Presentation by Henning Steinfeld, Secretariat of the Global Agenda for Action in Support of Sustainable Livestock, at the 2012 Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) in Rio de Janiero, Learning Event No. 6, Session 2: “Introducing the Sustainable Livestock Sector Agenda” http://www.agricultureday.org

1. The
Sustainable Livestock
Agenda
www.livestockdialogue.org

2. The livestock sector is resource-
hungry
 ~ 70 of total agricultural land, 35 % of all
crop land
 ~ 60 % of total anthropogenic biomass
appropriation
 ~ 29 % of agricultural water use
 Greenhouse gas emissions
 Driver of deforestation (pasture, soy) and
degradation
 Major source of water pollution

3. Point of Departure
 The livestock sector is resource-hungry
 The sector has specific resource issues
◦ Low NRU efficiency
◦ geographic dispersion (extensive systems)
◦ geographic clustering (intensive systems)
 Demand will continue to grow and needs
to be accommodated within finite
resources
 Potential for social, health and economic
gains needs to be seized

4. A Global Agenda of Action
• Focus: Livestock sector’s natural resource
use – social, economic and health aspects
need to be safeguarded
• Nature: Open, voluntary, informal,
consensual, action-oriented, multi-
stakeholder (public, private, civil society,
research, international organizations)
• Process: Broad stakeholder consultations to
create awareness, agree on objectives,
priorities and concepts (ongoing)

5. Direction of Change
Improving the efficiency of natural
resource use
Three focus areas:
1. Close the efficiency gap: catching up in
technology adoption
2. Restore value to grasslands: supporting
soil carbon, ecosystem health and
productivity restoration with climate
finance
3. Zero discharge: towards full recovery of
nutrient and energy from animal manure

6. Closing the Efficiency Gap
total greenhouse gas emissions and milk output per cow
12.00
10.00
kg CO2-eq. per kg FPCM
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000
Output per cow, kg FPCM per year

7. Closing the efficiency gap
 Resource constraints have started to
“bite”
 Huge gaps between attainable and
actually attained efficiency
 Gaps can be narrowed with existing
technology
 Globally there is more gain from large
numbers of producers catching up than
from pushing the frontier
 Prices need to reflect true scarcities of
natural resources

8. Closing the natural resource
use efficiency gap
What has changed: The natural resource constraint has become “real”
Govern- Private Civil Scienc Inter
Actions ments Sector Society e Govern
Org. mental
Org.
Define and measure efficiency
Assess natural resource use efficiency gap and
options to close the gap
Develop PPPs for innovation and technology
transfer
Promote investments in efficiency improvement
Expected result: More knowledge -intensive practices, with more efficient natural
resource use

9. Restoring Value to Grasslands:
Potential C sequestration in natural grasslands
Through grazing practices, 20 year horizon

10. Restore value to grasslands
 Grasslands:
◦ often heavily degraded
◦ home to the poorest people globally
 Carbon finance and other PES can alter the
production function of grasslands, particularly in
marginal areas
 Develop a “business case” for grasslands –
multiple, global and local, environmental services
 Certification methodologies are required
 Institutional mechanisms for benefit sharing need
to be developed
 Income and development in areas without
alternatives to livestock

11. Restoring value to grasslands
What has changed: Payment for Environmental Services and climate change finance
can reverse the neglect of grasslands and enhance productivity and incomes
Govern- Private Civil Scienc Inter
Actions ments Sector Society e Govern
Org. mental
Org.
Assess potential for carbon sequestration and
synergies with food security
Develop monitoring and certification
methodologies
Pilot institutional and technical approaches
Develop intergovernmental support for
grasslands, e.g. through NAMAs
Expected result: Pastoralist adopt practices that provide environmental services
and improve food security

12. Globally-900,000,000 hogs
Estimated distribution of industrialized produced pig populations. Livestock’s Long
Shadow, 2006

13. Towards zero discharge:
Recovery of nutrients and energy from animal manure
Issue: Discharge of animal manure into the
environment caused by geographic
concentration of livestock
 total amounts of nutrients in livestock excreta >
synthetic fertilizers
 50 to 90 percent of nutrients contained in feed are
excreted as manure, 30 % of energy
 Technology exists to recover most of the energy
(biogas) and nutrients (except N)
 Policies to address spatial distribution of livestock
are required

14. Recovery of nutrient and
energy from animal manure
What has changed: Discharge of animal manure is less and less accepted
Govern- Private Civil Scienc Inter
Actions ments Sector Society e Govern
Org. mental
Org.
Analyze the clustering trend and assess the
constraints to improved practices
Develop regional networks for policy advise
Create opportunities for nutrient recycling and
energy recovery
Foster the development of PPPs for technology
transfer and adoption
Expected result: Increased nutrient and energy recovery from manure, resulting in
reduced pollution

15. The Agenda: what’s new?
 The thematic focus
◦ Puts the livestock sector on a sustainable growth path
◦ Offers strong synergies between economic gains and
environmental impact reduction
 The action-orientation (change in practice)
◦ Build on the sense of urgency to put what we know into
practice
 Value added of the multi-stakeholder
engagement
◦ Convergence of interests and action will translate into
change of practices

16. THANK YOU
henning.steinfeld@fao.org
www.livestockdialogue.org