A young boy watches over his family’s herd. A new Livestock-Climate Change CRSP project led by South Dakota State University will help pastoralists in Mali adapt to a changes in climate and land-use that threatened this traditional way of life. Photo courtesy of Niall Hanan.

The Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Support Program (LCC CRSP), has awarded over $1.3 million to South Dakota State University and Syracuse University for projects that incorporate innovative scientific research with capacity building and institutional strengthening to improve the lives and livelihoods of livestock producers and increase the resilience of livestock systems in West Africa in the face of climate variability and long-term climate change. Projects are targeted toward reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity, and augmenting the income of livestock producers in West Africa, where dryland agricultural systems are especially vulnerable to climate change-induced drought, flooding, and other weather extremes and over 50% of the population lives in poverty. Both projects take an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving, seek to develop and/or expand innovation, and build capacity.

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A Maasai child draws water from the same pond being used by livestock. (Photo by J. Brownlie)

The November 2011 issue of the New Agriculturalist focuses on current efforts to tackle transboundary, zoonotic, and emerging diseases, including ‘one health’ approaches that address human and environmental concerns within the context of livestock disease control.

Since 2006, the Health for Animals and Livelihood Improvement (HALI) project has been investigating patterns of diseases such as bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in livestock, wildlife, people and the environment. “Understanding the dynamics of zoonotic disease agents in human, livestock and wildlife populations, and how they relate to land use change and environmental management, is critical to developing mitigation strategies,” states Woutrina Miller, HALI co-principal investigator.

Funding for the HALI project comes, in part, from the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP, based at Colorado State University. This project was initiated under the Global Livestock CRSP which was based at the University of California, Davis. The HALI project was recently awarded 3.5 years of funding through the LCC CRSP Long-Term Research Program.

Full Article

Complete Issue (focused on livestock disease)

By Durga Poudel, University of Louisiana/LCC CRSP SLPS Project & Sarah Lupis, LCC CRSP

Dr. Durga Poudel talks about climate change adaptations for livestock keepers in Nepal to about 25 faculty, staff, and students in the University of Louisiana School of Geosciences on September 20, 2011. Photo courtesy of Durga Poudel.

Nearly 50 million years ago, tectonic plates collided, giving rise to the lofty Himalayas, majestic mountains, scenic valleys and meandering rivers of Nepal.  Lying on this fault line, the region has been prone to devastating earthquakes—the tragic 2001 Gujrat earthquake, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, and the current Sikkim earthquake, to name a few.  Today, explained Dr. Durga D. Poudel in a September 20^th presentation to the faculty, staff, and students of the School of Geosciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA, this region is vulnerable to a new threat: climate change.

In his presentation, Poudel emphasized current vulnerabilities of the region to climate change impacts. “This region is experiencing increasing incidences of flooding, drought, glacier retreats and glacial lake outbursts in recent years.  Temperature rise, shifting cropping zones, emerging incidences of diseases and pests, and landslides and river-cuttings are other problems related to the climate change impacts,” he explained to the crowd that gathered for the talk.

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The poor condition of animal sheds, lack of veterinary support, inadequate feed supply, and lack of resources...characterize the livestock management system in Nepal. These conditions are reflected by extremely poor livestock heath. Photo by Durga Poudel.

Livestock-Climate Change CRSP research partner Durga Poudel authored an article published in the Telegraph Nepal about the challenges of adapting livestock production to climate change in Nepal. Poudel is a professor and head of the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Louisiana, at Lafayette. He is also the leader of the LCC CRSP project titled, “Capacity-building and Strengthening of Livestock Production Systems While Adapting to Climate Change in Nepal” (SLPS).

In the Telegraph Nepal article, Poudel describes the vulnerability of livestock systems in Nepal to climate change. “Livestock production is one of the major components of Nepalese mixed farming system….Agricultural crops provide food to the families, and fodder, straw, and grains to the livestock. Most rural families depend on livestock to support and send their children to schools and colleges,” Poudel explains.

“While Terai region is more vulnerable to floods, temperature rise, droughts, and fire, the mid-hills are vulnerable to landslides and water shortages. Similarly, the Himalayas are vulnerable to snow melts, glacier retreats, and glacial lake outbursts. Changing weather patterns, extreme rain events and associated floods and landslides, crop failures, habitat shift, acute water shortages, incidence of new diseases and parasites, river-cuttings and land losses, and hydrological changes are some of the impacts of climate change noticed in Nepal,” he writes.

Poudel describes the poor state of livestock production and management. Milk production lags behind demand, livestock are in poor health, and veterinary services are largely unavailable to rural farmers.

Poudel recently returned from a month-long trip to Nepal during which he interviewed livestock keepers throughout the country. “Farmers are aware of changes occurring in their production systems due to global climate change. Increasing incidences of new diseases, skin diseases, drug resistance, new parasites, and poor feed supply are some of the issues farmers have already perceived as problems due to global climate change,” he says. “Although farmers have tried to adapt to these changes by lowering their herd sizes, switching to smaller-size animals, rain water harvesting, and moving out from the locality, these are only short-term measures. The challenges are finding adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change so that livestock production could be increased and the production system could be strengthened.”

Read the complete article in the Nepal Telegraph

The IBLI program expanded to southern Ethiopia in February 2012 and will initially target 2,700 pastoralists there who are also experiencing severe drought. Photo by Peter Little.

In January 2010, John McPeak, Associate Professor and Vice-Chair, Department of Public Administration and International Affairs at Syracuse University of  and leader of the LCC CRSP’s RIVERS and MLPI-2 projects, helped to launch the first-ever Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) scheme in Kenya. Facing extreme drought conditions, livestock keepers may soon receive their first payments, reports SciDev Net. read more »

Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy is the title of a new book by Livestock-Climate Change CRSP research partners John McPeak and Peter Little.   The book summarizes the results of a multi-year interdisciplinary research project in pastoral areas of Kenya and Ethiopia. The authors describe the ecology and social context in which pastoralism takes place, with a particular focus on the risks that confront people living in these drylands, and how these risks are often triggered by highly variable rainfall conditions, a symptom of climate change.

The authors go on to describe the livelihood strategies employed by pastoralists in these areas, with a focus on how well-being is tied to access to livestock and the cash economy. They conclude that the future development activities need to be built on the foundation of the livestock economy, instead of seeking to replace it.

John McPeak is an Associate Professor and Vice-Chair in the Department of Public Administration in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University; he is a member of the LCC CRSP’s MLPI-2 project in Mali and leads the RIVERS project in Senegal.  Peter D. Little is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Program in Development Studies at Emory University; he leads the LCC CRSP CHAINS project, which takes place in Ethiopia and Kenya. Cheryl R. Doss, also a co-author, is Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs and Economics and the Director of Graduate Studies for the MA program in International Relations at Yale University.

Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy is available from Routledge.

“Any time you get in the same room a group of scientists, with a group of community members, with people that work in the civil society, there is kind of a magic that takes place,” says Robin Reid, in the opening seconds of the trailer for “Pastoralist Voices on Climate Change,” a documentary produced and directed by Joana Roque Depinho.

Roque De Pinho is a post-doctoral researcher at Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, in Lisbon, Portugal. She also co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced the award-winning documentary “Through our Eyes: A Maasai Photographic Journey” with Lindsey Simpson, who also works on the Voices project. Both women are graduates of Colorado State University. The film team also includes Nicholas Tapia, a CSU videographer and alumni.

The Pastoralist Voices documentary is produced in conjunction with the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program’s Pastoral Transformations to Resilient Futures: Understanding Climate from the Ground Up (PTRF) project led by Dr. Kathleen Galvin and Robin Reid, from CSU. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’s (CGIAR) Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has also lent support to the film.

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Three proposals from three different U.S. Universities selected for funding.

The Livestock-Climate Change CRSP (LCC CRSP) has awarded a total of $240,000 to three U.S. universities and their international partners in Nepal to improve the livelihoods of small-scale livestock producers impacted by climate change.

The LCC CRSP selected Nepal as a focus country for several reasons. In Nepal, nearly 70% of households depend on livestock production for a significant part of their income and as a source of meat, dairy products, and eggs. Nepal is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts. Finally, Nepal is one of the 20 Feed the Future countries, due to rampant malnutrition rates and a high degree of food insecurity.

The LCC CRSP released the Nepal Seed Grant Program request for proposals on January 28, 2011; proposals were due on March 7, 2011. The LCC CRSP received a total of 13 proposals. An external review panel of subject matter experts (i.e., veterinary medicine, economics, agronomy, livestock production, and climate science) from U.S. universities and government agencies reviewed the proposals. Final selections were based on panel recommendations, input from the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington D.C., the USAID bilateral mission in Nepal, and expertise of the LCC CRSP management entity.

The Nepal Seed Grant cohort includes three U.S. university partners; one university in Nepal; and a total of seven U.S and international aid, development, and research organizations, and government agencies.

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Article in Today@colostate.edu

$15 million to study impact of climate change on livestock around the globe

Colorado State University has received a $15 million grant to look at the impact of climate change on livestock around the globe, particularly in developing countries. The research will focus on ways to help developing countries manage livestock under changing climate conditions.

Multiple partnerships and projects

CSU will manage the grant and, over the next five years, develop partnerships for multiple research projects in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and central Asia. The grant was awarded to CSU’s Animal Population Health Institute and the university’s Institute for Livestock and the Environment by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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