Methane Solutions for African Livestock Systems: Mazingira Research Highlighted at the Climate and Clean Air Conference 2024

LRI's Mazingira Centre is a leading research hub for greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions in agricultural systems, with a particular focus on African livestock systems. The CGIAR Research Initiative has been supporting the Centre to strengthen its work over the last three years, whilst building partnerships and contributing to policy dialogues.

This includes contributing to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), a voluntary partnership of 160 governments, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs founded in 2012, convened within UNEP and working to reduce powerful but short-lived climate pollutants.

ILRI senior scientist and Mazingira Centre Team Leader Claudia Arndt, was invited to join CCAC's annual conference in February 2024, where she presented recent research and joined discussions about this important and timely topic during the session, "Raising Farmer Voices: Advancing Methane Mitigation in African Livestock Systems."

The session focused on practical solutions to reduce methane emissions while supporting the livelihoods of African Farmers. It brought together experts, researchers, policymakers and farmers to discuss the importance of sustainable and resilient livestock practices in mitigating climate change.

Balancing Methane Reduction with Livestock Productivity

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Livestock are significant contributors to methane emissions. In low- and middle-income countries, methane emissions in livestock can be amplified in relation to their productivity.

Claudia's presentation emphasized this delicate balance. She outlined key strategies for reducing methane emissions in African livestock systems, focusing on smallholder mixed-crop systems and pastoral systems, most common across the continent. Using data from Mazingira Centre's state-of-the-art equipment, she highlighted the relationship between animal productivity and emission intensity. By improving livestock efficiency through better feed management, health, and breeding strategies, emissions per unit of production can be reduced.

Claudia emphasized that increasing productivity not only reduces emissions but also enhances farmers' incomes and food security, an essential win-win solution for climate resilient livestock systems.

Key takeaways for Driving Action on Methane Mitigation

The session outlined several actionable strategies to advance methane mitigation in African livestock systems:

• Optimizing livestock productivity through better feeding practices, animal health, and genetic improvements

• Leveraging data-drive approaches to better understand the environmental impact of livestock, enabling more targeted, region-specific interventions

• Scaling-up low-emission practices already being implemented by farmers to promote broader adoption

• Addressing underlying factors of livestock productivity, such as water scarcity, that reduce livestock productivity and exacerbate methane emissions

• Framing methane mitigation practices in terms of farmer-focused benefits, such as improved livelihoods and productivity, to encourage adoption

Collaborative, Region-Specific Solutions for African Livestock Systems

In addition to Claudia's presentation, the session featured insights from a wide array of experts.

Bernard Kimoro, Head of Climate Change and Livestock, State Department for Livestock Kenya, stressed the need for improved GHG quantification methodologies to support localized methane mitigation policies. He pointed out that current Tier 2 emissions methodologies, developed for systems in the Global North, don't accurately reflect the unique conditions of African livestock systems.

Alex Gathii Gitonga, Dairy Invesment Consultant and Livestock Nutritionist, noted in his presentation that policymakers need to incorporate farmer needs into methane mitigation measures to facilitate on-the-ground adoption.

The session also included a presentation from Emmanuel Merchant, Vice President of Africa Milk Sustainability at Danone, who gave a private sector perspective, sharing how improved dairy productivity in Morocco led to reduced emissions and improved farmer incomes.

John Tauzel, Senior Director for Global Agricultural Methane at the Environmental Defense Fund, captured the spirit of the event in his remarks: "This panel further expanded the dialogue about building more climate-smart livestock systems. There are opportunities today to implement win-win solutions for smallholder livestock systems that improve nutritional security, enhance farmer livelihoods while also addressing the climate impact of livestock."

This session highlighted that addressing methane emissions in African livestock systems requires a collective approach. Governments, research institutions, the private sector, and farmers all play crucial roles in developing and scaling sustainable practices. By combining scientific research, practical solutions, and policy support, stakeholders can build resilient livestock systems that advance methane mitigation efforts.

The Mazingira Centre is supported by the CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate, focusing on the challenges that climate change poses to livestock production, supporting livestock-dependent communities without accelerating greenhouse gas emissions or degrading land, water, and biodiversity.The centre is also supported by contributions from the CGIAR Trust Fund.

Learn more about ILRI Mazingira Centre's research here.

Banner photo: Claudia Arndt, Co-Leader of Mazingira Centre at ILRI, and Bernard Kimoro, Head of Climate Change and Livestock at the Kenya State Department for Livestock, explain the biggest livestock issues in Kenya and partnership with each other. Photo by K.Tam/ILRI.

Story by Madison Spinelli.

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