Nakuru: The livestock sub-sector is responsible for over 90 percent of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and about 20 percent of Kenya’s GHG emissions, driving further climate change.
According to Kenya News Agency, Nakuru County Chief Officer for Livestock, Fisheries, and Veterinary Services, Dr. Michael Cheruiyot, livestock is a major contributor of methane, which has a relatively short life cycle but a high potential to warm the atmosphere. He explained that livestock emits methane through the rumen’s digestive processes, known as enteric fermentation.
Dr. Cheruiyot noted that the devolved unit, in its resolve to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, continues to position itself at the forefront of climate-smart livestock development by hosting the ‘Baseline Study Report Validation Workshop,’ under the Kenya Livestock Methane Reduction Strategy Project, spearheaded by Solidaridad. The forum brought together key stakeholders, researchers, and development partners to review and validate findings from a baseline study focusing on methane emissions in smallholder dairy systems.
‘We explored social and institutional factors influencing the adoption of mitigation measures across Nakuru County and Nyandarua County. The two-year Kenya Livestock Methane Reduction Strategy Project aims to develop a national methane reduction strategy backed by strong institutional frameworks, enabling the scaling and replication of mitigation technologies,’ he stated.
Dr. Cheruiyot added, ‘Through multi-stakeholder engagements, on-farm demonstrations, and alignment with existing research such as Kenya’s livestock emissions inventory and Food and Agriculture Organizations (FAO’s) low-emission dairy solutions, the initiative is set to drive meaningful change in the sector.’
The Chief Officer explained that manure management practices also release high amounts of methane and nitrous oxide. He pointed out that addressing methane emissions from livestock is expected to mitigate emissions to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature increase by 2030.
Dr. Cheruiyot indicated that main emissions from livestock are enteric fermentation through feeding and quality of feed. He said the livestock sub-sector has been identified as a key player in the mitigation of GHG emissions from the agriculture sector in line with the Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Many interventions, such as improved feed, not only reduce methane but also increase milk and meat production by 30 percent.
He warned that nationally, GHG emissions are expected to increase by 79 percent to 143 megatonnes by 2030, while agriculture emissions are expected to increase by 23 percent by 2030, mainly driven by livestock enteric emissions. The Chief Officer noted that Kenya is amongst developing nations in which Agriculture and Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) sectors dominate the share of its total GHG emissions.
He revealed that Governor Susan Kihika’s administration has prioritized climate actions in Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use for adaptation and mitigation. Dr. Cheruiyot noted that Kenya has set an ambitious target to reduce methane emissions by 32 percent. ‘Practical implementation of mitigation within livestock systems should be driven by farmers,’ he said.
He said that livestock emissions are 80 percent methane while 54 percent of global emissions are all forms of methane. ’80 percent of global direct livestock emissions are methane, while in the entire production chain, 54 percent of global livestock emissions are all forms of methane,’ stated Dr. Cheruiyot. He said that low and middle-income countries produce more methane because they have more livestock that have low productivity.
’81 percent of methane emissions take place in low and middle-income countries while 18 percent take place in high-income countries,’ he said. The Chief officer called for diversification of livestock systems through mixed farming, adoption of climate-smart agriculture, improvement of breeds and genetics, enhancement of water management, capacity building and early warning systems, and improvement of feed practices to curb GHG emissions.
Source: Kenya News Agency
