This document discusses livestock water productivity and strategies to improve it. It defines livestock water productivity as the total net beneficial outputs divided by the total depleted water. Major increases in livestock water productivity are possible through four strategies: 1) selecting low water cost feed, 2) enhancing animal production, 3) conserving water, and 4) strategic livestock watering. An example estimates the mean livestock water productivity of mixed crop-livestock farms in the Blue Nile highlands is $0.19/m3 for rainfed livestock and $0.33/m3 for irrigated livestock. Further research challenges include moving from livestock water productivity to multiple use water productivity and standardizing definitions and methods across scales.

1. Livestock Water Productivity:
Lessons relevant to the BFPs
CPWF International Forum on Water & Food
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9-14 November 2008 1
(A CPWF PN37 output)

2. Livestock are important water
users in drier CPWF basins
Livestock production covers more area than crop
production.
More water depleted through livestock systems.
Livestock consume more food than people.
Livestock largely ignored in water management.
Livestock and crop water productivity low
– Especially in rainfed areas.
Major livestock water productivity increases possible.
Gains: Food, livelihoods, poverty reduction,
ecosystem services. 2

3. What is livestock water productivity
(An entry point for INRM, IWRM & IRBM)
LWP = ∑(Net beneficial outputs)
∑(Depleted water)
Benefits: Meat, milk, hides, traction power,
manure, eggs, whole animal sales, drought
security, wealth savings, etc.
Depleted water: Transpiration,
evaporation, discharge & contamination.
Units: US$/m3
– Better alternatives? 3

4. Basic water accounting framework
River basin
Surface Transpiration
in-flow Watershed
Depletion
In - flow
Community
Household & farm
Non-
Herd productive
Rain losses
Animal
Agriculture
Ground + ecosystem
water Infiltration
Benefits**

5. Four LWP improving strategies: Watering sites
Transpiration
1. Select Grain
Residues 2. Enhance
low water
By-products animal
Surface cost feed Fodder production
in-flow Pasture
In - flow
Imported feed
3. Conserve
Other losses
water
Discharge
Evaporation
Rain 4. Strategic Contamination
Livestock
watering
Meat, milk,
Ground hides, traction,
water Infiltration
manure, etc.

6. Example LWP estimate
Mixed crop-livestock farms
Blue Nile highlands: (Curtis 2007)
Net-back analysis
Economic price for water
Activity’s economic revenue and cost
Does activity benefit exceed water cost?
Addresses water-use tradeoffs
Is activity economically viable?
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7. Example LWP estimate
Mixed crop-livestock farms
Blue Nile highlands: (Curtis 2007)
Net Back Value of Water Mean
(USD/m3)
Irrigated 0.33
Livestock Rainfed 0.19
Total 0.27
Irrigated 0.09
Crop Rainfed 0.08
Total 0.09
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8. Other examples in LWP
session next Wednesday
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9. CPWF experience:
LWP
– Useful communication tool.
– Helps systematic thinking about livestock & water.
– Useful within systems to compare management
practices and intervention options.
– Suggests limits to system improvement.
– Huge increases possible
But:
– Cross system comparisons questionable.
– Need to disaggregate animal species.
– Trends more important than numbers.
– LWP: Only a partial WP. 9

10. What next? R&D challenges
Move from LWP to MUWP.
Start at system scale – not livestock scale.
Standardize definitions & methods within
scales.
• Manure, crop residues, roots – To partition or not?
• Spatial & temporal boundaries
• Denominator – price? volume? or?
• Numerator – monetary units? Kg? DW? or?
• Gender disaggregation.
• Production vs productivity?
Split ET into E and T
Coherent methods across scales.
Institutional and policy research.
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11. Evidence suggests:
100 to 1000% LWP increases possible.
Simultaneous adoption of LWP strategies.
Potential contribution high:
– Rainfed & irrigated systems
– Multiple uses of water
– Benefit sharing
– Adapting to and mitigating climate change.
LWP related to poverty, land tenure, markets
& land degradation, use, and potential.
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12. Thank
you!
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