A new agenda to realize the urgent and untapped potential of sustainable livestock systems to address climate related shocks and fragility in West Africa and the Sahel was set out on the sidelines of recent climate negotiations taking place in Bonn.
The roundtable dialogue included donors, government ministries, African negotiators, civil society actors and research organizations. It was organized by The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). More than 30 experts convened, comprising West African negotiators, funding agencies, research institutes, development organizations, and groups focused on sustainable livestock development and climate change.
The region’s 20 million pastoralists, livestock keepers and agro-pastoralists provide most of the local meat and milk supply and contribute more than 40 per cent of the agriculture GDP to most countries in the region. Livestock is integral to livelihoods, climate and security in West Africa.
Lamine Diatta, a climate negotiator from Senegal, stressed the urgency to invest in livestock solutions: “A climate action agenda for agriculture in West Africa must include livestock. Livestock and forests in West Africa are interlinked. Well managed pastoralist systems combined with agro-forestry maintain ecosystems and increase water tables.”
West Africa and the Sahel are experiencing a convergence of challenges, including climate change, water scarcity, rapid population growth, political instability and rising migration. These impact on the most basic development challenges such as food security, poverty, migration and peace and conflict mitigation efforts.
Negotiations at the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice SBSTA (SB62) at the recent climate negotiations taking place in Bonn highlighted the importance of agriculture for food systems transformation and land restoration.
Jan Brix, Senior Policy Officer, Agriculture and Rural Development, BMZ highlighted the urgency of the matter: “Only about 4 per cent of global climate finance reaches the agriculture and food sector – and only a fraction of that makes its way into livestock. The cost of inaction far outweighs the investment needed to sustainably transform livestock systems in West Africa and the Sahel. What we need now is a joint development agenda that aligns partners and funders behind these approaches and scales them in a coherent, inclusive and climate-smart way.”
Abdrahmane Wane, ILRI regional representative for West and Central Africa, stated that “Climate risks are huge with 60 per cent of the pastoralists at risk of losing their livelihoods if no action is taken”. He went on to explain that ILRI has established the Livestock and Climate Solutions Hub to coordinate and amplify climate-smart livestock research and innovations. It also acts as a convening space for dialogue among policymakers, funders, researchers and local practitioners working on livestock and climate.
To advance this demand-oriented agenda, the roundtable experts recognized an emerging, joint agenda for livestock in West Africa and the Sahel:
- Scaling integrated Climate Solutions: Combining animal health, genetics, nutrition, digital tools that focus on increasing sustainable livestock production that contributes to adaptation and resilience of livestock keepers with co-benefits of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Public and private sector efforts are needed for scaling.
- Pastoralist value chain development for stability: Boosting economic livelihoods of pastoralists as a key function to move from fragility to stability, and support security and peace throughout the region.
- Rangeland Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation: pastoralist systems in West Africa are key to restoration efforts, and there are opportunities to link to global and national efforts to promote conservation, biodiversity, and grazing productivity.
- Transboundary Cooperation: Cross-border mobility, corridors, and harmonized climate adaptation policies are critical to reduce conflicts amongst communities and nations and ensure greater prosperity for the region.
- Youth & Women Engagement: It is critical to include opportunities for the youth as they are the fastest growing demographic in the region. New opportunities using digital services and value addition offer enticing new jobs for the youth
- Science-policy engagement: Clear evidence and insights are needed to support policy makers in prioritizing livestock in their development agendas. Localized, disaggregated data needs to be synthesized and put into context to support climate rationales and monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) in countries.
- Climate finance: climate financing for livestock is still low and needs to focus on the triple win: reducing emissions per unit, improving the resilience of small-scale producers, and providing the protein that is essential for nutrition. Critical investments are needed to accelerate investment in research, in sustainable and inclusive innovations, and to work hand in hand with the public and private sectors to scale.
Cheikh Mbow, Director, Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE), argued: “The ILRI hub addresses the policy – implementation gap. There is a gap between the questions the investors and policy makers ask, and the way our data and evidence is being prioritized and communicated. We need a much more demand-oriented agenda that ensures close collaboration between researchers and policy makers.
Patrick Karani from the African Union Inter Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) highlighted: “These discussions have laid the groundwork for a joint roadmap toward action. We are committed to continuing this dialogue and to investing in initiatives that position livestock as a core part of the climate solution for West Africa and the Sahel. There is a need for a Common African Position mainstream livestock investment into climate finance and climate governance – a process that AU-IBAR is currently initiating with its Member States”.
Halima Bawa Bwari, climate negotiator from the Nigerian Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), added that “Methane mitigation is key to both the livestock and climate agendas. We need to work with young people as citizen scientists to collect the right data”.
The group agreed that there is a clear need for greater coordination and targeted support. Key next steps will include developing a continental common African position on livestock and climate resilience as well as developing an investment platform for the region which can support and direct investments to climate action in the livestock sector.
ILRI will continue to use the livestock and Climate Solutions hub to develop partnerships to bring livestock solutions to scale. This will include the development of a dashboard showcasing scalable climate-smart livestock solutions, which can serve as a reference point for policymakers, development partners, foundations, and investors.
