Tropical forest destruction at the hands of agricultural colonists is a human and ecological problem of growing importance, and there is an urgent need to design low-input, sustainable agricultural systems that can slow the cycle of forest destruction and provide adequate incomes. This 'bush fallow crisis' provides a major focus for the adaptive research in the latter days of the British Tropical Agricultural Mission (BTAM).

Surveys of the area have identified the importance of livestock in the smallholder farming systems and the lack of a concerted attempt to integrate livestock into the adaptive research process. In addition, CORDECRUZ (1994a) in its strategic rural development plan for the Ichilo and Sara provinces, identified the lack of locally validated and evaluated livestock technology and feeding strategies as the main developmental problems with respect to livestock production per se and the sustainability of farming systems in the region. CIAT lists the development of integrated and sustainable technology for smallholder farmers as its main research priority (CIAT, 1995).

The project tackles three main developmental problems; (i) the destruction of moist tropical forest by expansion of the agricultural frontier; (ii) degradation of natural resources (principally soil, water, and biodiversity) through unsuitable agricultural practices; and (iii) lack of locally verified, sustainable agricultural income- generating technologies.

Seasonal availability of feeds in small-scale livestock production improved and promoted, and potential for livestock use diversification identified and appraised in forest/agriculture interface systems.

• The role of livestock in mixed smallholder farming systems in forest margins determined and documented.
• Management and feeding strategies for greater integration of the livestock component in farming systems developed and promoted.
• Technologies to improve the seasonal availability of feeds developed and promoted.
• Participatory methods for on-farm research involving livestock developed, tested and documented.