Investing in low-emission and resilient livestock production: the why and how

Abstract

Many funding institutions and development agencies are facing the same challenge when considering the sustainability of their investment portfolio in agriculture: the livestock sector has a large environmental footprint, the most pressing one being its contribution to climate change, but it is essential for food security, nutrition and livelihoods for billions of poor people in the world. While other challenges such as biodiversity losses or land degradation are growing and should also be addressed, climate change is the number one concern these organizations are facing now, and even more so since the Global Methane Pledge launched in 2021. The choice should not be whether or not to invest in livestock but rather how to invest, and we argue that a share of the emission budget should be allocated to livestock given its multiple positive contributions. Improving livestock production will not only be beneficial for nutrition and incomes but it is also key if we are to achieve our current climate targets. To be able to account for these benefits while accurately measuring greenhouse gas emissions, and to reflect this in national climate commitments, we need specific data, tools and capacity which are currently not available in all countries. It is the role of science to continue providing references in a diversity of local contexts to better estimate emissions and advise how to reduce them.