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Agroecological practices to support tropical livestock farming systems: a Caribbean and Latin American perspective

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Abstract

With global climate changes currently occurring, and particularly given the severe energy and food shortages occurring throughout tropical regions, agroecological (AE) systems are drawing renewed attention as an efficient alternative to intensive models of production, particularly unsuitable in regions of the world such as the Caribbean or Latin America. There is a pressing need to focus on livestock farming systems (LFS) and characterize their potential contributions to global sustainability. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to address these multiple and complex problems. Traditionally, LFS have shown their sustainability high potential. The purpose of this work is to highlight solutions to minimize inputs, by describing some success and diverse case studies through the Caribbean. These systems were analyzed at different levels: animal/function, farm/family, and territory/society. This produced a set of guidelines that help to increase the efficiency of tropical systems, particularly those concerned with (1) choosing the best-suited genotypes, while enhancing population biodiversity; (2) matching the farming system to the available resources, feed, and by-products; (3) steering the whole farming system through reproduction management with no hormonal treatment, while facilitating system reproducibility and increasing performances; (4) controlling health constraints instead of annihilating risks and implement an integrated management design to reduce chemical treatments or increase the use of nutraceuticals; and (5) mitigating climate constraints by using soft techniques. In the second part of this work, some integrated systems are described. The Tosoly farm of Colombia, for instance, is conceived as a totally integrated crop-livestock system, allowing the additional production of energy at the farm level. Thus, it epitomizes the positive impact that livestock can exert upon the environment. The case study of Haiti indicates how AE practices can help in designing a pro-poor sustainable milk production system. It concerns an entire dairy sector built all over the country on the basis of micro-units of milk production and processing.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the European community and Region Guadeloupe within the AgroEcoDiv project.

The anonymous reviewer is thanked for his very constructive comments and suggestions which improved the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRA, UR143, Unité de Recherches Zootechniques, 97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, French West Indies, France

    Gisele Alexandre, Audrey Fanchone, Jean-Luc Gourdine & Harry Archimède

  2. Finca TOSOLY, AP 23, Socorro, Colombia

    Lylian Rodriguez

  3. Estación Experimental de Pastos y Forrajes “Indio Hatuey“, Universidad de Matanzas “Camilo Cienfuegos“, CP 44280, Matanzas, Cuba

    Javier Arece

  4. Centro de Investigación en Reproducción Caprina, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, C.P. 27054, Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico

    José Delgadillo

  5. The Open Tropical Forage-Animal Production Laboratory, Department of Food Production, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago

    Gary Wayne Garcia

  6. Plateforme d’Agroécologie et de Développement Durable (PADED)-Misereor, 10, impasse Basilic, Delmas 65, Haiti

    Kurt Habermeier

  7. LEAF, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal

    André M. Almeida

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  1. Gisele Alexandre
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  2. Lylian Rodriguez
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Correspondence to Gisele Alexandre.

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Alexandre, G., Rodriguez, L., Arece, J. et al. Agroecological practices to support tropical livestock farming systems: a Caribbean and Latin American perspective. Trop Anim Health Prod 53, 111 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-020-02537-7

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