In the drylands of Benin, west Africa, livestock farming is under growing pressure.
These vast, hot landscapes cover roughly 70% of the country's land area. Their sparse pastures and scattered trees sustain around six million grazing animals, including 2.5 million cattle, one million sheep and 2.4 million goats which walk with herders over long distances in search of food and water.
Rainy seasons in the Benin drylands are becoming shorter and less predictable. Pastures dry out earlier than they used to. Heatwaves are more frequent.
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When cows eat less because the grasslands have dried out and when they can't cool down in the heat, milk production falls. Diseases like mastitis, tick-borne diseases, trypanosomiasis and gastro-intestinal parasitic infections increase. All of these are made worse by the cows' weakened immunity and poor body condition.
For households that rely heavily on livestock, these changes can quickly translate into food insecurity and income loss.
I research climate-smart livestock systems and agroforestry (growing crops, livestock and trees together).
I was part of a team who monitored 447 dairy cows on 40 smallholder farms in northern Benin's drylands to see how the cattle fared under climate stress living on traditional farms versus agroforestry systems (growing crops and trees together). In the traditional systems, cattle were raised to graze openly in natural pastures, with very limited on-farm tree cover. Although herders traditionally supplemented cattle diets with tree leaves they collected during the dry season, trees were generally scattered throughout the landscape and not included in the animals' grazing area.
The agroforestry farms were existing smallholder systems where farmers had intentionally integrated trees with crops and livestock over several years.
This comparison allowed us to assess how long-standing agroforestry practices influence cattle health, milk production and resilience under increasing climate stress. In our recent paper, we set out our findings into how the different ways of farming influenced the amount of milk the cows produced and their success in breeding.
Our study found that silvopastoral farming (where livestock graze under trees) and agrosilvopastoral systems (where trees, crops and livestock are managed together on the same land) are helping farmers adapt to changes in the climate. The trees provide cattle feed, shade and healthier landscapes when grass and water are scarce.
We found that cows raised in tree-based farming systems produced up to nearly three times more milk per day than those kept in conventional open grazing systems. Calf survival rates were also higher, suggesting that improved nutrition and reduced stress have long-term effects on herd productivity.
Policymakers and development finance institutions should use our research results to set up ways of encouraging and financing smallholder dryland dairy farmers to include trees and crops on their farms.
Livestock farming under growing climate pressure
Trees have always played an important role in livestock systems in west Africa. Long before climate adaptation became part of development finance agendas, farmers used native trees and shrubs to feed animals during the dry season. Leaves, pods and fruits from species such as the African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis), African rosewood (Pterocarpus erinaceus) and Afzelia africana (another type of African mahogany tree) were commonly eaten by livestock during drought when grasses disappear.
But as land pressure and agriculture expanded, farming livestock under trees became less possible. Today, what was seen as a traditional or informal practice is recognised as a climate-smart response by farmers to global warming.
The farmers who took part in the research shared that trees and livestock are farmed together in various ways. Some pastoralists depend mainly on natural rangelands, where animals eat from trees and shrubs on their own. Other farmers said they developed systems where they planted crops edible by humans with fodder trees and plants for livestock to forage on.
My research found that the cooler microclimates under tree canopies help cool livestock down. Tree leaves provide cows with protein and minerals that are lacking in dried out grasses. This prevents weight loss and keeps livestock in a good condition for breeding.
Read more: Kenya's goal to plant 15 billion trees should include farmers - study shows they are keen
Including trees on dairy farms enriches the soil (when fallen leaves, or leaf litter, decompose on the ground). The trees enrich livestock manure, which fertilises fields. Some tree species also provide fruits, firewood, timber or medicinal products, giving farming households a more diverse range of resources.
Cattle herders in northern Benin face drought and feed shortages every dry season and agroforestry families coped better. My research found that smallholder farming families had more reliable animal feed, steadier milk production and additional food and income from trees during the dry season than families who grazed their cows in pastures. They were better able to cope with climate shocks and economic uncertainty.
Tree-livestock integration also contributes to climate change mitigation. Trees store carbon in their biomass and soils, helping to offset greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
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Farmers do not describe their farming practices as a way of reducing their carbon footprints, yet their systems align closely with global sustainability goals. What makes these approaches particularly valuable is that they are locally developed and adapted to specific ecological and social contexts.
What needs to happen next
As climate change intensifies, the experience of livestock farmers in Benin's drylands offers an important lesson. Adaptation does not always come from new technologies or complex interventions. Sometimes, it comes from valuing and strengthening practices that farmers have refined over generations, where trees, animals and people coexist in resilient farming systems.
Read more: Drought and farming: how women in South Africa are using Indigenous knowledge to cope
Despite their potential, tree-livestock systems remain under-recognised in agricultural policy. Livestock development strategies often focus on improved breeds or external feed inputs, overlooking the role of landscapes and ecosystems.
Farmers need specific support to strengthen these systems. They need secure land tenure, access to tree and crop seedlings and for agriculture extension officers from governments to recognise that local knowledge must be built on and not replaced.
Alassan Assani Seidou, Research fellow at Future Africa and Senior Lecturer at University of Parakou, University of Pretoria
