http://www.fao.org/climate-change The presentation gives an overview of adaptation capacity in livestock production. It looks at extreme drought events happening now and in the future and the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on livestock. Different stressors creating vulnerability are described. Maps show the drying hot spots in grasslands and global livestock systems. The presentation looks at the capacity of livestock to adapt as well as considering livestock as an adaptation tool The presentation was made by Anne Mottet, Livestock Policy Officer, FAO-AGAL, FAO on Day 1 of the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans Workshop, 5-7 April 2016, Rome, Italy. © FAO: http://www.fao.org

1. CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND
FOOD SECURITY
Adaptation capacity in livestock
production
Anne Mottet, Livestock Policy Officer, FAO-AGAL
Integrating Agriculture into National Adaptation Plans
Rome, 5-7 April 2016

2. DIRECT AND INDIRECT IMPACTS OF
CLIMATE CHANGE ON LIVESTOCK
• Direct
– Extreme climatic events
– Droughts and floods
– Heat stress, mortality and reduced yields (tolereance reduced by single trait
selection ofr productivity)
– Water availability (drinking, for forages and feed crops)
• Indirect (agro-ecological and ecosystem changes)
– Productivity and quality of forrages: LUC & system change (e.g. shorter growing
period, sorghum/millet replacing maize), productivity, change in species
composition in rangelands and grasslands, quality of plant material (lignification
& digestibility)
– Diseases: affected areas and livestock vulnerability (e.g. bluetongue, parasites,
ticks) 2

3. • Especially in semi-arid and arid regions
• Rangeland degradation
• Increased variability in access to water
• Fragmentation of grazing area
• Changes in land tenure
• Conflicts and insecure access to land
• Markets
STRESSORS CREATING VULNERABILI
Soussana, 2014, AnimalChange

4. EXTREME DROUGHT EVENTS IN THE
FUTURE
(IPCC, Special Report on Extreme Events, 2011)
Consecutive dry days Low soil moisture

5. DRYING HOT SPOTS BY 2080-2100
IN GLOBAL GRASSLANDS
5

6. DRYING HOT SPOTS BY 2080-2100
IN GLOBAL LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS
6

7. SENSITIVITY
• Breed
• Housing system
• Feeding system
• Animal health risk (vaccination rate,
level of biosecurity employed etc.)
• Value to household (livelihoods, food
security etc.)
7
Source: Climate change impact and vulnerability assessment for livestock, USAID

8. ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
• Species/breeds
• Availability/adaptatbility alternate feed
resources
• Production system
• Accessibility of animals (health/extension
services)
• Outbreak response (surveillance,
compensation schemes etc.)
• Household wealth status
8
Source: Climate change impact and vulnerability assessment for livestock, USAID

9. SYSTEMS & ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
9
Internal
(biological)
External
(practices,
services, policies)
Small scale &
low market
integration
Larger scale &
high market
integration
+
+
-
-

10. OPTIONS AND LEVELS OF
ADAPTATION
• Practice change
 Calendars
 Animal feed
 Breeds
 Animal health (e.g. mixed grazing, local plants with anthelmintic
properties, vermicompost) & disease control
 Water management
• System change
 Species
 Feed (e.g. changing feed crops, agroforestry, using grass-legume
mixtures for drought resistance)
 Irrigation
 Diversification
• Insurance, off-farm employement (household level)
• Production zoning, markets, reconversion (regional/national level) 10

11. 1
0
3
5
Measures below this line
have net economic benefits
Cost/benefit ratio
TOWARDS ADAPTATION COST CURVES
Cooling
farm buildings
Shifting to irrigation
Agroforestry
(Dominic Moran, SRUC)
Potential for adaptation
11

12. LIVESTOCK AS AN ADAPTATION
TOOL
• A wide range of coping actions
• More flexibility than cropping systems (breed, feeding, seasonality
etc.)
• Income diversification
12Mottet et al., 2016

13. THANK YOU
Anne.Mottet@fao.org

14. “It is critical to strengthen analytic capacity for integrated
approaches to adaptation planning that
a)considers combinations of crop, livestock, rangeland,
forestry, fishery and agroforestry activities, as well as
aquatic and ecosystem function needs
b)helps define adaptation and mitigation synergies, which
countries often cite interest to identify, but are more
challenged to define.”
Out of 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, only 3
specifically mentioned livestock in their NAP (but study is from 2013 and
changes have happened since then e.g. in Kenya)
Focus is often on livestock breeds
LIVESTOCK IN NATIONAL ADAPTATION
PLANS