Previous studies using models have shown that in theory, improving the health of livestock increases productivity while decreasing relative emissions intensity (EI). A similar study in East Africa has shown the same trend. With the removal of the endemic disease trypanosomiasis, cattle on East African farms increased productivity and decreased EI per unit of protein at between 2 and 4%, depending on the production system. In West Africa, the removal of trypanosomiasis led to decreased EI in some systems but increased EI in others, because when the disease was removed more males were kept and used for draft purposes.
The study was funded by the International Livestock Research Institute under Global Research Alliance Partner CGIAR (CCAFS), and included Animal Health & GHG Emissions Intensity Network Champion, Dr Michael Macleod (SRUC), and Network Coordinator, Dr Timothy Robinson (ILRI).
Read more about the study (page 4)
Read more about the Animal Health & GHG Emissions Intensity Network
The latest workshop report for the Animal Health & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network (AHN) is now available. This year’s workshop, held on Tuesday 15 March 2016, brought together researchers and research funders to exchange information on scientific research and on other initiatives with which the Network is developing links. The workshop was attended by 21 participants representing 9 countries.
The Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Intensity Network is a United Kingdom-led initiative of the Livestock Research Group (LRG) of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (www.globalresearchalliance.org), and aims to bring together researchers in relevant disciplines (veterinary science, epidemiology, animal science, modelling, GHG research and food security) from across the world to investigate links and synergies between animal diseases and GHG emissions intensities, and possible GHG mitigation through disease control.
A document reporting on the Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network of the Global Research Alliance’s African regional meeting in Addis Ababa Ethipoia, November 2014 is now available. Please click the link below to locate the document.
Alliance member countries sent representatives and research experts to a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on the 20th June to develop a Livestock Research Group Animal Health and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity Network. This initial workshop coincided with the 15th International Congress on Infectious Diseases and STAR-IDAZ meetings (http://www.star-idaz.net/).
The workshop was a perfect opportunity to see how STAR-IDAZ and the Livestock Research Group could work together to promote the understanding of animal disease and greenhouse gas emissions intensity in order to identify possible future work. Experts and Alliance dicussed the scope of a possible animal health and greenhouse gas emissions intensity network under the Livestock Research Group. For more information on this Network, including presentations from the workshop see the LRG networks and databases page.