The Subhumid Zone Programme (SZP) of the

(ILCA) has been involved in livestock systems research in West Africa since 1979. The SZP has been carrying out long-term observations of livestock management by agropastoralists and arable farmers in selected case study areas in central Nigeria, parallel to testing and refining innovations in animal husbandry and nutrition in collaboration with the livestock keepers. Rapid appraisal techniques have been periodically applied to gain a preliminary understanding of certain elements of the livestock production systems. An example is the ranking of browse species used within the agropastoral system. A study of the grazing behaviour of cattle kept by settled Fulani agropastoralists in two cas