Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock

Title

Project facts

Date: 

01/01/2012 31/12/2020


Payment Mechanisms / Support: 

Funding: UK Government, Global Environmen Facility
Organizations: Colombian Cattle Ranchers Federation (Fedegan), CIPAV, The Nature Conservancy, Fondo Acción.
Supervision: The World Bank

Country: Colombia
Region: Latin America
Site: Five Regions of the Country

Contact: 

FEDEGAN: Juan Carlos Gómez [email protected]
CIPAV: Julian [email protected]


Case overview

Main Challenges

Knowledge sharing, Pasture degradation, Improve sustainable livestock production, Restoring grassland, Sustainable grassland management, Reduce Household poverty

Starting point/ Challenges

Very low productive parameters:
Stocking rate: 0.5 AU/ha
Weigth gain: less than 0.3 Kg / day
Land degradation due to overgrazing

 

Purpose/ Objectives addressed, Results expected

3.000 small and medium-scale cattle farmers adopting SPS in five regions of Colombia
 Adoption of  environmentally-friendly production systems
 Increase structural and functional connectivity  in strategic ecosystems
 Increase the provision of environmental services.
 Increase the productivity in participant farms.

 


Type of Case

Research, Capacity building, Land development, Livestock development, Climate change mitigation/adaptation

Exploring potential / Specific payments

Payment of environmental services, contribution to the NAMA of Sustainable Bovine Livestock in Colombia

Agroecological zoneSub-humid (180 < x < 270 LGP)
Land area size (km2)80,100 Hectares of sustainable production systems
Number of people4,100 farmers
Sub-area4,100 farmers
80,100 Hectares of sustainable production systems (Silvopastoral systems: Scattered trees in pastures, intensive Silvopastoral Systems, Live fences, fodder banks, hedgerows, improved rotational grazing)

Land ownershipPrivate
Ownership comments 
Livestock systemSilvopastoral
Livestock Type:Cattle
Comment livestock systems:Beef cattle, Cow-calf,
Dual Purpose Cattle,
Dairy cattle.

Operating environment:free market
Participants in the case/project:unding: UK Government, Global Environmen Facility
Organizations: Colombian Cattle Ranchers Federation (Fedegan), CIPAV, The Nature Conservancy, Fondo Acción.
Supervision: The World Bank

Methods / Approaches applied to reach objectives:Technical Assistance
Payment of Environmental Services
Demonstrative farms
Research and Innovation



Outcome/ Beneficiaries/ Issues

Sustainability regarding economic issues

30% increase in stocking rate
21% increase in milk production per cow

Sustainability regarding social issues

More than 8,000 farmers trained in sustainable production practices

Sustainability regarding ecological issues

18,000 ha of mature forest protected within farms.
31,000 ha of silvopastoral systems implemented.
Increased richness and abundance of vegetation, dung beetles and birds in the silvopastoral systems promoted

 

Knowledge Exchange
Key Conflicts / Problems
Lack of formal land ownership
Low access to credit

 

Lessons learnt
Live fences and hedgerows are a good strategy to increase tree cover in the farms
Technical assistance is a very valuable and effective strategy to improve sustainability in cattle farming.
Farmers respond well to technical assistance and payment of environmental services.

 

Research Gaps

Many of the native tree species lack of information about propagation, management and us

 


Source of information

http://ganaderiacolombianasostenible.co/web/


Keywords:

Silvopastoral systems
Live fences
Payment of environmental services