Mainstreaming Sustainable Cattle Ranching

Grassland type Cultivated

Name of practice Mainstreaming Sustainable Cattle Ranching

Name of main actor Federación de Ganaderos de Colombia (FEDEGAN), World Bank

Type of actor(s) Farmers, Pastoralists, NGOs

Location Colombia

Agro-ecological region Tropical

Sustainability dimension involved Governance, Environmental, Economic, Social

Sustainability sub-themes Atmosphere, Water, Land, Biodiversity, Animal Welfare, Investment, Decent Livelihood

Year of implementation 2003

Description of best practice In tropical Latin America over 60% of cattle pastures are degraded, threatening the sustainability of agriculture in the region (Montagnini and Finney 2011). Degradation is associated with a loss of ecosystem services, decreased productivity, soil erosion, biodiversity loss and GHG emissions. Silvopastoral systems (SPS) incorporate trees, forage pasture and livestock. SPS can provide a number of benefits to farmers by enhancing nutrient cycling to restore degraded land and improve productivity, while allowing the possibility for income diversification. In addition to on-site benefits, SPS can help alleviate deforestation pressure and contribute to public goods of biodiversity conservation and GHG mitigation. Therefore, SPS can help promote environmental, economic and social sustainability. For more details about the operation and impacts of SPS, see the case study from the Brazilian Cerrado: ‘Silvopastoral systems for enhanced productivity, environmental sustainability and rural development’ (available in this database: http://www.fao.org/nr/sustainability/grassland/best-practices/projects-detail/en/c/214214/). While SPS are commercially attractive for farmers in the medium and long term, the high initial costs required to establish plantations are a common constraint. One way to help overcome this constraint is to provide Payments for Environmental Services (PES). PES schemes are designed to compensate farmers for the public benefits that stem from good environmental stewardship (e.g. carbon sequestration, biodiversity, watershed protection). Without PES, these positive externalities are likely to be given less weight in farmers’ private land use planning decisions. The Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project is a successful example of PES as a tool to promote SPS adoption in Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The objective of the project was to encourage a level of tree cover that maximises biodiversity while maintaining pasture productivity. Environmental service indices were developed to calculate the payments for each land use type based on contribution to biodiversity and carbon sequestration. In this way payments were proportional to the carbon and biodiversity ‘outputs’ achieved by farmers. In addition, technical assistance was provided to farmers.

Outcomes and impacts The Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project achieved significant environmental, productivity and social gains. Positive impacts can be seen across key indicators of carbon sequestration, biodiversity, beef production, gross income and income per capita of family household among poor farmers (Ibrahim et al. 2007, 2010, cited in Montagnini and Finney 2011). Strong farmer participation in the scheme was recorded with PES covering approximately 60% of the cost of implementing new systems. In addition to the direct environmental benefits, an important outcome of the Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project and other PES schemes is to promote a positive change in attitudes towards sustainability amongst farmers and land managers. The success of the project has led to it being scaled up in Colombia. FEDEGAN, Federación de Ganaderos de Colombia (National Federation of Cattle Ranchers) has been granted a new loan of US$42 million for a five year project (2010-2015) called Mainstreaming Sustainable Cattle Ranching, financed by the World Bank and GEF. The key objectives of the project are to promote the adoption of environment-friendly SPS for cattle ranching, improve natural resource management, enhance the provision of environmental services (biodiversity, land, carbon, and water), and raise the productivity in participating farms through PES schemes. A key component of the project is to increase connectivity between natural ecosystems through the establishment of riparian and terrestrial corridors. Successful PES schemes need to overcome a number of challenges: Ecosystem services are difficult to quantify and indicators are inherently imperfect. Institutions need to be established including markets, legal frameworks and certification schemes. Careful design is required to avoid indirect consequences that may lead to carbon leakages. High transaction costs can exclude smallholders and poorer landowners from participation. Significantly, who pays for public good of environmental services is often a vexed issue: governments, open markets or private sources? Despite these limitations, projects such as the Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project and Mainstreaming Sustainable Cattle Ranching illustrate the positive benefits that PES schemes can achieve as a tool to finance restoration, conservation and rural development. References: Montagnini, F. and Finney, C. (2011) “Payments for Environmental Services in Latin America as a Tool for Restoration and Rural Development”, AMBIO, 40: 285-297. World Bank (2014) “Project: Mainstreaming Sustainable Cattle Ranching”, available: http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P104687/mainstreaming-sustainable-cattle-ranching?lang=en (accessed: 17 February, 2014).