Livestock

© FAO/Ami VitaleClimate change has direct effects on livestock productivity as well as indirectly through changes on the availability of fodder and pastures. It determines the type of livestock most adapted to different agro-ecological zones and therefore the animals that are able to sustain rural communities.  Climate change is expected to affect livestock at the species level.

Livestock emissions throughout the livestock commodity-chains, contribute to 9% of the total anthropogenic carbon-dioxide emission,  37% of methane, and 65% of nitrous oxide.  Technical options are available to mitigate emissions of the sector such as restoring organic carbon and carbon sequestration through agro-forestry, improve livestock diets, better manure management, careful nutrient management.  The use of biogas technology is a way to reduce emissions from mature management while increasing farm profit, and providing environmental benefits.

FAO's activities

FAO can assist in monitoring both the direct (animal genetic resources) and indirect (availability of fodder and pastures) effect of climate change on livestock, provide early warnings to the various climatic zones and assist countries in adapting livestock policies. In addition, FAO can work with farmers who know by experience which types of animal breeds or varieties can best resist changing conditions, to mitigate the negative impact of ruminants on greenhouse gas emissions through recommending animal husbandry changes such as ruminant diets and stocking ratios.

FAO is working on a multidonor project called the Livestock, Environment and Development Initiative.  Its purpose is to devise and promote ecologically sustainable livestock production strategies and practices while at the same time being concerned with reducing poverty. LEAD focuses on four broad areas of livestock-environment interactions: the role of livestock in deforestation, the pollution of water and soil through the intensification and geographical concentration of livestock production in rapidly industrializing countries, land degradation and desertification through extensive livestock production systems, and the coexistence and competition of livestock with wildlife.

Publications

FAO. 2009. Review of evidence on Dryland Pastoral Systems and Climate Change: Implications and Opportunities for Mitigation and Adaptation 24 March 2010 In light of global concerns over the impacts of climate change and climate variability, this document provides an overview of opportunities for adaptation and mitigation in dryland pastoral and agropastoral systems. It makes a case for a concerted global effort to promote mitigation practices that also have benefits for adaptation and livelihoods ofpastoralists and agropastoralists in drylands. [more]

FAO. 2007. Livestock's Long Shadow- Environmental Issues and Options 24 March 2010 This report aims to asses the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation. The assesment is based on the most recent data available, taking into account direct impacts required for livestock production. [more]

FAO. 2007. The State of the World's Genetic Animal Resources 24 March 2010 The importance of the world’s biodiversity – the variety of its plants, animals and microorganisms, and of the ecosystems of which they form a part, is increasingly recognized.Agricultural biodiversity encompasses the diversity of the cultivated plants and domestic animals utilized by humankind for the production of food and other goods and services.More broadly, it includes the diversity of the agro ecosystems on which this production depends. [more]

FAO. 1998. Livestock-deforestation links:Policy Issues in the Western Brazilian Amazon 24 March 2010 Cattle production in the Brazilian Amazon has ignited one of the most visible and vocal environmental debates of the past decade, amid fears that the Amazon could swiftly disappear unless there was rapid change in attitudes and policies. The high rates of deforestation have been linked to environmental problems ranging from localized degradation of land through to global implications such as climate change. Although there are quite a few land uses in the Amazon, the predominance of pasture has drawn the ire of many environmentalists who say that cattle production is a bad deal; that the destruction of the largest remaining tropical rain forest to produce beef is not warranted by low productivity and questionable sustainability. [more]