Mr Rob Van Holdt, from the Karoo region of South Africa, was one of three South African representatives who attended the workshop. He is also an active member of Somerset East Farmer's Association and Organised Agriculture. The role of this organization is to promote economic fodder-shrub establishment and management. Mr Van Holdt  focused his presentation to the workshop on on-going efforts to reduce cost of Atriplex plantations and maximize the establishment rate. Mechanization  over the last 25 years, he reported, has brought cheaper seed-handling. And he has developed a simpler, cheaper method to establish fodder-shrub plantations by direct drilling of dehusked and pelleted seeds.
        Illustration of the use of shrubs for rangeland rehabilitation was given by a farmer from western Australia, Mr M.J. Lloyd: "Salinity is becoming an increasing problem because of the rising water table as a result of clearing of the natural trees and shrubs for agriculture. My farm has an area of 2,160 ha, of which 700 ha is saline. I was searching for ways, first, to deal with the saline areas, and second, to try and slow down, or stop, the spread of salinity.  In 1989, I planted some saltbush seedlings (Atriplex spp.), and after viewing some work done by another farmer, I tried 17 ha.  This was a great success and since then I have seeded over 350 ha on my property and a further 200 ha for a neighbor. This farmer has not experienced any difficulty in getting the sheep to eat the saltbush.  In fact, the sheep will cluster around each bush as they enter the paddock to feed."
       Indeed, said Mr Lloyd, the stocking rate has improved when saltbush is grazed, with more clean wool per head, giving a higher wool price per kilogram and higher gross income per sheep, and the gross margin per hectare for the saltland shrub area was US$33/ha. Other benefits are erosion control, increased wildlife, lower groundwater levels, improved cover of annuals, improved aesthetics and improved farm value.
        Not only farmers, but national research leaders also gave presentations on their experiences with shrubs; they included  Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, and Tunisia. In these countries, intensive efforts are being deployed to introduce fodder shrubs on a commercial scale. Revegetation of denuded areas, filling seasonal feed-gaps, and strategic reserves for drought management are examples of the various roles fodder shrubs play. But more research is required on the value and uses of  fodder shrub species.
        A two-day field trip was organized to visit a sample of Tunisian fodder shrub plantations. The diversity of sites and management conditions was remarkable. It included both Acacia cyanophylla plantations, and introduction of native shrub species-- Periploca leavigata, Callicotum villosa, Rhus tripartitum--both on collective lands managed by the Forestry Department. The participants also saw a spineless cactus plantation on private lands for fruit and forage production. Initially introduced as a fodder crop, cactus is more and more used for fruit production with high gross margin per hectare. Cactus fruits are consumed as such or used for jam making. Our colleagues from Central Asia--two scientists from Uzbekistan--were impressed.
        The scientific program included a retrospective on the history of fodder shrubs in the region by Dr H. N. Le Houerou, one of the leading researchers on the subject. There were also special sessions on the biology and ecology of the shrubs themselves, the plant-animal relationship, the socioeconomics of the technology and its transfer to users.
        However, the presence of fodder-shrub users during the workshop brought another dimension to the traditional scientific approach. Everyone, including the ICARDA scientists, felt that they had learned a lot from the farmers. This way of bringing scientists, farmers and others together will continue, as it is very much in line with ICARDA strategy. This is to involve those who will use a technology in its development. There is no better way to ensure that it works--and that they will use it.

Dr Gustave Gintzburger is Leader of ICARDA's Pasture, Forage and Livestock Program. Dr Tom Nordblom is an Agricultural Economist with PFLP. Dr Mustapha Bounejmate is Consultant to PFLP. Mr Georges Arab is Economics Research Assistant, PFLP.

esertification is a menace in semi-arid and arid Mediterranean zones. Its causes are complex, but  overgrazing is one of them. To help slow down this trend, there is an urgent need to develop appropriate measures to restore feed resources on rangelands. Technical options are available; one of them is the re-establishment and use of native and exotic fodder shrubs and trees such as saltbushes (Atriplex spp.).
        Between 27 October and 2 November 1996, ICARDA and Tunisia held a meeting of experts from 24 countries to discuss their production and use. The participants included farmers from nine countries, and NGOs from four. Called the Regional Training Workshop on Native and Exotic Fodder Shrubs in Arid and Semi-Arid Zones, it was held in Hammamet, Tunisia.

        While many countries have embarked on large-scale plantation programs of fodder shrubs for direct grazing, other countries argue that not enough is known on the grazing management of such plantations and their use by the local nomads and settled farmers. Expensive fodder shrub projects have proved to be failures, destroyed sometimes by climatic accidents, but more often by mismanagement. This is a pity, as native or exotic shrubs could play an important role in rehabilitation programs of marginal lands and rangelands in these zones, not only as feed reserves but also in soil and water conservation in environmentally-degraded areas (see Shrubs could help save the steppe, in Caravan No. 3).  But, as with any technology, it is important to exchange experiences so that research is not duplicated. It is also important to include farmers' experience and perceptions in the process. This was one of the objectives of the Hammamet meeting.
        The farmers came from as far afield as Syria, South Africa, Senegal and Australia. One of the farmers attending was Mr Faysal Al-Ahmad Ibn Nuri, who is also head of the Jub Ahmad Almshael Cooperative for Sheep Breeding and Range Amelioration, in Aleppo Province, Northwest Syria. "I own 1,100 sheep," he said before the meeting. "My extended family had traditional control of 40,000 hectares below 200 mm mean rainfall, for grazing and for some barley cultivation prior to 1994/95, when the latter was prohibited."
        He described how the Government had arranged shrub plantations on a total of 14,300 hectares near Maragha, 150 km south east of Aleppo. Shrub plantations to provide feed at lean times, when sheep are hungry and the vegetation is at a vulnerable stage in its growth, are an important part of Syria's rangeland strategy. ICARDA is collaborating in this.
        "In April 1995, I leased 900 hectares for one month of grazing in the government plantation at Maragha.  It was a dry year and grazing inside the plantation was good at first; milk production increased. Towards the end of the month, however, milk production fell back as the green grasses turned yellow. Because of the salty soils and salt-rich vegetation inside the plantation, I had to offer one meal of fodder to the sheep every day and double the normal amount of fresh water--each sheep drank up to 11 liters per day." However, Mr Ibn Nuri is in favor of shrubs as a possible solution to feed deficit and restoring degraded rangeland.
        Another Syrian farmer had a less satisfactory experience. Mr Ahmed Jasin El Mohamed was not at Tunis, but farms in the same area as Mr Ibn Nuri. He tried his luck with fodder shrubs in 1983 by growing Atriplex nummularia, provided by the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture. It didn't work, a fact that Mr El Mohamed attributes to the drought of that season. A second attempt, this time with Atriplex canescens, in 1987, was more successful but the stand, some years later, is poor, probably because of overgrazing. The contrast between the two farmers reveals the importance of good management.