Harnessing African forage biodiversity through a hub-and-spoke model for sustainable livestock transformation

Native forage biodiversity could strengthen sustainable livestock systems by improving nutrition, productivity, soil health, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions under climate variability. Diversified grass–legume–fodder tree systems boost resilience, stabilise feed supply, and enhance milk and meat production across different agro-ecological zones. Scalable innovation models (e.g., hub-and-spoke approaches) could translate research into practice through continuous collaboration between farmers, researchers, and extension services. Key barriers such as weak seed systems, limited extension support, and lack of climate finance must be addressed, alongside integrating forage strategies into national policies to unlock their full potential. Livestock are crucial lifelines for millions of African farmers and pastoralists, providing food, income, manure, draft power and cultural value (Ibeagha-Awemu et al., 2026). In many communities, cattle, sheep and goats act as a “last-resort insurance” in drought years (Younas and Yaqoob, 2005; Kanwal et al., 2020). However, African livestock systems face mounting pressures. Demand for meat and milk is surging with urban population growth (Latino et al., 2020) even as grasslands degrade, and climates become more erratic. Feed shortages during prolonged dry seasons and nutrient-poor grasses limit animal productivity (Lamega et al., 2021; Balehegn et al., 2022; Cooke et al., 2025). These challenges call for innovative solutions grounded in Africa’s own natural resources. One promising avenue is to harness native African forage biodiversity (grasses, legumes, and fodder trees adapted to local conditions) to improve feed quality, soil fertility and climate resilience. Many perennial grasses have unique plant morpho-ecological attributes for land restoration (Mganga et al., 2021). Despite their central role, African livestock systems are constrained by chronic feed shortages, land degradation, and increasing climate variability, which together limit productivity and resilience. The question is how to effectively scale up the use of these superior forages across the continent. Therefore, optimizing grass-based restoration outcomes requires the targeted selection of grass species according to their species-specific functional traits. An emerging strategy is the hub-and-spoke model through the Global Farm Platform (GFP). In this model, regional research farms and institutions can serve as “hubs” for developing and testing sustainable grassland and livestock innovations, while networks of local farms and communities act as “spokes” that adopt and disseminate the proven practices. This two-way partnership will ensure that cutting-edge research such as new drought-tolerant grasses or mixed cropping methods is fine-tuned under real farm conditions, and that farmer feedback guides further innovation. Launched in 2014 with a landmark Nature article (Eisler et al., 2014), the GFP’s hub-and-spoke approach has been recognized by Food and Agricultural Organizational (FAO) for connecting science with practice to advance sustainable livestock transformation (Rothamsted, 2025). In Africa, the GFP network already includes leading institutions such as the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya/Ethiopia, the Alliance of Biodiversity and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Kenya, Nigeria’s Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), and the University for Development Studies (UDS) and Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana, as well as partners non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like Malawi’s Small-Scale Livestock and Livelihoods Program and the Marshal Papworth initiative (GFP, 2023). Together, these hubs and spokes form a platform to accelerate uptake of improved forage plants and livestock management techniques continent-wide. This paper integrates Africa’s rich forage biodiversity, innovative hub-and-spoke delivery models, and enabling policy frameworks to present a coherent pathway for scaling sustainable livestock solutions tailored to African contexts. It highlights how native grasses and legumes can enhance livestock productivity, restore soil health, and strengthen climate resilience, while demonstrating how the hub-and-spoke approach can translate these scientific advances into practice through replicable research extension partnerships. Drawing on case studies from West, East, and Southern Africa, the paper illustrates how locally adapted innovations generate tangible impacts across diverse production systems. It further emphasizes that supportive policies, particularly those strengthening seed systems, farmer capacity building, climate finance mechanisms, and integrated land-use planning—are essential to embed these approaches within national development strategies and to enable a resilient and sustainable future for African livestock systems. The role of forage biodiversity to improved livestock, climate, and socio-economic benefits is presented in a pathway (Figure 1). The figure illustrates a systems-based pathway through which African native forage biodiversity could underpin sustainable livestock transformation in African livestock farming systems. The role of forage biodiversity on improved animal nutrition, health, soil structure, increased soil carbon sequestration, and reduced greenhouse gas emission is explained below. Together, these biophysical benefits translate into socio-economic gains for smallholder farmers and pastoralists by increasing incomes, strengthening food security, and enhancing household resilience to climate variability. Recent evidence from Brazil reinforces the potential of diversified forage-based systems under tropical conditions. In a study conducted in the Brazilian semi-arid region, integrated forage production systems combining perennial grasses and forage legumes improved biomass yield, forage nutritional quality, and system resilience compared with conventional monocultures. The authors demonstrated that diversified arrangements enhanced dry matter production and crude protein content while also contributing to better soil cover and resource-use efficiency, highlighting the role of forage diversification as a climate-adaptive strategy for livestock systems in tropical environments (Melo et al., 2026). These findings provide a relevant example from Latin America that parallels African experiences, reinforcing the global applicability of biodiversity-based forage intensification approaches. Conceptual pathway of how native forage biodiversity will underpin enhanced livestock productivity, ecosystem restoration and climate mitigation, and improved socio-economic outcomes. Increasing botanical diversity in pastures substantially enhances ruminant nutrition and productive performance by improving both diet quality and intake stability. Grass–legume mixtures typically provide higher crude protein, metabolizable energy, and mineral availability than grass monocultures, resulting in improved rumen function and animal output (Moura et al., 2022). In West Africa, native legumes such as Chamaecrista rotundifolia and Zornia latifolia exhibit markedly higher protein concentrations and energy values than dominant native grasses, enabling more balanced diets under low-input systems (Koura et al., 2022). The strategic incorporation of protein-rich perennial legumes, including Lotus uliginosus and Hedysarum spp., into tropical pastures has been associated with improved animal health, higher growth rates, and greater productive efficiency. Empirical evidence from East Africa shows that replacing conventional Napier grass with improved Brachiaria cultivars increased daily milk yield by approximately 27.6%, equivalent to an additional 3 L per cow per day, driven by superior biomass production and nutritional quality throughout the year (Maina et al., 2020). Beyond productivity gains, diversified forage systems can enhance livestock resilience and environmental performance. Indigenous multipurpose tree species, such as Acacia erioloba, Sclerocarya birrea, Boscia albitrunca, Moringa oleifera, Colophospermum mopane, Ziziphus spina-christi, and Dichrostachys cinerea, have been reported to enhance ruminant livestock production during the dry season, while also contributing to climate change adaptation (Abraham et al., 2022; Mpofu et al., 2025) and are widely distributed across the African continent. Collectively, integrating native legumes and improved grasses into pasture systems improves nutrient supply, animal performance, and emission efficiency, supporting more productive and climate-resilient livestock systems in Africa. Integrating diverse assemblages of deep-rooted grasses and legumes into pasture systems can play a central role in soil regeneration while enhancing on-farm biodiversity. Perennial forages with extensive root systems help build soil organic matter, improve water infiltration and reduce erosion (Ojija, 2024). In Ethiopian highland trials, smallholders who planted mixed grass–legume swards reported greener fields and far less soil erosion compared to plots with traditional grazing (Muluken et al., 2022). Nitrogen-fixing legumes enrich the soil naturally by converting atmospheric nitrogen into forms plants can use, cutting farmers’ need for synthetic fertilizer. For example, when degraded rangeland in Tunisia was reseeded with the native forage legume Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium), livestock weight gains improved significantly while soil loss due to runoff dropped markedly (Slim et al., 2021). Beyond soil processes, diversified pastures promote functional agro-ecosystem biodiversity. Flowering legumes and mixed grass stand provide habitat and trophic resources for pollinators, birds, and soil fauna, supporting key ecological functions. At the landscape scale, maintaining continuous ground cover with resilient native species helps conserve rangeland and savanna ecosystem services. Evidence from communal lands in southern Africa shows that reseeding and resting indigenous grasslands facilitated the recovery of wild herbivore and insect populations alongside livestock production (Mganga et al., 2021; Mudau et al., 2022). Collectively, forage diversification fosters biologically active soils, strengthens ecosystem resilience, and rebuilds the natural resource base upon which sustainable livestock systems depend. Africa’s native forage species have evolved under highly variable climates, making them strategic allies for climate change adaptation. Many indigenous grasses and legumes are exceptionally drought-tolerant, capable of surviving long dry spells when exotic pasture species wither (Frost et al., 2025). A recent survey found that only a few species like Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Chamaecrista roncadorensis, and Zornia albiflora still provide fodder at the peak of drought, whereas most common grasses senesce and lose nutritional value in Benin, West Africa (Koura et al., 2022). Researchers identified these underutilized forage species as promising “climate-resilient” forages, which, if proactively cultivated, could sustain milk production during rainless months (Koura et al., 2022). Similarly, breeding efforts at the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT forage GenBank in Kenya have screened thousands of African forage accessions for tolerance to heat, drought and waterlogging. Notably, scientists re-discovered several older Brachiaria lines in their collection with extraordinary resilience to both severe drought and torrential rain (Kovacevic, 2021). Such traits, once deemed unremarkable, are now recognized as vital for climate-vulnerable farms. Other novel options include introducing drought-hardy fodder shrubs or even spineless cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) to serve as emergency feed in arid zones (Teklehaimanot and Tritschler, 2011). By diversifying pastures with a portfolio of Climate-Smart species, farmers can build a safety net against weather shocks, when one forage fails due to drought or pests, another can fill the gap. This buffering effect can smooth feed availability across seasons, helping communities maintain livestock production and avoid herd losses during climate extremes. Therefore, Africa’s rich forage biodiversity can act as a natural insurance against climate risk, strengthening the adaptive capacity of pastoral systems. Wider use of perennial forages on African farms and rangelands could deliver significant climate mitigation and land restoration benefits (Paul et al., 2020). Unlike annual crops that leave soil bare part of the year, well-managed perennial pastures continuously cover the ground and sequester carbon in soil. Deep-rooted grasses and legumes draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as stable soil organic carbon, essentially turning degraded land into carbon sinks and aid in water retention (Kell, 2011). Some forages even actively reduce greenhouse emissions beyond carbon storage. Brachiaria humidicola, a widespread African grass, exudes a root chemical that inhibits soil nitrification, thereby suppressing the release of nitrous oxide (a potent greenhouse gas) and keeping nitrogen in the soil for plant use (Subbarao et al., 2009). Results from the temperate region also showed that underutilized temperate forage legumes (e.g., Lotus, sulla) contain compounds that reduced methane production in the ruminant rumen (Verma et al., 2024). At the landscape scale, rejuvenating native grasslands through improved grazing management can restore ecosystems and capture carbon. Perennial grasses indigenous to Africa (Cenchrus ciliaris, Enteropogon macrostachyus, and Eragrostis superba) displayed unique plant morphoecological attributes that make them suitable for ecological restoration in semi-arid African grasslands (Mganga et al., 2021). In South Africa’s Kruger-to-Canyons project, communal farmers adopted rotational “resting” of pastures and cleared invasive shrubs on over 6,000 hectares of overgrazed savanna. The results were striking, indigenous grasses like Themeda and Eragrostis rebounded, erosion was reduced, and the recovering vegetation is projected to remove ∼3.46 million tons of CO2eq over 30 yr (Mbaabu et al., 2020). More productive herds alongside carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation shows that integrating native forages into African livestock systems can be a powerful strategy to mitigate climate change while rejuvenating landscapes. Together, these biophysical benefits can translate into socio-economic gains for smallholder farmers and pastoralists by increasing incomes, strengthening food security, and enhancing household resilience to climate variability. The hub-and-spoke model provides a flexible framework to accelerate the spread of sustainable forage technologies across diverse regions. In this approach, hub institutions such as research stations, university farms, or innovation centers could serve as nodes of expertise and experimentation (Figure 2). They will conduct trials of new forage varieties, grazing methods, and integrated crop-livestock techniques under controlled conditions and monitor their performance in real farm situations. Spokes are the surrounding network of collaborating farms, pastoral communities, and extension sites that implement proven practices on the ground. Innovations flow outward from the hub to the spokes, but crucially, knowledge also flows back from farmers to researchers, creating a feedback loop. The GFP, which spans 19 “lighthouse” research farms worldwide, exemplifies this model. Each hub refines context-specific solutions, ensuring they are both economically viable and eco-friendly, before disseminating them via local farmer groups and extension channels. This structure allows scalable solutions that are tailored to the environment and farming system of each region. For example, GFP hubs range from tropical smallholder setups in Africa to temperate experimental farms in Europe, collectively demonstrating that the hub-and-spoke model can adapt sustainable grasslands and livestock innovations to any agroecological zone. The approach has gained international recognition, with FAO in 2025 honoring the GFP for its “innovative hub-and-spoke approach” linking science and practice for global sustainable livestock transformation (Rothamsted Research, 2025). By design, the model is highly replicable: new hubs can form around existing research institutes or lead farms, and new spoke partners can join through or development a of innovation The hub-and-spoke network will the of a drought-tolerant grass, a better fodder or a grazing far beyond a model for scaling forage-based livestock innovations in Africa. 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