Livestock and water
Mats Lannerstad
ILRI@40 Livestock and Environment workshop
Addis Ababa, 7 November 2014

Water scarcity limits food production
(Molden 2007)

Litre per kilo meat “fears”

Lord Stern:
’Give up meat
to save the planet’
(The Times 2009)

Water for feed growth
Evapotranspiration 98% water livestock production
Blue Water
Irrigation
from
Rivers & Aquifers
Human distribution
Green Water
Soil moisture
from
Rainfall
Fixed to land

Water and livestock is complex

Water for livestock
even more complex
Water productivity of livestock products
a. Water productivity of feeds
b. Water productivity of animals – inherent + managment
c. Water productivity of animals – feed mix
Local context determin water availability
a. Climatic pre-conditions
b. Local water cycle
Local imporantance of water used
a. Human competing demands
b. Environmental impacts

Research solutions
Reasearch how to capture system complexity:
Benefits of water uses
- Untapped water productivity potential in livestock production
- Livestock products vs. Food crops
- Nutritional value, not only calories
- Non-food benefits - developing vs. developed
Location importance of three water resources
- Competing uses
- Environmental impacts
- Multi-currency perspective, not only water, not only provisioning
Assess local and global
synergies and trade-offs to guide investments

Mats Lannerstad
Livestock Systems and Environment
Thank You!