A synthesis report
Smallholder livestock farming is a proven pathway out of poverty for the rural poor given its capacity to provide regular income and a means of transferring wealth and development ideas from rich urban to the rural poor. But climate change poses a threat to its sustainability. Climate change is impacting the production of feeds, forage, grazing land, water and disease outbreaks.
Livestock through their enteric fermentation and on-farm handling of manure generate methane (CH4) and Nitrous oxide (N2O) also called dinitrogen monoxide or laughing gases. These two are recognized contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth’s atmosphere, trapping the sun’s heat causing global warming and climate change. The impact of climate change includes changing weather patterns, drop in water levels, and increased frequency of extreme weather events (floods and droughts).
There are numerous articles on the subject of climate change with much narrative focusing on the negative impact of livestock, especially its contribution to the worsening climate change through Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, degradation of grazing land, water and disease.
However, the articles have not documented locally adapted climate mitigation best practices with potential for replication in other ecologically similar areas.
Therefore, this synthesis reviewed and analyzed livestock and climate change focused data extracted from studies conducted by livestock experts at Janda Consult in various parts of Uganda for the period (2019-2023) to document locally adapted climate change best practices among smallholder livestock farmers.
The reviews include Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries: Agriculture Cluster Development Program (ACDP),2019 involving, 7,125 household interviews located in 45 districts; the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries: Agriculture Value Chain Development Project, March, 2021 involving 1,964 interviews located in 47 Districts; SNV-Uganda: Integrated Smallholder Dairy Project (ISDAP), July 2022- January, 2023, involving 1,439interviews; Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries: National Oil Palm Project (NOPP) Nov. 2022- March,2023 with 2,430 interviews covering 11 districts.
The synthesis observed that about two-third of sampled respondent owned at least one type of livestock with majority (35.6%) own sheep/goats or small ruminants followed by 31.6% own poultry, 25.7% own cattle, 16.5% had pigs, and 0.1% other livestock. In 88.5% of the smallholder livestock farmer households, income is the principal reason for keeping livestock followed by food for home consumption.
The synthesis also noted that livestock production largely depends on rain-fed pastures but less than half of smallholder farm households had adequate feed supply for their animals all year round, with insufficient supply mainly due to extended drought and flooding.
Nine in ten smallholder farm households have noticed that climate change affected their enterprises in the last five years. The most noticed was the worsening change in regular weather patterns followed by reduced crop yield, erratic rainfall, disease outbreak and floods. It was plausible to find that 76.6% of smallholder farm households were aware of livestock farm activities that contribute to climate change and have since adapted local practices to enhance their resilience and reduce vulnerability.
Practices
Smallholder farmers have adapted practices within their ecosystems to improve their resilience from climate change impact as follows:
- Smallholder farmers practice adaptive grazing alternated with zero-grazing production system. These practices help reduce animal pressure on land, increase soil carbon sequestration and restoration of degraded land. More than 90% of interviewees use cow dung as crop fertilizer, this in addition to boosting crop production, it saves money which would be spent on other fertilizers,
- Utilize and or recycle crops (residues/crop by-products) to feed animals as a mechanism to reduce pressure on grazing land and minimize forage demand.
- Downsized herd and manage herd growth to protect the environment, 80% of smallholder farm households keep small herd size of 1-3 genetically improved breeds with potential for higher productivity,
- Vaccination is practiced by three in every four smallholder farm households in order to improve animal health.
Key issues observed
- Lack of mechanisms for sharing the best practices for climate change mitigation
What more needs to be done then?
There is further need to identify, validate and promote the sharing of best practices for climate change mitigation focusing on the following:
- Use of appropriate rural energy-efficient milk cooling technologies,
- Use of renewable energy technologies for lighting and milk cooling to reduce use of fossil fuels,
- Use of energy saving stoves to scale down cutting of forest trees for charcoal and firewood,
- Appropriate financial incentives for progressive climate change mitigations,
- Animal feeding and manure handling to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
- Market inclusion for smallholder farmers
- Tree planting along grazing areas to improve soil retention and prevent soil erosion,
Author: Muzira Isha (International livestock consultant)
imuzira@jandaconsult.co.ug
www.jandaconsult.co.ug
