Assessing Africa’s environmental footprint: Unveiling cattle production variation across regions

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agricultureen
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden
cg.contributor.initiativeLivestock and Climate
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.coverage.regionWestern Africa
cg.coverage.regionNorthern Africa
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africa
cg.coverage.regionMiddle Africa
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.creator.identifierEmmanuel Mwema: 0000-0002-8292-2230
cg.creator.identifierRein van der Hoek: 0000-0003-4528-7669
cg.creator.identifierAn Maria Omer Notenbaert: 0000-0002-6266-2240
cg.creator.identifierRicardo González Quintero: 0000-0002-9893-0120
cg.identifier.urlhttps://www.tropentag.de/abstract.php?code=6A78BJcxen
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systems
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatAGRICULTUREen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatCLIMATE CHANGEen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatCLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATIONen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATIONen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatFARMING SYSTEMSen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatFOOD SYSTEMSen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatLAND USEen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatLIVESTOCKen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatSOIL HEALTHen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatSUSTAINABILITYen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatTROPICAL FORAGESen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatWATERen
cg.subject.impactAreaClimate adaptation and mitigation
cg.subject.sdgSDG 1 - No povertyen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hungeren
cg.subject.sdgSDG 6 - Clean water and sanitationen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 12 - Responsible production and consumptionen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate actionen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 15 - Life on landen
dc.contributor.authorIsiaho, Glarionen
dc.contributor.authorMwema, Emmanuelen
dc.contributor.authorVan Der Hoek, Reinen
dc.contributor.authorNotenbaert, Anen
dc.contributor.authorGonzalez Quintero, Ricardoen
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-11T11:22:35Zen
dc.date.available2024-11-11T11:22:35Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/159494
dc.titleAssessing Africa’s environmental footprint: Unveiling cattle production variation across regionsen
dcterms.abstractThe livestock industry in Africa has experienced significant expansion due to increased demand for meat, dairy, and associated products. Nevertheless, while striving to meet the increasing demand for meat and milk, African livestock production systems generate significant environmental impacts mainly due to their relatively low productivity. Several research initiatives have assessed the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities, soil impacts, water consumption, and land usage of various livestock systems across multiple regions in Africa. Despite advancements, there are still gaps in the understanding of regional variation of GHG emissions, water footprint, land footprint, and their implications for livestock production systems in Africa, particularly when assessed in terms of intensity per unit product. These gaps are evident in the notable lack of comprehensive studies that consolidate all environmental footprints from the African cattle production sector. This study seeks to review the existing evidence of cattle production characteristics in various environmental domains, including GHG emissions, water usage, land use, soil degradation, and nitrogen balance. Input data collected from existing literature spanning from 2003 to 2023 divides Africa into five regions: Northern, Eastern, Western, Central, and Southern Africa. The analysis categorises the production systems of cattle into three types: intensive, semi-intensive, and extensive systems. Six bibliographic databases namely Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Dimensions Research Scholar, Semantic, and Research Gate were accessed. 112 publications were selected from a pool of 158 papers retrieved, after screening titles and abstracts. The findings indicate that cattle systems in Africa exhibit a notably higher environmental impact from meat and milk production compared to both global and continental levels. This exerts significant pressure on environmental resources, potentially leading to long-term risks. Significantly, Southern Africa demonstrates superior performance compared to other regions on the continent. However, persistent challenges such as low feed quality and availability, lack of specialisation, and reliance on low-productive breeds remain. Implementing locally tailored measures is essential to address these issues.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationIsiaho, G.; Mwema, E.; Van Der Hoek, R.; Notenbaert, A.; Gonzalez Quintero, R. (2024) Assessing Africa’s environmental footprint: Unveiling cattle production variation across regions. Presented at Tropentag: Explore opportunities... for managing natural resources and a better life for all, on 11-13 September 2024 in Vienna (Austria). 9 sl.en
dcterms.extent9 sl.en
dcterms.issued2024-09-11
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.subjectgreenhouse gas emissionsen
dcterms.subjectganaderíaen
dcterms.subjectgases de efecto invernaderoen
dcterms.subjectproductivityen
dcterms.subjectwateren
dcterms.subjectlanden
dcterms.subjectaguaen
dcterms.subjecttierraen
dcterms.subjectcattleen
dcterms.subjectproductividaden
dcterms.typePresentation

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