Burps, Belches and Bovine Health Climate Smart Cattle Production

Abstract

This factsheet explains the link between animal health, livestock productivity and methane emissions in cattle. Ruminants contribute approximately 10 per cent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions through enteric methane, and emission intensity in Africa is high relative to other regions because of disease burden, inadequate nutrition and management constraints. Because methane emissions correlate with feed energy intake, and maintenance accounts for between 30 and 70 per cent of lifetime emissions depending on the system, healthier animals convert more feed energy into productive output, lowering emission intensity while improving farmer livelihoods.

The factsheet sets out the determinants of animal health, covering pathogen exposure and immunological susceptibility, and argues for preventive rather than adaptive measures as antimicrobial resistance spreads. It presents estimated productivity gains and emission intensity reductions from interventions against seven cattle diseases, including nagana, gastro-intestinal worms, red water, East Coast fever, foot-and-mouth disease, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and Rift Valley fever, alongside mortality risk in the absence of intervention.

It notes that animal health financing remains fragmented and averages 0.05 per cent of GDP, and positions improved animal health as a strategic lever for sustainable livestock systems and a basis for mobilising long-term public and private investment.