Presented by Birthe Paul, Beatus Nzogela, David Ngunga (Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) at the Maziwa Zaidi stakeholder workshop on Environmental Management Opportunities for Dairy in Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania, 16 December 2020
Smallholder dairy development and environmental impacts in Tanzania
1. Smallholder Dairy Development and
Environmental Impacts in Tanzania
Birthe Paul, Beatus Nzogela, David Ngunga
Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Maziwa Zaidi stakeholder workshop on environmental management opportunities for dairy in
Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania, 16 December 2020
2. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Livestock: the good, bad and
complicated
CCAFS Big Facts
ifpri Insights
3. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poorLow productivity and resource use inefficiencies
Poor feeding, husbandry, breeds, health…
…limits milk productivity
…and causes high greenhouse
gas emission intensities
Sustainable livestock
intensification
4. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Diversity of integrated crop-
livestock dairy systems,
where manure, residues,
forages link crop and
livestock components.
Paul, B.K.; Groot, J.C.; Maass, B.L.; Notenbaert, A.M.; Herrero, M.; Tittonell, P.A. (2020) Improved feeding
and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East
Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 8 p. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/107432
Dairy development
interventions can lead to
trade-offs and synergies
between various livelihood
and environmental quality,
including climate, soils,
biodiversity and water.
5. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Livestock and environment research from Africa
is limited
Paul, B.K., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Notenbaert, A., Nderi, A.N., Ericksen, P. (2020). Sustainable livestock
development in low and middle income countries – shedding light on evidence-based solutions.
Environmental Research Letters. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abc278
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8,000
Livestock Livestock and environment % env of total
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Colombia
India
Nigeria
Morocco
China
SouthAfrica
Tanzania
Germany
Kenya
France
Myamnar
Mexico
Ethiopia
USA
Canada
BurkinaFaso
Niger
Mali
Somalia
CAR
SouthSudan
Sudan
Brazil
Moldova
Bolivia
Australia
Paraguay
Chad
TLU per inhabitant
Livestock publications per 100k inhabitants
6. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Managed grazing
Improved pastures
Silvo-pastoral systems
Planted forages
Manure management
Restrict livestock production in high biodiversity
areas
Management of water points
Exclosures
Bio-digesters
Scores
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania
Environmental impacts and solutions – what
experts say
Paul, B.K., Butterbach-Bahl, K., Notenbaert, A., Nderi, A.N., Ericksen, P. (2020). Sustainable livestock
development in low and middle income countries – shedding light on evidence-based solutions.
Environmental Research Letters. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abc278
7. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poorTropical forages… …and their multiple roles in
cropping systems
Paul, B.K.; Groot, J.C.; Maass, B.L.; Notenbaert, A.M.; Herrero, M.; Tittonell, P.A. (2020) Improved feeding
and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in East
Africa. Outlook on Agriculture 8 p. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/107432
But their uptake remains relatively low to date
8. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Multiple, synergetic benefits of tropical forages
Paul, B.K.; Koge, J.; Maass, B.L.; Notenbaert, A.; Peters, M.; Groot, J.C.J.; Tittonell, P. (2020)
Tropical forage technologies can deliver multiple benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A meta-
analysis. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 40:22. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/108642
CIAT. 2019. Soil and climate benefits of improved forage grasses.
International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya. 1p.
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/107153
9. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Livestock & environment
research in Tanzania:
Snapshots 2015-2020
11. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Flagging environmental impacts with CLEANED in
Tanga region …
• Economically feasible farm-level productivity increases of up to 140% go hand-in-hand
up to 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities
• Absolute increases in water, land and nitrogen requirements in mixed crop-livestock
systems call for careful management of stocks and quality of these resources
Total supply
(FPCM)
Productivity
(FPCM/ha)
Land used (ha) Land used per
product
(ha/MT
FPCM)
Soil lost (kg) Soil lost per
area (kg/ha)
Soil lost per
product
(kg/MT FPCM)
N lost (kg) N lost per
area (kg/ha)
N lost per
product
(kg/kg FPCM)
Total emissions
(kg CO2-eq)
Emissions per
area (kg CO2-
eq/ha)
Emissions per
product (kg
CO2-eq/MT
FPCM)
Genetics - - - - - - - - -
Feed +++ + --- + --- + ++ --- + ++ --- -
Health +++ + --- + --- + --- + + --- +
Combined +++ ++ --- ++ --- + ++ --- + ++ --- - +
Genetics ++ +++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ +++ + - ++
Feed ++ +++ ++ +++ ++ + +++ ++ +++ -- --- +
Health ++ +++ ++ +++ ++ + +++ ++ +++ -- --- +
Combined +++ +++ - ++ - + +++ - - +++ -- - ++
Genetics + ++ + + - + - + - +
Feed ++ +++ + ++ + ++ + - ++ -- --- +
Health ++ ++ + ++ + ++ - ++ -- --
Combined +++ +++ - ++ - + ++ - + ++ -- - +
Erosion Nutrients GHG emissions
Tanga VC
Productivity Land requirements
Mixed crop-
livestock
enterprise
Agro-pastoral
enterprise
Notenbaert, A., Groot, J.C.J., Herrero, M., Birnholz, C., Paul, B.K., Pfeifer, C., Fraval, S., Lannerstad, M.,
McFadzean, J., Dungait, J., Morries, J., Ran, Y., Barron, J., Tittonell, P. (2020). Towards environmentally
sound intensification pathways for dairy development in the Tanga region of Tanzania.
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110323
12. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
…and at national level in Tanzania…
Waha, K. (2020). Feed-based dairy system intensification scenario development and national-level
biophysical impact assessment. CSIRO Final Technical Report for Climate Smart Dairy Project.
• The Livestock Master Plan projects an increase number
of reproductive females and national milk production by
80% from 2016/17 to 2021/22
• If improved livestock feeding alone (e.g. improved
Brachiaria grasses, Desmodium and Rhodes grass hay) is
to deliver this milk increase, the following is projected:
• Methane emissions increase by 11% to 4.6 Mt CO2e,
but methane emission intensity decreases from 2.5
to 1.9 kg CO2e/kg milk
• Land required to produce feed increases by 12% to
33.3 Mio ha, but land required per unit milk
decreases from 0.6 to 0.4 ha/kg milk
• Water required to produce feed increases by 9% to
28.2 billion liter, but water required by unit milk
decreases from 0.5 to 0.4 l/kg milk
13. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
…with more to come on Tanga/Kilimanjaro
regions under MaziwaZaidi II
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Intensive Dairy-HAI Intensive Dairy-Muheza
Highland
Intensive Dairy-Muheza
Lowland
GHGemissions(tCO2e/ha)
Greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC Tier 2)
liv.enteric fermentation liv. Manure Soil off farm emissions
14. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Climate-smart livestock in Lushoto, Tanga
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OpportunityCosts(Tshs/farm)
Adoption rate (%)
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
Scenario 3
Scenario 4
Scenario 5
Scenario 6
Shikuku, K.M., Valdivia, R., Paul, B.K., Mwongera, C., Winowiecki, L., Laderach, P., Herrero, M.,
Silvestri, S. (2017). Prioritizing climate-smart livestock technologies in rural Tanzania: A
minimum data approach. Agricultural Systems, 151, 204-216.
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/75727
15. More meat, milk and eggs by and for the poor
Trade-offs between income and GHG in Babati,
Manyara region
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AnnualGHGemissions(tCO2efarm-1)
Annual income (USD farm-1)
SMALLEST
SMALLEST: Baseline
SMALLEST: V, H, M, L
DAIRY
DAIRY: Baseline
DAIRY: V, H, M, L
SHAOT
SHOAT: Baseline
Paul, B.K., Groot, J.C.J., Birnholz, C.A., Nzogela, B., Notenbaert, A., Woyessa, K., Sommer, R., Nijbroek,
R., Tittonell, P. (2020). Reducing agro-environmental trade-offs through sustainable livestock
intensification across smallholder systems in Northern Tanzania. International Journal for Agricultural
Sustainability, 18(1), 35-54. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/106025
16. Key messages
1. Positive and negative impacts of livestock are two sides of the same coin
2. Efficiency and environmental gains are linked
3. We need multidisciplinary, applied agri-food systems research to address
challenges
4. Environment is not all about climate, but also water, soils and biodiversity
5. Research on livestock and the environment still scarce in Africa and
Tanzania, though some progress has been made under Maziwa Zaidi
6. Synergies between livelihood and environmental objectives are possible –
> sustainable livestock intensification
7. Solutions for sustainable livestock intensification exist, including
improved livestock feeding and forages, but need wide-scale uptake
8. Climate-smart livestock intensification options should be a building block
of Tanzania’s climate and livestock policies
9. Research needs to be embedded in appropriate financial incentives,
institutional settings and capacity building of involved stakeholders
17. More reading
All journal publications (open access)
1. Prioritizing climate-smart livestock technologies in rural Tanzania: a minimum data approach (cgiar.org)
2. Improved feeding and forages at a crossroads: Farming systems approaches for sustainable livestock development in
East Africa (cgiar.org)
3. Sustainable livestock development in low and middle income countries - shedding light on evidence-based solutions –
IOPscience
4. Tropical forage technologies can deliver multiple benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A meta-analysis (cgiar.org)
5. Reducing agro-environmental trade-offs through sustainable livestock intensification across smallholder systems in
Northern Tanzania (cgiar.org)
6. Towards environmentally sound intensification pathways for dairy development in the Tanga region of Tanzania
(cgiar.org)
Blogposts & websites
CIAT Blog (2018). Low emission livestock – how to quantify gains across Africa?
https://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/low-emission-livestock-how-to-quantify-gains-across-africa/
CIAT Blog (2016). An unlikely weapon against poverty and drought. https://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/an-unlikely-
weapon-against-poverty-and-drought/
CIAT Blog (2016). Livestock: Climate menace or opportunity for change?
https://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/livestock-climate-menace-or-opportunity-for-change/
CLEANED website: https://ciat.cgiar.org/ciat-projects/environmental-assessments-of-livestock-systems-
using/
18. CGIAR Research Program on Livestock
The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food
systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world.
This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
The program thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR system
livestock.cgiar.org
More meat milk and eggs by and for the poor
Notas del editor
Objective: Share knowledge, learnings, key insights and messages from research on livestock and environmental impacts in Tanzania
Objective is to show where we are coming from in terms of research, we have a longer history, plus setting the scene and prompting thoughts for upcoming sessions and seeing how such research can be useful for other actors
Purpose is to provide a snapshot of past research on livestock and the environment in Tanzania, not to go into depth. We will have focused follow-up meetings in 2021 on various topics, e.g. manure management and biogas, and CLEANED results
First the bad: most people will know livestock production is contributing to climate change.
And there is also the good: Animal-source foods contain protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A and B12 that can be crucial in a diet of poor people who do not have as many dietary options as in the Western world, and where especially children and pregnant/nursing women suffer from stunting, anemia, vitamin deficiencies and poor physical and cognitive development. While people the Western world including Brazil are eating too much (more than 100 kg of meat annually) resulting in increasing obesity and heart diseases, countries in Africa consume too little (5kg).
And there is more good: A huge amount of poor livestock keepers crucially rely on livestock for their livelihood including income, jobs, and as wealth storage and insurance.
The good and bad are two sides of the same coin!
Efficiency gains are linked to potential environmental gains…
We need applied, multi-disciplinary, agri-food systems research!
Under-investment in research on livestock and the environment
Investment not linked to importance of livestock
It’s not all about climate – in Africa soils but also land impacts are scored high. In Europe and Australia, it is GHG emissions
Solutions exist! Many of them related to improved feeding
A strategy that has been proposed for sustainable livestock intensification is improved livestock feeding and forages.
Multiple species: grasses, herbaceous legumes, dual-purpose legumes, shrubs
Multiple roles: soil conservation, field boundaries, intercrop
Improved forages can deliver synergetic benefits -> result from large literature review
Multiple positive benefits on climate and soils
Snapshots of past research, e.g. currently published CLEANED Tanga paper, CLEANED report S Highlands, CSIRO country-wide study (link to the policy session), ETH thesis S Highlands, Babati study
Second shows better economic as well
You won’t get all of them green and improved because to the realities of trade of environment, social and economic
So you should look to improve in a sustainable manner
5 minutes on creating alternative scenario
The gap between milk demand and domestic supply in Tanzania is large and projected to widen. Meeting such demand through
local production of affordable milk presents an opportunity to improve the welfare of producers and market agents through the
income and employment generated along the value chain (VC). Efforts to maximize milk yields, production and profitability
need to be balanced with long-termsustainability.
We combined environmental and economic ex-ante impact assessments of four
intervention scenarios for two production systems in the Tanzanian dairy VC using the CLEANED model and an economic
feasibility analysis.
Intervention scenarios propose increases in milk production through (i) animal genetic improvement, (ii)
improved feed, (iii) improved animal health and (iv) a package combining all interventions.
The CLEANED tool proved effective to evaluate livestock interventions that improve incomes and food security with minimal environmental footprint.
Here, our simulations suggest that due to current low productivity, the greatest efficiency gains in combination with
relatively low increasesin total GHG emissions can be made in the extensive agro-pastoral dairy systems, which represent the
majority of herds.
With feed interventions the efficiency of the dairy system overall increases and the environmental impacts per unit of milk produced decreases. The feed interventions considered include that low-quality feed such as from crop residues is replaced with improved Brachiaria species, Desmodium legumes or hay from Rhodes grass and the amount of high-quality feed is increased and differ by season, agroecological zone and cattle breed.
Water required to produce one unit of milk for improved breeds decreases from 0.5 to 0.4 l per l milk in Tanzania and 0.4 to 0.2 l per l milk in Rwanda.
We here assume that the national milk production increase and increase in animal productivity is achieved only by improvements in the feed quantity and quality in the dairy herds of improved breeds as feed is the biggest constraint to animal productivity improvements in Tanzania and Rwanda. Other relevant interventions for increasing milk production are genetic improvements in the dairy crossbreeds and animal health interventions for vaccinations and parasite controls.
In Lushoto in Tanzania, predicted adoption rates for improved livestock feeding and poverty reduction among households with improved dairy cows were likely to be higher compared to households with only local cows.
Methane emissions intensity declined with adoption of improved livestock feeding strategies.
Livestock is a viable starting point for GHG mitigation in EA. However, low baseline emissions underline that mitigation should be co-benefit, not main objective
All livestock systems had alternatives available to increase income while decreasing GHG emissions, thereby reducing agro-environmental trade-offs
These climate-smart options included reducing ruminant numbers, replacing local cattle with improved dairy breeds, improving feeding through on-farm Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) cultivation, and reducing crop residue feeding to leave them on the field
mproving livestock breeds and feeding are climate-smart options that decrease trade-offs between GHG mitigation and income
Main obstacles to adoption of these climate-smart technologies included high skill level required to re-organize entire production system, loss of some multi-functionality of livestock, and higher production risks
Integrated bio-economic modeling is useful to target climate-smart technologies and quantify trade-offs
241 In many LMICs, there is still an opportunity to develop sustainable livestock development pathways that
242 avoid the pitfalls of the industrial model. Such pathways can support positive nutritional and livelihood
243 outcomes for the global poor while reducing environmental impacts and supporting ecosystem service
244 delivery.
The prevailing narrative on livestock with its singular focus on the negative environmental impacts of
246 the livestock sector, however, fails to take livestock’s crucial livelihood functions into account nor does it
247 highlight the myriad of locally-adapted options for improving its environmental performance.
We specifically call for locally-adapted, multi-disciplinary and people-centered research that is
252 embedded in local development processes. Solutions, such as improved feed production, utilization and
253 storage, and integrated manure management, are emerging and provide a promising avenue to reduce
254 environmental impacts, but need context-specific research to tailor them to the agro-ecological and
255 socio-economic environments. Moreover, research needs to be accompanied by appropriate financial
256 incentives, institutional settings and capacity building of involved stakeholders. It is only when all these
257 factors are in place that we will be able to support sustainable and resilient livestock development
258 pathways and reach long-term impact at scale.