How Data is Transforming the Future of Investment in Livestock

Rome - The Livestock Sector Investment and Policy Toolkit (LSIPT) Web Application, a new sophisticated yet user-friendly digital platform developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration with CIRAD and the World Bank, was launched on 30 September, during the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation.

This tool aims to analyze the contribution of livestock production systems to household incomes and the profitability of livestock investments, thus moving decision-making into the realm of data-driven strategy.

The LSIPT WebApp allows users to model the future with startling clarity. It first establishes a baseline, projecting the performance of livestock systems over a 20-year period under a business-as-usual scenario. This includes detailed forecasts on animal populations, production of meat and milk, and critically, the gross and net income of producers. It can even quantify the vulnerability of livestock-keeping households to poverty and hunger.

Its true power, however, lies in simulating change. Users from governments, agrifood companies and public and private investors all over the world can test the impact of alternative scenarios: What happens if a drought strikes? How would a disease outbreak affect productivity? Most importantly, it can model the potential benefits of targeted investments, such as a vaccination campaign or a program to build farmer capacity. The tool calculates the return on investment, demonstrating whether a proposed policy will yield positive results for the public purse, private actors, or both.

This flexibility allows the LSIPT to be applied from a single village to an entire nation, across various species and production systems, and from both public and private sector perspectives.

The FAO Investment Centre has been engaged in the development of the LSIPT tool for a few years.  More recently, livestock experts from the Investment Centre participated in the new App beta testing, and also contributed to three capacity development events in West Africa - as part of the technical assistance provided to the World Bank-funded Regional Sahel Pastoralism Support Project (PRAPS)- focusing on the use of the App for investment analysis. The Centre also promoted the App in Latin America – in the context of a study focusing on sustainable livestock solutions in the southern most regions of South America.

Why does planning livestock investment matter?

Julien Vallet, economist at the FAO Investment Centre noted that, “The quality of today’s investments in a country shapes its future. For governments and development partners, scarce resources must be allocated where they will have the greatest impact. The LSIPT helps identify the most effective investment opportunities aligned with overarching goals like poverty reduction and food security. Furthermore, its participatory nature facilitates consensus, building coalitions of stakeholders around a common, evidence-based vision”.

According to Manon Hamon, LSIPT Coordinator at FAO, “the results generated by the LSIPT WebApp are easily leveraged to drive stakeholder discussions and build consensus. To maximize the impact of policies and investments, it is crucial to harness coalitions, ensure transparency, and act on evidence-based data”.

This tool is a cornerstone of FAO’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life. By transforming national priorities into concrete, actionable plans, the LSIPT is not just forecasting the future of livestock—it’s actively helping to build a better one.

Did You Know?

The LSIPT WebApp is available in English, French, and Spanish and can be combined with other FAO tools to assess public health and environmental impacts.