Livestock impacts on the environment
http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm
The challenge is to reconcile two conflicting demands: for animal food
products and environmental services... 
A new report from FAO says livestock production is one of the major
causes of the world's most pressing environmental problems, including
global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of
biodiversity. Using a methodology that considers the entire commodity
chain, it estimates that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of
greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share than that of transport.
However, the report says, the livestock sector's potential
contribution to solving environmental problems is equally large, and
major improvements could be achieved at reasonable cost. 

Based on the most recent data available, Livestock's long shadow takes
into account the livestock sector's direct impacts, plus the
environmental effects of related land use changes and production of
the feed crops animals consume. It finds that expanding population and
incomes worldwide, along with changing food preferences, are
stimulating a rapid increase in demand for meat, milk and eggs, while
globalization is boosting trade in both inputs and outputs. 

Livestock and the rural poor 
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Despite its wide-ranging environmental impacts, livestock is not a
major force in the global economy, generating just under 1.5 percent
of total GDP. But the livestock sector is socially and politically
very significant in developing countries: it provides food and income
for one billion of the world's poor, especially in dry areas, where
livestock are often the only source of livelihoods. "Since livestock
production is an expression of the poverty of people who have no other
options," FAO says, "the huge number of people involved in livestock
for lack of alternatives, particularly in Africa and Asia, is a major
consideration for policy makers."  
  
In the process, the livestock sector is undergoing a complex process
of technical and geographical change. Production is shifting from the
countryside to urban and peri-urban areas, and towards sources of
animal feed, whether feed crop areas or transport and trade hubs where
feed is distributed. There is also a shift in species, with
accelerating growth in production of pigs and poultry (mostly in
industrial units) and a slow-down in that of cattle, sheep and goats,
which are often raised extensively. Today, an estimated 80 percent of
growth in the livestock sector comes from industrial production
systems. Owing to those shifts, the report says, livestock are
entering into direct competition for scarce land, water and other
natural resources. 

Deforestation, greenhouse gases. The livestock sector is by far the
single largest anthropogenic user of land. Grazing occupies 26 percent
of the Earth's terrestrial surface, while feed crop production
requires about a third of all arable land. Expansion of grazing land
for livestock is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin
America: some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is
used as pasture, and feed crops cover a large part of the reminder.
About 70 percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered
degraded, mostly because of overgrazing, compaction and erosion
attributable to livestock activity. 

At the same time, the livestock sector has assumed an often
unrecognized role in global warming. Using a methodology that
considered the entire commodity chain (see box below), FAO estimated
that livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions, a bigger share than that of transport. It accounts for nine
percent of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, most of it due to
expansion of pastures and arable land for feed crops. It generates
even bigger shares of emissions of other gases with greater potential
to warm the atmosphere: as much as 37 percent of anthropogenic
methane, mostly from enteric fermentation by ruminants, and 65 percent
of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, mostly from manure. 

 New measurement for greenhouse gases

Scientists usually tie their estimates of the greenhouse gas emissions
responsible for global warming to sources such as land use changes,
agriculture (including livestock) and transportation. The authors of
Livestock’s long shadow took a different approach, aggregating
emissions throughout the livestock commodity chain - from feed
production (which includes chemical fertilizer production,
deforestation for pasture and feed crops, and pasture degradation),
through animal production (including enteric fermentation and nitrous
oxide emissions from manure) to the carbon dioxide emitted during
processing and transportation of animal products.  
 
Livestock production also impacts heavily the world's water supply,
accounting for more than 8 percent of global human water use, mainly
for the irrigation of feed crops. Evidence suggests it is the largest
sectoral source of water pollutants, principally animal wastes,
antibiotics, hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and
pesticides used for feed crops, and sediments from eroded pastures.
While global figures are unavailable, it is estimated that in the USA
livestock and feed crop agriculture are responsible for 37 percent of
pesticide use, 50 percent of antibiotic use, and a third of the
nitrogen and phosphorus loads in freshwater resources. The sector also
generates almost two-thirds of anthropogenic ammonia, which
contributes significantly to acid rain and acidification of
ecosystems. 

The sheer quantity of animals being raised for human consumption also
poses a threat of the Earth's biodiversity. Livestock account for
about 20 percent of the total terrestrial animal biomass, and the land
area they now occupy was once habitat for wildlife. In 306 of the 825
terrestrial eco-regions identified by the Worldwide Fund for Nature,
livestock are identified as "a current threat", while 23 of
Conservation International's 35 "global hotspots for biodiversity" -
characterized by serious levels of habitat loss - are affected by
livestock production. 

Two demands. FAO says "the future of the livestock-environment
interface will be shaped by how we resolve the balance of two demands:
for animal food products on one side and for environmental services on
the other". Since the natural resource base is finite, the huge
expansion of the livestock sector required to meet expanding demand
must be accomplished while substantially reducing its environmental
impact. 

Greater efficiency in use of resources will be "the key to retracting
livestock's long shadow". Although a host of effective technical
options - for resource management, crop and livestock production, and
post harvest reduction of losses - are available (see box below),
current prices of land, water and feed resources used for livestock
production do not reflect true scarcities, creating distortions that
provide no incentive for efficient resource use. "This leads to the
overuse of the resources and to major inefficiencies in the production
process," FAO says. "Future policies to protect the environment will
therefore have to introduce adequate market pricing for the main
inputs." 

Action on many fronts 
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The FAO report recommends a range of measures to mitigate livestock's
threats to the environment: 
Land degradation: Restore damaged land through soil conservation,
silvopastoralism, better management of grazing systems and protection
of sensitive areas. 
Greenhouse gas emissions: Sustainable intensification of livestock and
feed crop production to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from
deforestation and pasture degradation, improved animal nutrition and
manure management to cut methane and nitrogen emissions. 
Water pollution: Better management of animal waste in industrial
production units, better diets to improve nutrient absorption,
improved manure management and better use of processed manure on
croplands. 
Biodiversity loss: As well as implementing the measures above, improve
protection of wild areas, maintain connectivity among protected areas,
and integrate livestock production and producers into landscape
management.  
  
In particular, water is grossly under-priced in most countries, and
development of water markets and various types of cost recovery will
be needed to correct the situation. In the case of land, suggested
instruments include grazing fees, and better institutional
arrangements for controlled and equitable access. The removal of
livestock production subsidies is also likely to improve technical
efficiency - in New Zealand, a drastic reduction in agricultural
subsidies during the 1980s helped create one of the world's most
efficient and environmentally friendly ruminant livestock industries. 

Removal of price distortions at input and product level will enhance
natural resource use, but may often not be sufficient. Livestock's
long shadow says environmental externalities, both negative and
positive, need to be explicitly factored into the policy framework.
Livestock holders who provide environmental services need to be
compensated, either by the immediate beneficiary (such as downstream
users enjoying improved water quantity and quality) or by the general
public. Services that could be rewarded include land management or
land uses that restore biodiversity, and pasture management that
provides for carbon sequestration. Compensation schemes also need to
be developed between water and electricity providers and graziers who
adopt grasslands management strategies that reduce sedimentation of
water reservoirs. 

Likewise, livestock holders who emit waste into waterways or release
ammonia into the atmosphere should pay for the damage. Applying the
"polluter pays" principle should not present insurmountable problems
for offenders, given the burgeoning demand for livestock products. 

Consumer pressure. Finally, FAO says, the livestock sector is usually
driven by diverse policy objectives, and decision-makers find it
difficult to address economic, social, health and environmental issues
at the same time. The fact that so many people depend on livestock for
their livelihoods limits the policy options available, and leads to
difficult and politically sensitive trade-offs. 

Information, communication and education will play critical roles in
enhancing a "willingness to act". With their strong and growing
influence, consumers are likely to be the main source of commercial
and political pressure "to push the livestock sector into more
sustainable forms", Livestock's long shadow says. Already, growing
awareness of threats to the environment is translating into rising
demand for environmental services: "This demand will broaden from
immediate concerns - such as reducing the nuisance of flies and odours
- to intermediate demands for clean air and water, then to the
broader, longer-term environmental concerns, including climate change
and loss of biodiversity". 

Back to the countryside?

Intensive animal production systems produce high levels of nitrogen
and phosphorus wastes and concentrated discharges of toxic materials.
Yet those systems are often located in areas where effective waste
management is more difficult. The regional distribution of intensive
systems is   usually determined not by environmental concerns but by
ease of access to input and product markets, and relative costs of
land and labour. In developing countries, industrial units are often
concentrated in peri-urban environments because of infrastructure
constraints. 
   "Environmental problems created by industrial production systems
derive not from their large scale, nor their production intensity, but
rather from their geographical location and concentration," FAO says.
It recommends reintegration of crop and livestock activities, which
calls for policies that drive industrial and intensive livestock to
rural areas with nutrient demand.