Cairo, Egypt - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) kicked -off a round table discussion with the livestock and dairy sectors, bringing together milk producers, agrifood companies, associations, financiers and other leading private sector stakeholders to discuss collaboration and opportunities for climate action.

The aim of the meeting was to explore how livestock and dairy sector actors are affected by climate change, what climate-friendly practices they are pursuing, what barriers exist to implementing such practices, and what kind of support is needed to encourage them to invest in climate action. The discussion aimed to survey financing options available from financiers to support climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in the livestock and dairy subsectors in Egypt.

Event organized under the ongoing SCALA programme, co-led by UNDP

The meeting was organized under the Scaling up Climate Action for Land Use and Agriculture through Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans (SCALA) programme, jointly led by FAO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). SCALA supports Egypt and 11 other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in implementing climate actions with the potential to trigger transformative systems change in agriculture and land use.

Livestock, dairy and climate change

The livestock sector wordwide is both affected by climate change and contributes to climate change. Global warming poses challenges for the sector in terms of growth, milk production and animal welfare. At the same- time, livestock rearing is a source of livelihood for many, including a large proportion of smallholder farmers in Egypt. This is why addressing the impact of climate change on the livestock sector is a priority.

“This dialogue amongst agrifood companies about the opportunities and barriers for climate action is both relevant and timely, as the agriculture and livestock sub-sectors are a priority in Egypt's climate change vision, as well as for food security. Bringing the private sector into this conversation is critical for implementing meaningful climate action,” said AbdulHakim Elwaer, Assistant Director-General, Regional Representative for Near East and North Africa.

“This meeting serves as a good opportunity to exchange knowledge and learn frominnovative practices. This includes updating and developing early warning programmes to increase response measures of farms and dairy production plants to rapidly deal with the threats of climate change by using climate-smart agricultural practices, information and communication technology, and digital transformation,” said Ahmed ElWakeel, Deputy Director of Animal Production Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation.

“Investment by companies involved in livestock and dairy production in adopting climate-friendly practices is one of the necessary measures to ensure a better future for this industry in light of rapid climate change and its negative impacts. It is also an opportunity for these companies to further ally themselves in the face of climate change and other problems facing this sector,” added Francis Abadeer, Member of the Egyptian Association for Dairy Production.

During the round table, participants highlighted climate-related challenges such as the impact of heat stress on the dairy industry and livestock, as well as the rising cost of inputs and feed prices. Examples of innovative practices by companies to address climate change impacts and reduce emissions were highlighted, such as ventilation infrastructure and changing feeding practices, improved forage production, capacity building of milk collection centres on climate resilient practices, adoption of improved cattle varieties, and manure management practices, and more. Financiers also reported how they offer green financial products in the form of combined packages of technical assistance and low-cost loans.

Despite these efforts, these are often only pilot projects and there are barriers to scaling up climate action by stakeholders. These include policy constraints and issues related to the operation, maintenance and know-how of technologies, limited aggregation and distribution services for small holder farmers offering processing services to prevent climate change related extreme weather losses, and the inability of small farmers to access finance for adopting climate solutions.

About SCALA

The five-year SCALA programme (2020–2025) responds to the urgent need for increased action to cope with climate change impacts in the agriculture and land-use sectors. The EUR 20-million programme helps countries meet their Paris Agreement and other climate commitments through strengthening policies, adopting innovative approaches to climate change adaptation and mitigation, and removing barriers related to information gaps, governance, finance, gender mainstreaming and integrated monitoring and reporting.

SCALA is funded by the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI).

Contact: Mohamed Moussa, Communication Expert

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