Guiding investments in climate-smart livestock systems in East Africa

Portait of young Boran cattle in Ethiopia. Photo: C. Hanotte (ILRI)

In Sub-Saharan Africa, livestock is crucial for the livelihoods of more than 80 percent of poor households. In addition, as a result of a growing population, increasing income and urbanisation, demand for livestock products is rising steadily across the region.

This might seem like a good combination—those with rising purchasing power can buy more livestock products, thereby helping to increase the incomes of poor livestock keepers. Throw the climate crisis into the mix, however, and the situation turns sour. Climate change has a negative impact on livestock production. Rising temperatures and lower annual rainfall reduce livestock productivity and inhibit the growth of fodder crops. Soil degradation and water scarcity led to declines in food for animals. Land-use conflicts are increasing, threatening food security and gradually eroding livestock farmers’ livelihoods.

n the past few months, the Program for climate-smart livestock systems (PCSL) was launched in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to support interventions to increase the contribution of livestock production to the three key pillars of CSA: increased productivity, mitigation of GHG emissions and adaptation to climate change.

Read the full story on the CCAFS web site