Recent progress and future priorities for greenhouse gas emissions from livestock in Africa
CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems
- Impact Area
By Michael Graham
Ruminant livestock are essential for livelihoods of millions of people in Africa. However, African livestock systems are threatened by climate change due to increased heat stress and reduced feed for animals, among others. At the same time, livestock also contribute to climate change and are the main source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in many African countries, thereby exacerbating the problem. For this reason, many African governments have prioritized reducing GHG emissions from ruminant livestock in their national climate change goals. To meet these goals, African countries need better information on GHG emissions from their livestock systems, but research on these emissions has so far been limited and not been assessed comprehensively.
To fill this information gap on livestock GHG emissions, researchers at ILRI’s Mazingira Centre and a team of international collaborators comprehensively reviewed all published studies on GHG emissions from livestock systems in Africa. The study assessed the current state of research and made recommendations for future research priorities to reduce uncertainties in livestock GHG emissions.
The study found that while some progress has been made on research on GHG emissions from livestock systems in the last few years, there are still large gaps that need to be filled before GHG reductions from livestock can be implemented in most African countries. Research has thus far mostly focused on emissions of enteric methane produced by ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats. Methane is a potent GHG produced by ruminants during digestion of food through enteric fermentation. We found that methane emissions from cattle during enteric fermentation were 15% lower than previously reported, which could indicate that cattle in Africa have a lower impact on the climate than expected. On the other hand and partially offsetting this, sheep and goats had higher methane emissions than previously reported for Africa.
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Photo credit: Young boys herding cattle in Ethiopia / Camille Hanotte / ILRI
Maendeleo ya hivi karibuni na vipaumbele vya baadaye kwa uzalishaji wa gesi chafu kutoka kwa mifugo ya Afrika (CGIAR) - Mfumo wa Chakula cha Chini ya Uzalishaji (CLIAR) - Eneo la Athari (EIA) - Michael Graham Hata hivyo, mifumo ya ufugaji wa mifugo ya Afrika inatishiwa na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa kutokana na kuongezeka kwa shinikizo la joto na kupunguzwa kwa chakula kwa wanyama, miongoni mwa wengine. Kwa upande mwingine, mifugo pia huchangia mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa na ni chanzo kikuu cha uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu katika nchi nyingi za Afrika, na hivyo kuimarisha tatizo hilo. Serikali za Afrika zimependekeza kupunguza uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu kutoka kwa mifugo ya ruminants katika malengo yao ya mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Ili kufikia malengo haya, nchi za Afrika zinahitaji habari bora juu ya uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu kutoka kwa mifumo yao ya mifugo, lakini utafiti juu ya uzalishaji huu hadi sasa umekuwa mdogo na haujathaminiwa kwa kina. Ili kujaza pengo hili la habari juu ya uzalishaji wa gesi chafu, watafiti wa Kituo cha Mazingira cha ILRI na timu ya washirika wa kimataifa walichunguza kwa kina masomo yote yaliyochapishwa juu ya uzalishaji wa gesi chafu kutoka kwa mifumo ya mifugo barani Afrika. Utafiti huo ulikadiria hali ya sasa ya utafiti na ulitoa mapendekezo kwa vipaumbele vya utafiti wa baadaye ili kupunguza kutokuwa na uhakika katika uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu za mifugo. Utafiti huo uligundua kuwa wakati maendeleo fulani yamefanywa katika utafiti wa uzalishaji wa gesi za chafu kutoka kwa mifumo ya mifugo katika miaka michache iliyopita, bado kuna mapungufu makubwa ambayo yanahitaji kujazwa kabla ya kupunguzwa kwa gesi za chafu kutoka kwa mifugo inaweza kutekelezwa katika nchi nyingi za Afrika. Utafiti hadi sasa umezingatia zaidi uzalishaji wa methane ya utumbo inayotokana na wanyama wa ruminants kama vile ng'ombe, kondoo na mbuzi. Methani ni gesi yenye nguvu ya chafu inayotokezwa na wanyama wanaokula wakati wa kumeng'enya chakula kupitia chavua ya utumbo. "Kutokana na uchunguzi huo, iligunduliwa kwamba uzalishaji wa methane kutoka kwa ng'ombe wakati wa uundaji wa mkojo ulikuwa chini ya asilimia 15 kuliko ilivyoripotiwa hapo awali, ambayo inaweza kuonyesha kwamba ng'ombe wa Afrika wana athari ndogo kwa hali ya hewa kuliko ilivyotarajiwa. """ Kwa upande mwingine na kwa kiasi fulani kusawazisha hii, kondoo na mbuzi walikuwa na uzalishaji wa methane juu kuliko awali taarifa kwa ajili ya Afrika. Picha ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video ya video.