Better lives through livestock
Ruminant livestock production systems and
imperatives for sustainable development
Jimmy Smith, Director General
With Fiona Flintan, Jason Sircely, Cesar Patino, Mireille Ferrari and Susan MacMillan
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Joint XI International Rangeland Congress and XXIV International Grassland Congress
24–30 October 2021
Nairobi, Kenya (virtual)

2
Overview
Ruminant production systems
• Controversy
• Diversity
• Development opportunities
Rangeland systems
• Trends
• Threats
Three imperatives
• Embrace change
• Harness diversity
• Engage widely

Ruminant production systems

4
• Food
• Environment
• Livelihoods
• Health
Controversy

5
Diverse ruminant systems provide diverse benefits
meat, milk
fibre
hides
fertilizer
fuel
income
social
cultural
ecological
risk management
Source: FAO, 2018

6
Essential for food and nutrition
Source: Hererro et al., 2013
Food quantity: Most food in LMICs—plant as
well as animal—is produced on small, mixed
crop-and-livestock farms
Ruminants raised on rangelands: Most red
meat in some developing countries (e.g. 90% in
Kenya)
Food quality: Milk and meat have essential
roles in nutrition, especially for the world’s
vulnerable populations

Environmental impacts and
opportunities
CLIMATE
Ruminant production produces
greenhouse gases and must be
addressed
Opportunities to ‘net off’ emissions
in rangelands through carbon
sequestration
Note: Huge variations occur in both emissions
and sequestration depending on life cycle
boundaries, accounting for GHG half-life, etc.
Emission intensity per unit of land area (tonnes CO2 eq per sq km)
WATER
Most water used to raise ruminants
on rangelands is ‘GREEN’ water
(rainfall) and is NOT ‘consumed’
Source: Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model, 2013

The scale and importance of ruminant systems’
contributions to livelihoods is often overlooked
• More than 1 billion people worldwide
gain their livelihoods from livestock
• Half of these depend on animals
for a multitude of benefits
• Over 200 million households
are located in rangelands
• Women head up two-thirds of the
crop-livestock households in rural areas
• Women who cannot own land
can own animals and manage
livestock businesses

9
Ruminant production in rangelands offers opportunities
for One Health solutions
• Investments in rangelands offer win-win-
win One Health outcomes due to the
intimate relationships between
ruminants, people, wildlife and lands
• Grazing systems designed and managed
with pastoralists /ranchers minimize
threats to livestock, human and
environment health while restoring
rangelands to their productive potential
Source: ILRI, UNEP, 2020

Rangeland production systems: trends and threats

11
Ruminant production systems in rangelands globally
Source: Rangelands Atlas, ILRI, 2021

12
Rangelands
non rangeland
46%
livestock non arid
24%
livestock arid
21%
rangeland non livestock
9%
Million sq km
Total
terrestrial surface:
148.3 million sq km
Source: Rangelands Atlas, ILRI, 2021
Rangelands
Cover 80 million sq km
84% of which is used for livestock production
31 million sq km are too dry for crops
36 million sq km are used for integrated
crop-livestock , agro-pastoral systems, etc.
44% (34.8 million sq km)
are covered in grasslands (42 types)
Rangelands and their people offer
two major opportunities
yielding many co-benefits
Food production
Environmental stewardship

13
Rangeland trends, 2000–2015
Productivity
• 73% remained stable
• 17% was improved
• 6% was reduced
Land cover and soil
• 99% remained stable
• 93% had stable soil organic carbon

14
Rangeland threats
Fragmentation
Pressures to fragment rangelands for more intensive land uses (fencing, conversion to cropping, road/
infrastructure construction, urbanization, mining, etc.) threaten pastoral mobility around the world
Climate change (2000 to 2050)
• 12% of rangelands will lose >20% of their growing periods
• 16% will have maximum temperatures above 35oC
• 31% will surpass 1 or more of 3 climate thresholds
• 75% of livestock losses in drylands are caused by drought
Biodiversity losses
• Rangeland biodiversity losses are increasing due to climate change, cropland
expansion, fragmentation, infrastructural development and livestock grazing
Marginalization
• Many pastoralists suffer ecological, economic and political marginality

Three imperatives

16
Imperatives to mitigate threats and realize opportunities
Embrace change
• Respond to increased demand for milk and meat
• Address unsustainable practices
• Contribute to environmental solutions
Harness diversity
Use research with the end in mind to:
• Prioritize and target pathways for enduring and equitable development
• Solve major constraints (e.g. resilience, land use, forage scarcity, lack of markets)
Engage widely
• Beyond science/research with those (governments, development partners)
who will scale solutions
• Beyond livestock partners to those working to achieve wider development outcomes

17
Pathways for enduring and equitable rangeland development
Distinguish two pathways:
• Where natural rangeland resources are more favourable
for food production, pursue opportunities to increase sustainable
livestock production and market engagement
• Where rangeland resources are less favourable for food production,
focus on supporting environmental stewardship
Note:
• Greater risk mitigation, resilience and adaptive capacity
are needed in all rangelands
• As circumstances evolve, a mosaic of rangeland
development pathways is likely to emerge

18
Implement drought-risk financing to build resilience
Those who purchased
insurance:
- 36% drop in distress
sales of livestock
- 25% reduced
likelihood of having to
eat significantly
smaller meals
- 33% reduction in
dependence on food
aid
Taking to scale
IBLI:
• Kenya Livestock Insurance Program
(KLIP) social protection program
• Introduced in Ethiopia where
adoption has grown
• Humanitarian organizations
launched similar schemes in
eastern Ethiopia and Zambia
Drought risk financing solutions
• Scaling innovations in the
Intergovernmental Authority on
Development IGAD region and
beyond
Index-based
livestock insurance
(IBLI)
Insures livestock
assets
Based on satellite
weather data
At least 50 million pastoralists in SSA
vulnerable to shocks (eg drought)
Loss of life, economies and dependence on aid
Kenya lost USD 3.3 billion in the livestock sector
2008-11 because of drought

19
Sustainable Rangeland Management
https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/101211
Almost 200,000ha under
joint village management
to secure grazing lands
for pastoral and
agro-pastoral communities

20
Key messages
Rangelands are an essential part of complex and diverse
livestock production systems that are essential for development
Rangelands present many sustainable development opportunities
Rangelands face many threatening trends
To realize these opportunities and mitigate these threats:
• Embrace change
• Harness diversity
• Engage widely

THANK YOU