“Sustainable livestock farming presents a great opportunity to enhance climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean.” This is a vision that is shared by all the actors involved in GRSB and the platforms with which we work within our extensive network of partners, Tropical Forest Alliance, IICA, GASL, WWF, TNC and other members that are part of our network.
This week there is a very important event happening in New York City. NYC Climate Week and the Tropical Forest Alliance have asked me to present at an event called “Deforestation-Free Livestock in the Tropical Andes Countries”. I am going to briefly present how and why sustainable livestock farming presents an opportunity to combat climate change and at the same time adapt to the climatic conditions of the region, contributing to the recovery of degraded ecosystems and improving soil health.
I am also going to highlight the importance of taking a holistic look at development, including issues linked to the human, social and economic development of the region, and animal well-being and health, and not focusing solely on the environmental view. I will share a panel with representatives of the Bolivian Sustainable Meat Roundtable and the Colombian Sustainable Livestock Roundtable, among others.
The Andean region has many extreme and variable environmental conditions that challenge producers in the region. From pests, frost, and variable rainy seasons, producers in that region have a lot to deal with.
Tropical livestock farming in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is predominantly carried out by small and medium-sized producers. It is an activity that still has a lot of potential for development and improvement in terms of productivity, efficiency, access to technologies, research, genetic improvement and implementation of Good Practices that contribute to the development of livestock farming in a sustainable way without the need to occupy new areas through deforestation.
Tropical Forest Alliance together with other public-private organizations work on a project called Alliance for Regenerative Livestock in the Peruvian Amazon, which is the platform that seeks to promote the sustainability approach in tropical livestock farming in Peru. They work on regenerative livestock farming as a holistic management strategy that can contribute to the recovery of the ecosystem and mitigate the effects of climate change. Emphasizing soil health and increasing carbon sequestration reveals positive feedback for the environment, the economic security of producers, and the nutritional health of consumers.
They promote mixed production systems (e.g. agroforestry, silvopastoralism,) in conjunction with good farm management practices, soil management, and diversified cultivation of species which have proven to be effective, but require systematization and scaling.
I think it is important to know and be informed about all forms of production and challenges that arise in all countries of the world. Livestock farming on a smaller or larger scale is present throughout the world and each one from their place and context can contribute to the improvement of the sector. Greater resources and actions must be mobilized to accelerate the transformation of sustainable tropical livestock farming and develop enabling conditions such as financing, markets, research and public policies that contribute to this.
