C, co- and cow-benefits and/or trade-offs from livestock grazing in the Miombo – how livestock management matters for livelihoods and carbon sequestration

Miombo Woodlands cover 270 million ha and is home to 100 million people in 7 countries in southern and eastern Africa. Around 90% of Tanzanians depend on some products or services from the 45 million ha of Miombo. Much of the woodland is degraded into low productivity agriculture.

Due to demographic pressure and increasing demands for livestock products, grazing pressure in the Miombo is dramatically increasing in remaining forests.Too high grazing pressure reduces natural regeneration of vegetation, restricts soil C sequestration and impedes water infiltration into the soil.

However, it is unknown what “too high” grazing pressure is. We will study soil carbon and water dynamics under different grazing pressure and management regimes in Miombo. Trade-offs and synergies between different production options and ecosystem services will be analysed.

We will develop indicators for soil and rangeland health that will be applicable over large parts of the Miombo biome.To understand livelihood options and choices, we will connect the land use studies with gender- and generation sensitive studies of livestock keeping and social relations among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Miombo.We are a group of natural and social scientists from Sweden and Tanzania in a unique position to combine environmental and socio-economic sustainability studies.

Results will be of guidance to local livestock herders and to policy makers.