PLACA announces the three winners of the low-cost solutions contest for climate action in livestock farming

The Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture of Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA) – whose secretariat is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – announced the three winners of the 2024 regional contest, aimed at recognizing initiatives that promote practical and low-cost technological solutions for climate action in livestock farming.

Among the more than 70 proposals submitted from 16 countries, and after a competitive evaluation process involving 23 evaluators from 10 countries, 45 initiatives were selected to be part of PLACA's technological solutions bank, for their potential to promote sustainability and resilience in the livestock sector, contributing to the adaptation or mitigation of the effects of climate change on livestock farming.

The jury highlighted three solutions as contest winners, given their greater contribution to climate action, high potential for replication on different scales, and strong contribution to social inclusion, value creation, and organizational development.

"These initiatives will not only mitigate the effects of climate change, but they also increase productivity and promote social inclusion by integrating local communities into sustainable processes," said María Mercedes Proaño, FAO Climate Finance Officer.

Winning Proposals

This year, the three winning solutions of the regional contest stood out for their ability to address the challenges of climate change in livestock farming through innovation based on the effective use of local or low-cost resources, sharing a focus on optimizing animal feed through sustainable practices such as the use of local forage, organic banana waste, and native plants, reducing costs and improving climate resilience.

Cindy Cristóbal, from the Dominican Republic, was selected for her proposal: "Circular Economy Model: Banana value chain transforming organic waste and improving the efficiency of agricultural and livestock systems by integrating sustainable practices."

Nadir Reyes Sánchez, from Nicaragua, stood out with the initiative: "FES-Moringa: Solid-state fermentation of sugarcane and Moringa oleifera foliage as a non-conventional protein alternative for animal feed."

Luz Durand, from Peru, gained recognition with her project: "Silage of Tithonia diversifolia: A comprehensive solution for sustainable and resilient livestock production."

The selected projects will each receive USD $1,000 to strengthen and expand their initiatives.

Award Ceremony

The award ceremony will be held virtually on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, and will be open to the public. During the event, the winners will have the opportunity to present their projects and share a short video about the impact they have achieved.

The winning initiatives will be added to PLACA's solutions bank, a virtual repository that houses nearly 200 implemented low-cost initiatives, which contribute to addressing the challenges of climate change and variability.

Driven by the Thematic Working Group on Knowledge Management of the Platform, the bank was created to provide all actors in the extension system with a space to find low-cost technological solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean that promote climate action and are sustainable over