Regreening the Drylands with Livestock: Climate Smart Pastoralism

Climate Smart Agriculture must include Climate Smart Pastoralism

Grasslands and rangelands make up vast areas of the earth’s surface

11 Shrub Cover, closed-open, evergreen

13 Herbaceous Cover, closed-open 14 Sparse herbaceous or sparse shrub cover

12 Shrub Cover, closed-open, deciduous

Pastoralists manage 40% of Sub-Saharan Africa

It is about livelihoods

Production fertilisants N

Energie fossile ferme

Déforestation

Sol cultivé

Désertification pâturages

Transformation

Transport

Fermentation ruminale

Effluents, stockage/traitement

Epandage fertilisants N

Production légumineuses

Effluents, stockage/traitement

Effluents, épandage/dépôt

Effluents, emission indirecte

CO2

CH4

N2O

Deforestation34%

Enteric fermentation26%

Manure

25%

Livestock Related Emissions by GHG

Chemical N. fert. production

On-farm fossil fuel

Deforestation

OM release from ag. soils

Pasture degradation

Processing fossil fuel

Transport fossil fuel

Enteric fermentation

Manure storage / processing

N fertilization

Legume production

Manure storage / processing

Manure spreading / dropping

Manu indirect emissionsSteinfeld, 2009

“Insatiable Carbon Absorbers”

Improving grazing land management has the second highest technical potential for mitigating C emissions (IPCC 2007)

Kenya’s Rangelands

• Grazing lands make up 40% of Kenya’s of total land area

• Dryland Grazing Systems under Sustainable Grazing Practices can sequester 0.05 – 0.7 Tonnes C/Ha/Yr

• Room for improvement because of land degradation

• Integrating trees (silvopastoral systems) ramp up the potential for carbon storage (along with other co-benefits)

Stewarding for Mitigation and Adaptation

Photos: C. Leggett

Managing Ecosystem Processes

Photos: C. Leggett

Solar Energy Flow

Biological Community DynamicsWater Cycle

Nutrient Dynamics

Photos: C. Leggett

water table

Non-effective water cycle Effective water cycle

Soil bare between plants Soil covered with plants and mulch

50-80% of rainfall is lost through run-off and evaporation.

After: www.managingwholes.com

1 % increase in SOM144,000 L H20 per Ha

Photo credit: C.Neely

Photo credit: C. Leggett

Photo credit: C. Leggett

Can livestock be used to manage ecosystems

processes?

Photos: C. Leggett, C. Neely

Planned grazing

RECOVERY PERIOD

Animal impact

Overgrazing and Land Degradation

Source: Belinda Low, Grevy’s Trust

Cessation of overgrazing alone could sequester 167.7 MtCO2e yr-1 globally (Conant and Paustian 2002).

Slide adapted from Belinda Low Grevy’s Zebra Trust

Photos: C. Neely, A. Savory

Regenerating Landscapes

Photo credits: A. SavoryPhotos: A. Savory

Recovery thanks to: Herders managing livestock using planned grazing

Slide Source: R. Hatfield, LWF

Il Ngwesi communityLaikipia

Decision Making in a Holistic Context

Photo: C. Neely

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LWF

Exclude or Allow Animal Impact

Scaling up may require at least one hundred community mobilizers and thousands of herders

along with well placed learning sites

LaikipiaWestgateNorthern Rangelands TrustKajiadoTurkanaAmong others

Pastoralist Innovation Field SchoolSustainable Value/Benefit Chain

Kajiado, Kenya

Conservation Meat

Will climate change be the ultimate incentive to do what we have meant to be doing all

along?