CIAT and Partners Pursue Mitigation Actions for Colombian Livestock Production
CIAT held a workshop as part of the work on livestock production and environment funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), to reinforce knowledge on Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) on the livestock sector in Colombia, which includes silvopastoral systems.
NAMAs are a set of feasible activities determined by a country in sovereignty, which lead to reduce emissions in a measurable, reportable, and verifiable (MRV) manner.
As part of the activities carried out in the workshop, representatives from the Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute (IDEAM, its Spanish initials), the Colombian Cattle Ranching Federation (FEDEGAN, its Spanish initials), the Center for Research on Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems (CIPAV, its Spanish initials), and WRI defined alternatives for low-carbon cattle production and the intensification of livestock production in regions of the country.
Similarly, they created a working path to plan mitigation actions to meet the goals set in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Colombia.
We want to let different experts know how the emissions and absorptions associated to the sector are quantified, as well as how they are intended to be accounted for to be projected into the future to estimate emissions under climate change”, said Juan David Turriago, researcher from the Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute (IDEAM).
Felipe TorresOn the other hand, Felipe Torres, leader of the national greenhouse gas inventory added that “it is important to harmonize all mitigation actions within the frame of a strengthened MRV system, especially when emissions are a key category in the Colombian agricultural sector. CIAT has been a very important actor, along with FEDEGAN, CIPAV, and universities working to improve emission factors in the country.”
During the workshop, the progress of the Livestock NAMA in Colombia was presented. The first emission activities were identified to plan the road map for specific mitigation actions.
With the information we have on land cover, land use, livestock inventories associated to this population, and land-use changes, the producer will not only be able to mitigate and capture more carbon, but will also be able to manage his farm in a climate-smart way. We want to position friendly environments and that a large portion of Colombian livestock sector starts producing beef and milk to generate well-being for all 600,000 livestock producers.
Manuel Gómez Vivas
During the workshop, the LivestockPlus project presented the main results obtained, regarding the identification of mitigation measures in the livestock sector and progress in the accurate quantification of the composition of the main forages found in Colombia, with the purpose of modeling current emissions and projecting mitigation scenarios based on diets combining pastures and fodder shrubs.