Can Sustainable Livestock Systems and Alternative Proteins Address the Climate Crisis?

Climate change is severely impacting our food systems, making it increasingly challenging to provide food security and healthy diets for all people. At the same time, food systems contribute 25–30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. The livestock sector alone contributes about half of these GHGs, and has a large land and water footprint.

The livestock sector is also the fastest growing agricultural sector in Africa and other parts of the Global South, where access to healthy, affordable milk, meat, and egg remains low. Clearly food system adaptation, including in the livestock sector, must deliver both mitigation and healthy diets.

The CGIAR’s 2023 Achieving Agriculture Breakthrough report identifies seven key technological areas and approaches for driving real change in the agriculture sector. Three of these are related to livestock: reducing methane emissions from livestock, livestock breeding for climate resilience, and alternative proteins to replace traditional animal-source proteins.

The seminar will delve into findings and recommendations around sustainable livestock technologies, healthy diets, methane emissions, and alternative proteins, including promising initiatives and technologies that can be pursued to address climate change and healthy diets.

Welcome Remarks

• Jan Brix, Senior Policy Officer, Division of Agriculture and Rural Development, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General and CGIAR Senior Director of Livestock-Based Systems (ILRI)

Overview of the Breakthrough Report

• Loraine Ronchi, CGIAR Senior Advisor for Policy Impact, IFPRI

Priority Sustainable Livestock Technologies 

• Fiona Flintan, Senior Scientist Livestock & Climate Change, Rangelands and Pastoralism, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

The Role of Alternative Proteins

• Claudia Ringler, Director, Natural Resources and Resilience (NRR), IFPRI

Animal-Source Foods and Sustainable Healthy Diets

• Jef Leroy, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI

Discussants

• Fabrice DeClerck, Science Director, EAT
• Lini Wollenberg, Climate and Food Specialist, University of Vermont (invited)
• Gabriel Jaramillo, Co-founder, Hacienda San José (invited)
• Stephanie von Stein, Director of International Engagement, The Good Food Institute
• Mary Mbole Kariuki, African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) (Invited)

Moderator

• Michael Victor, Head, Communications and Knowledge Management, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

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