It’s an inescapable fact that livestock are central to many African economies, communities, and cultures. Cattle, goats, sheep, and camels are an enormous driver of African development and catalyst of improved living standards, food security, nutrition, and gender equality.
However, within global sustainability discussions, livestock are often seen as the problem, rather than the solution. And while calls for reduced livestock herds may be valid in some Global North contexts, this is not a panacea for reducing emissions, protecting biodiversity, or restoring land in Africa.
In fact, to unlock the full potential of green finance at the heart of all three UN environmental summits last year, we must acknowledge that a multifaceted approach – one embracing livestock, rather than rejecting it – is the only pathway to a greener and more equal Africa.
It’s true, food systems account for more than one third of greenhouse gas emissions, including more than 14 per cent from the livestock sector. But narratives vilifying livestock ignore important context.
Livestock are increasingly important to many developing nations, especially to 250 million African pastoralists, who produce over half of the continents’ meat, milk, and eggs and are uniquely exposed to the impacts of climate change. Animal source foods are especially important to development, as they are rich in bioavailable nutrients and play an important role in preventing malnutrition – a problem that costs African economies up to 16 per cent of annual GDP, as they are inaccessible to many.
It is clear that, while reductions in livestock herds may align with climate goals in some contexts, a one-size-fits-all approach is neither equitable, nor feasible. And yet, despite bearing limited historical responsibility for climate change, and suffering disproportionately from its impacts, Africa faces calls to reduce herd numbers.
Better, not fewer, livestock is the answer to the sustainability challenge. A greener African livestock sector can reduce agricultural emissions, protect biodiversity, restore degraded land, improve livelihoods, secure food systems, and contribute to healthier communities.
This is not a pipe dream – research has already demonstrated how a more sustainable livestock sector can deliver these priorities.
Improved livestock nutrition through supplements and carefully managed forage, for example, can help animals grow stronger, produce more milk, and withstand disease, becoming up to 67 per cent more productive, emitting significantly less methane.
Sustainable livestock management practices also support planetary health, reversing the processes of land degradation and biodiversity loss. Targeted grazing, where farmers control the frequency, location, intensity, season, and duration of livestock grazing, has been shown to reduce invasive plant species up to 37 per cent.
These efforts show that livestock can be a part of the solution, not just a source of the problem. Moreover, pan-African strategies and frameworks already exist, such as the African Union’s Green Recovery Action Plan and Climate Change and Resilient Development Action Plan, established to enable the green transition and advocate for a people-centered approach..
However, for all their ambition, these initiatives are missing two essential elements — neither of which has been fully realised.
Firstly, there is the intractable issue of finance. Even though Africa is home to nine of the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change, it receives just three per cent of global climate finance. Member states already divert up to 9 per cent of their national budgets to respond to climate extremes. It is imperative that financial commitments made towards the African continent to address climate change – particularly those by Global North nations who bear greater responsibility for the climate crisis – are honored. They have “talked the talk”; now it is time to “walk the walk”.
Secondly, frameworks need strong national-level buy-in. While the onus is on high-income countries to support climate action in countries least responsible for historic emissions, national governments must still play an active role in adopting climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Sustainable development will not be achieved passively. They must seek out and leverage available national budgets, building strategic private-public sector alliances to drive sustainable investments in their own context-specific sustainable development pathways.
A crucial first step on this journey can be addressing the underrepresentation of livestock in national-level governance and regulatory instruments. By embedding livestock into Nationally Determined Contributions; National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans; Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plans, and Land Degradation Neutrality targets, the negative perception of this sector can be changed. Active participation for livestock in these national-level frameworks can help the sector shift from being a perceived problem to a catalyst for sustainable development. In turn, this can engender a virtuous cycle of investment for context-specific climate, biodiversity, and land research for livestock, which it has lacked.
As we move into the second half of this critical decade for climate action, the role of livestock in sustainable growth must be reimagined with urgency and equity at its core. Livestock are not just a source of food or income — they are the cultural and socioeconomic bedrock of many developing nations, especially in Africa and the Global South.
In order to tackle the three interconnected planetary crises – climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation – global narratives must move beyond blanket prescriptions. Only by embracing local realities, can we build the collective momentum required to achieve meaningful success.
The future of livestock is not predetermined — it is a choice. To be successful, this choice needs to be one of shared responsibility, inclusion, equality and a strong commitment to leave no one behind.
