Day 2: What do livestock stakeholders say around the world about embracing change and harnessing diversity in the livestock sector?

09-06-2021. The second day of the GASL conference included the reports from regional meetings that GASL held in advance of its main meeting this week. The five action tracks (AT) of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) provided the basis for the regional sessions, which discussed major challenges and solutions for the livestock sector:
AT 1: Ensure Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All
AT 2: Shift to Sustainable Consumption Patterns
AT 3: Boost Nature Positive Production
AT 4: Advance Equitable Livelihoods
AT 5: Build Resilience to Vulnerabilities, Shocks, and Stress

Oceania

Challenges

• Genetic diversity of livestock, food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and livestock diseases
• Promotion of different and efficient systems, consumers lack of understanding of animal-sourced food production and nutrition
• Uptake of some sustainable systems
• Disconnected food production
• Accounting and adaptation

Solutions

• Revitalization of smallholders
• Support emerging nations with livestock regulations and tools to improve animal health, promotion of animal-sourced food nutritional content, and adoption and verification of carbon-neutral targets
• Adoption of forms of alternative feeds, recognition and rewarding of low-carbon products (premiums for consumers), protection of biodiversity, and adoption of mixed crop-and-livestock production systems
• Implementation of narratives on positive food production and examples of efficient food systems
• Adoption of tools to track and measure climate impacts, better animal health to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, innovation, funding, and financial mechanism to help the adoption of innovations

South Asia

Challenges

• Landscape change, loss of biodiversity, livestock production systems changes, and intensification of production systems
• Lack of financia support, animal health, and management and knowledge of livestock markets 

Solutions

• Investments for farmers (especially smallholders) 
• Support with credits, veterinary services, knowledge, and health care
• Access to markets and added-value products 
• One Health approach  

East Asia

Challenges

• Competition between food and feed (density of population and scarcity of resources) 
• Food waste
• Loss of diversity 
• More small- and medium-size smallholders are withdrawn from the market and face livelihoods threats
• Vulnerabilities of food supply chains under the threat of pandemics

Solutions

• Improved production efficiency and feed formula 
• Food waste regulations, education and awareness, and healthy eating habits 
• Conservation and sustainable utilization of genetic resources and R&D on green technologies 
• Partnerships and profit compensation to livestock households
• Enhancement of biosecurity and minimum animal production in lockdown 

English-speaking Africa  

Challenges

• Lack of access to animal-source foods, weak food chains, food waste, consumption of unsafe foods 
• Low consumption levels and production constraints
• Lack of awareness of the positive nature of livestock, lack of incentives and policies for sustainable livestock productionpractices, overexploitation of natural resources, socio-political issues for vulnerable groups, and loss of genetic diversity 
• Pastoralists losing livestock assets because of climate change, inequitable gender access to markets, and inefficient markets with exploitative pricing for smallholders 

Solutions

• Communication, promotion of value addition, adopting One Health approaches 
• Policies to increase consumption of animal-source foods, genetic improvements, better food safety practices
• Communication and stronger narratives about sustainable livestock production, support of diversification with regulations and packages, dialogue, and conflict resolutions, breeding programs, and conservation 
• Climate-smart technologies, support for the value of livestock, commodity-based value chains, and information and messages for all the actors

Central Asia and Eastern Europe

Challenges

• Changes in consumer preferences, lack of access to veterinary services, the balance between different systems, lack of hygienic processing conditions, and poor traceability practices 
• Disparities in consumption, non-communicable diseases, low consumption of animal-source foods amongst the poor, and reduction/alternatives of meat and dairy consumption 
• Improvement of policies, incentives to production, simplified good practices, awareness and education, labelling organic production, loss of migratory livestock systems, lack of data on livestock and the environment, poor animal welfare conditions 
• Lack of access to pastures by smallholders, poor cooperatives, and lack of extension systems for some producers 
• Lack of investments and policies for animal protection and distastes

Western Europe  

Challenges

• Shift to sustainable consumption patterns
• Increase sustainability of livestock through practices for low-impacts on the climate 
• Safe and healthy production within the One Health approach 

Solutions 

• Increase inspection and control measures and develop tracking systems for animal diseases and trafficking
• Economic systems to reward extra costs 
• Investments in research 
• Control of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance

Latin America 

Challenges

• Consideration of livestock systems potential efficiency 
• Lack of information on environmental footprints 
• Inclusion of livestock sustainability aspects in education and policies, and respect of local communities’ knowledge 
• Financial support, technology extension, and fair trade for smallholders 
• Changing attitudes of consumers

Solutions

• Elimination of  international trade barriers 
• Transparency and promotion of environmental indicators 
• Payments for environmental services, R&D closer to farmers, education services, and awareness 
• Different and inclusive policies for smallholders, and national budgets for livestock sustainability 
• Strengthen farmer organizations, capacity building, and implementation of innovative approaches

North America  

Challenges

• Plant-based diets, taxation for healthier food habits, science vs knowledge, and affordability of animal-sourced foods 
• A transition towards plant-based agriculture and the private sector exincluded from game-changing solutions 
• Affordable and accessible protein, false dichotomy positioning (animals or plants vs animals and plants), and lack of access to veterinary expertise
• The social role of livestock is not recognized and public-private alliances are not among funding sources to boost value chain consolidation and market development

Solutions

• Symbiotic relationships between animals and plants, science-based narratives, promotion of technologies, and better genetics
• Gender equity, focus on diet patterns, diet quality and benefits of animal-sourced foods and experts engagement 
• Systemwide information and economic returns that support livelihoods
• Specific calls for livestock proposals, evidence on livestock social outcomes, and public-private alliances for investments  

Watch the recordings here