Livestock production for food security and nutrition

Shenggen Fan
Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA)
January 19, 2018

1. Livestock production for food security and nutrition Global Forum for Food and Agriculture Berlin, Germany | January 19, 2018 Shenggen Fan Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute

2. Rapid urbanization Rising inequality Food safety concerns & Anti-microbial resistance Agri-food reaching planetary boundaries Food systems face multiple challenges

3. Important source of income and productive assets Contributes to risk management by complementing labor and capital Adaptable to environmental shocks Livestock is key for smallholder livelihoods Animal sourced foods (ASF) are important for nutrition, especially stunting in developing countries Consumption of ASFs is strongly associated with growth Diverse array of ASFs is more beneficial than any single ASF Consumption of at least 1 animal sourced food (%), children 6-23 months South, Central, SE Asia West & Central Africa East & Southern Africa 58% 52% 49% Source: Headey, Hoddinott , Hirvonen 2018 Livestock is critical for smallholders and nutrition

4. In developed countries, Mitigate GHG emissions Animal and herd efficiency for ruminants, including better feed and feeding practices Improved breeding and animal health interventions Manure management to ensure recovery and recycling of nutrients and energy Livestock sector accounts for ~15% of human-induced GHG emissions Source: CCFAS 45% Feed production & processing 39% Enteric fermentation from ruminants Livestock sector emissions: Livestock sector must address challenges (1) Source: FAO

5. In developing countries, Improve nutrition and human health Promote diet diversification, including multiple animal sourced foods Mitigate risk for food safety and zoonotic diseases Support smallholder livelihoods Better targeted and more productive social protection policies (e.g. Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program) Promote climate adaptation and mitigation Partnerships for climate-smart adaptation (e.g. Adaptation of African Agriculture Initiative) Livestock sector must address challenges (2) Source: FAO

6. Source: WRI 2016 Shenggen Fan, January 2018 Beef and other ruminants account for 20 more times the land use & GHG emissions than pulses per unit of protein consumed Different foods vary in carbon footprint

7. Policy innovations will play a key role Policies should ensure livestock practices improve human nutrition, mitigate climate change, and support environmental sustainability E.g. Taxing emissions-intensive foods (e.g. meat and dairy) could avoid more than 100,000 deaths in 2020 Two-thirds due to changes in dietary risk factors One-third due to changes in weight-related risk factors There have been many innovations, BUT more research is needed Source: Springmann et al. 2016 Changes in prices and consumption by food commodity (%)