Genetic and Reproductive Approaches for Sustainable Livestock Production: Chapter 3: Climate-smart approaches to livestock production for food security and sustainability

The development and promotion of climate-smart livestock systems (CSLSs) are crucial for ensuring sustainable food security. Climate change poses significant challenges to livestock production systems, which are crucial for food security and support various sociocultural, economic, and environmental aspects of human life. To overcome these challenges and ensure sustainable food security, the development of CSLSs is essential. CSLSs aim to maintain livestock productivity, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promote locally adapted animal genetic resources. Opportunities exist along the livestock production chain to minimize GHG emissions associated with enteric fermentation, manure management, and feed management. Strategies for CSLS include improving fodder quality, utilizing adapted animal breeds, providing nutritional supplements, and diversifying livestock herds. Diet manipulation, such as using feed resources with high nutritional content and digestibility, can potentially reduce CH4 emissions while increasing livestock productivity. Mixed crop–livestock systems and agroforestry (silvopastoral systems) are key components of CSLS, offering diverse adaptation benefits and multiple roles in livestock systems. The effective utilization of local animal genetic resources and the integration of indigenous knowledge systems with scientific knowledge can enhance adaptation measures and resilience in livestock systems. Addressing animal health issues is also crucial for ensuring CSLS and sustained food security. The development and implementation of CSLS are essential for mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change on livestock production systems and meeting the growing global demand for animal products. Indigenous knowledge is crucial for CSLSs, as it has been a long-standing aspect of livestock production. Women are natural change-agents in livestock production, and equal opportunities for men and women across generations should be promoted through climate-smart livestock technologies. Community-based breeding initiatives, particularly for women, can empower local small-scale farmers and enhance sustainability in livestock production systems. Therefore ignoring indigenous knowledge is counterproductive for the success of CSLSs. The adoption of CSLSs can ensure sustainable food security and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable agriculture sector. The chapter explores the development and promotion of CSLSs for sustainable food security.