This document discusses the impact of climate change on livestock in tropical regions. It notes that climate change will affect livestock production through increased heat and nutrition stress, as well as greater climate variability and extremes. This can impact pasture productivity and disease vectors. The document advocates for adaptation approaches like improving livestock nutrition, breeding animals suited to new environments, and monitoring climate-sensitive diseases. It also argues that international collaboration is needed between organizations researching how to support smallholder livestock farmers in tropical developing countries and ensure food and nutritional security amidst climate change.

1. Impact of Climate
Change on Livestock
in the Tropics
Professor Emeritus Lindsay Falvey FTSE
University of Melbourne
ACIAR Commissioner & ILRI Emeritus Fellow
1
07/07/2017 Vertical-Housed-Logo (722×722)
Climate Change
Livestock
Nutritional Security

2. Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
• Issues differ between more-developed
countries (MDC) and Less-DCs
• The tropics is weighted to LDCs
• Blanket policies can prejudice LDCs
• Ethics: climate vs LDC wellbeing
• Ruminants and CH4 photo credit: ILRI/ Camille Hanotte

3. Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
Livestock importance, e.g.
• Livestock GDP 40 % global agric’l GDP
• A billion people’s essential nutrients [choline; vit
A, B12; Fe, Zn] ≠ mental & physical under-
development
• Milk & meat = 5 of the 6 most valuable foods
• 25-40 % N on farms from livestock [c.f. fossil fuel]
photo credit: ILRI/ Camille Hanotte

4. Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
750 million smallholder livestock producers are
diverse. In the future, maybe:
• 1/3 find alternate livelihoods
• 1/3 succeed at market-oriented livestock livelihoods
• 1/3 remain
Context: food and nutritional security
Smallholders to smartholders = thriving enterprises,
part of a vibrant, productive and resilient food system
with less climate and other environmental impacts.
photo credit: ILRI/ Camille Hanotte

5. 5
Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
Impacts on Livestock
• Heat and nutrition stress  impacts on
livestock yields
• Increased climate variability and extremes 
changes in: pasture productivity; disease
vectors; etc  Production systems change
• Adaptation: maintain/improve productivity;
sustain resource base; minimizing zoonotics

6. 6
Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
Adaptation Domains
• Nutrition: forages molecular genetics;
• Animal genetics: breeds for emerging
environments; genetic conservation; CH4
• Animal health: livestock & humans; climate-
sensitive disease surveillance and control
• Climate risk maps & policy support tools

7. 7
Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
Integrated Scientific and Policy Research:
• Methane emissions can be reduced by
production efficiencies (less CH4 per head)
• Environments benefit from production
efficiencies (less head per output)
• Animal to human disease transfers are
reduced by research
• Livestock research returns on investment
exceed 10:1

8. Climate Change - Livestock – Tropics
International and Regional Collaboration: ILRI, ACIAR, IFPRI, others
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9. Climate Change - Livestock - Tropics
Some Projected Changes:
• Increased productivity, especially ruminants (to reduce GHG emissions per
unit of product) from improved health, nutrition and genetics
• Smaller herd sizes (BUT, increased demand for product by wealthy?)
• Small farmers linked into efficient value chains
• Novel disease challenges, including zoonotic diseases
• Enhanced biosecurity in intensive production facilities (pigs, poultry)
• Contextualizing ongoing research within climate/environmental changes
Vertical-Housed-Logo (722×722)

10. Collaboration between existing
global and regional research
bodies is imperative
Thankyou
Emeritus Professsor Lindsay Falvey FTSE
ACIAR Commission
lindsay.falvey@gmail.com
Follow us @ACIARAustralia
Climate Change
Livestock
Nutritional Security