Small-scale silvopasture: addressing urban and peri-urban livestock challenges in the United States with agroforestry practices

Authors: CONWAY, ASHLEY - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI; Nieman, Christine

Submitted to: Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2021
Publication Date: 2/4/2022
Citation: Conway, A.C., Nieman, C.C. 2022. Small-scale silvopasture: addressing urban and peri-urban livestock challenges in the United States with agroforestry practices. Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems. https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20023.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20023

Interpretive Summary: The majority of the global population now lives in urban environments and by 2050, 68% of the global population will be urban, in addition, in parts of the globe, populations are expanding rapidly at the edge of urban areas (peri-urban areas). These changes add significant strain on food and environmental security. Alleviation of these stressors may be possible through food production and ecosystem services provided by urban and peri-urban agriculture. However, despite global prevalence and growing popularity in the U.S., urban and peri-urban agriculture face many challenges. A review on the literature identified three major barriers to adoption animal feed resources, water quality and nutrient cycling, and utilization of sites contaminated with heavy metals. Incorporation of silvopasture into these environments provides solutions to several of these barriers, including opportunities for increased livestock feed production with forage and fodder, less environmental contamination from nutrients with improved nutrient and water cycling, and phytoremediation techniques for contaminated soils. Two urban silvopasture systems are proposed, one for the urban setting and another for the peri-urban setting. Based on our review we have determined that small scale urban and peri-urban livestock keeping provide a potential strategy to meet the demands of growing urban and peri-urban environments, but sustainable and effective integration of livestock under these conditions need to be considered to prevent detrimental environmental effects associated with urban livestock keeping. Future research should look to better understand small-scale silvopasture at the whole system level, in a variety of resource contexts, and with local, indigenous species and practices.

Technical Abstract: The majority of the global population now lives in urban environments and by 2050, 68% of the global population will be urban, in addition, in parts of the globe, populations are expanding rapidly at the edge of urban areas (peri-urban areas). These changes add significant strain on food and environmental security. Alleviation of these stressors may be possible by enhancing regional food production and ecosystem services provided by urban and peri-urban agriculture. However, despite the global prevalence and growing popularity in the U.S. of urban and peri-urban agriculture, incorporating livestock in these settings face many challenges. A review of the literature identified three key barriers to adoption of urban and peri-urban livestock-keeping that have the potential to be ameliorated using agroforestry practices such as silvopasture to facilitate integration: animal feed resources, water quality and nutrient cycling, and utilization of sites contaminated with heavy metals. A discussion focused on the solutions to those barriers were discussed and two theoretical silvopasture systems are proposed, one for the urban setting and another for the peri-urban setting. Based on our review, we have determined that small scale urban and peri-urban livestock keeping provides a potential strategy to meet the demands of growing urban and peri-urban environments, but sustainable and effective integration of livestock under these conditions need to be considered to prevent detrimental environmental effects associated with urban livestock-keeping. In addition, urban silvopasture has the potential to enhance specialty crop and niche food production in these environments. Future research should look to better understand small-scale silvopasture at the whole system level, in a variety of resource contexts, and with local, indigenous species and practices.