The Contribution of sustainable intensification of livestock to the reduction of methane emissions

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Rationale

 

In Panama and the Dominican Republic, livestock occupies 20 and 25% of the territory respectively and is largely low in animal productivity. Methane emissions reach 11.24% of total emissions in Panama and 11.07% in the case of the Dominican Republic. Low livestock productivity is derived from poor management of farm components such as soil, pastures and forages, tree cover, manure management, water management, livestock genetics, health and reproduction, registration system, value adding, and linkages to markets.

This not only contributes to low productivity and income , but also increases greenhouse gas emissions, and degrades biodiversity and other ecosystem services such as soil conservation, air quality, and climate regulation, that are related to the resilience of production systems. 

The aim of this project is to determine the distribution of cattle farms in Panama and the Dominican Republic. This includes researching the regions with the highest concentration of cattle farms, production systems, the level of technological innovation (e.g. which technologies are the predominant ones), and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions focusing on methane. 

The project will map livestock and climate change projects in both countries. From this information, results and lessons learned will be analysed for the identification and characterisation of silvopastoral systems and good practices for the sustainable intensification of competitive, resilient production systems with low methane emissions. 

 

Objectives

This project aims to:

  • Raise the profile of short lived climate pollutant mitigation on regional agendas
  • Develop and embed measures to reduce short lived climate pollutants in national climate and clean air strategies, plans, policies, and budget
  • Provide decision makers research, analyses, and tools to make ambitious commitments and take fast action


 

Activities

 

To achieve its objectives the project will:

  • Conduct a workshop to analyse the potential inclusion of atmospheric information into national policies and programs and identify capacity development requirements.
  • Regional dialogue on good practices and technological innovations for Low Emissions Livestock Development.
  • Generate a policy brief on low carbon and sustainable competitive livestock.
  • Conduct a regional exchange workshop on low emissions livestock development.
  • Develop business models for farms representing the predominant and characterised typologies in the countries, exploring climate financing options that can be used for climate investments
  • Design a training program for technicians on sustainable intensification of livestock based on silvopastoral systems (SSP) and good livestock practices that improve income, resilience, and reduce methane emissions
  • Evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of the GI3S methodology for monitoring different sources of methane in the atmosphere to understand the effect of cattle farming in Panama and the Dominican Republic
  • Develop a proposal for a national/regional livestock strategy with low GHG emissions, focusing on methane. Also include monitoring of this gas in the atmosphere  as a metric to measure the impact of the transformation of the livestock sector
  • Promote an escalation strategy for the SICA region, based on the results obtained in Panama and the Dominican Republic, with the purpose of strengthening knowledge and generating a contribution for the implementation of the respective NDCs

Project reference: The Contribution of sustainable intensification of livestock to the reduction of methane emissions [PA-21-001]
 

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