Crucial, and When?
The research highlights a nuanced understanding of forage preferences that varies by season and livestock type. The majority (73%) of agro-pastoralists consider herbaceous forage plants—grasses and forbs—most palatable for cattle during the rainy season. This makes sense, as these plants are fresher, more nutritious, and easier to digest during their early growth stages.
- Cattle: Herbaceous forage (grasses and forbs) in the rainy season.
- Goats & Sheep: Crop-related forage plants (residues) and woody vegetation (leaves, shrubs) in the dry season.
Carbon and Grazing Reviews
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis examines how alternative grazing strategies affect soil organic carbon. A December 2025 review of US grazing-land practices highlights wetland restoration, planting legumes in pastures and adjusting grazing intensity as strategies that could boost soil carbon and reduce greenhouse gases, while also benefiting biodiversity, water quality and soil health. These reviews identify research questions and promising practices, rather than demonstrating that the practices will produce the same outcomes in West Africa.
Gaps in Adaptation Evidence
A systematic review of African livestock farmers’ responses to climate variability reports notable gaps in research on Central and Northern Africa and on commercial farming systems. In a study of transhumant herders in northern Benin, perceptions of fewer rainy days and incorrectly distributed rainfall were not associated with adoption of any climate-change adaptation strategy. Separately, a 2020 study description says that further quantification of sustainable grazing land management’s multiple impacts and ecosystem-service trade-offs is needed to support wide-scale adoption.
Variable Feed and Biomass
Across five West African sites, annual feed intake in grazing cattle ranged from 3.4 to 4.1 kgDM.TLU.d-1, which the study reports is far below the standard feed intake commonly used to assess livestock nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. A satellite-based study found that end-of-season herbage standing crop varied by location and year, from less than 200 kg ha-1 to nearly 1,700 kg ha-1. Together, these findings document variation in feed intake and herbage availability, but do not establish that one caused the other.
Why This Matters: Implications for the Future
This research provides a compelling case for the importance of local ecological knowledge in natural resource management. By understanding and supporting the strategies developed by West African agro-pastoralists, we can foster more resilient and sustainable food systems. As climate change continues to impact these vulnerable regions, these insights offer a pathway towards ensuring both environmental health and community well-being. Further investigations are needed to confirm the findings and to check for climate impact on citations.
Mobility and Shared Governance
The FAO source says effective pastoral management of drylands depends on livestock mobility, including access to dry-season grazing sites and water points. It also identifies effective communal tenure and governance systems, along with herd adaptation, as important to adoption and upscaling. A separate source says ecosystem-service payments recognize the broader public benefits provided by well-managed grazing lands and describes sustainable grazing management as an opportunity to address multiple environmental challenges.
Forage Under Variable Rainfall
A 2026 Stanford report describes a study assessing how changes to livestock grazing practices across the world’s rangelands could help reduce climate-changing greenhouse-gas emissions. A 2026 grazing-resilience case study identifies maintaining access to high-quality forage amid variable rainfall as a challenge, particularly with predicted increases in climate variability and, in many places, drying trends. It also reports that pasture species differ in their ability to withstand prolonged dry periods, reflecting differences in rooting and water-use strategies.