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A Review on Causes of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Livestock Production in the Tropics

Received: 12 January 2017    Accepted: 7 February 2017    Published: 10 May 2017
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Abstract

The growth in demand for livestock products will probably still play a dominant role over the next decades and lead to a net increase in the area dedicated to livestock, despite the intensification trend. It is estimated that the world food requirement by the year 2050 will be double that of 2010. A significant part of this requirement will emanate from the developing countries, on account of increased human populations, disposable incomes and urbanization. To the contrary, climate change poses the threat of serious social upheaval, population displacement; economic hardships and environmental degradation were it has been caused both by natural phenomenon and man-made activities. Livestock established their current geographic ranges through long-term adaptation to seasonal climate patterns. Anthropogenic climate change is likely to alter those seasonal patterns on a timescale far more rapid than has occurred naturally over past millennia. It is this rapid rate of climate change which challenges the natural adaptive capacity of livestock. The faster the changes, the greater will be the risk of damage exceeding ability to cope with the consequences. Significant negative consequences including loss of livestock through heat stress, loss of land to agricultural encroachment, an increase in frequency of flooding and the spread of human and livestock diseases were some the problems. Since, livestock are an irreplaceable source of livelihoods for the poor community and there is a chance to give attention for the sector. Because, it is the fastest growing sector and in some countries accounts for 80% of the GDP, in particular in dry lands. As to livestock products, about two-thirds of the increased demand needs to be met by improving the production efficiency of feeds (forages and concentrates). Balanced nutrition contributes to improve animal output as well as to reduce both the cost of production and the emission of greenhouse gases per animal. Ultimately large scale implementation of such programs can help to improve the productivity of livestock in developing countries. Therefore, livestock management system-efficient and affordable adaptation practices have to be developed for producers not able to buy expensive adaptation technologies.

Published in Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology (Volume 3, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11
Page(s) 19-29
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Climate Change, Challenges, Greenhouse gas, Livestock Production, Opportunities

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  • APA Style

    Girma Defar. (2017). A Review on Causes of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Livestock Production in the Tropics. Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology, 3(2), 19-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11

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    ACS Style

    Girma Defar. A Review on Causes of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Livestock Production in the Tropics. Front. Environ. Microbiol. 2017, 3(2), 19-29. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11

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    AMA Style

    Girma Defar. A Review on Causes of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Livestock Production in the Tropics. Front Environ Microbiol. 2017;3(2):19-29. doi: 10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11,
      author = {Girma Defar},
      title = {A Review on Causes of Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Livestock Production in the Tropics},
      journal = {Frontiers in Environmental Microbiology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {19-29},
      doi = {10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.fem.20170302.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.fem.20170302.11},
      abstract = {The growth in demand for livestock products will probably still play a dominant role over the next decades and lead to a net increase in the area dedicated to livestock, despite the intensification trend. It is estimated that the world food requirement by the year 2050 will be double that of 2010. A significant part of this requirement will emanate from the developing countries, on account of increased human populations, disposable incomes and urbanization. To the contrary, climate change poses the threat of serious social upheaval, population displacement; economic hardships and environmental degradation were it has been caused both by natural phenomenon and man-made activities. Livestock established their current geographic ranges through long-term adaptation to seasonal climate patterns. Anthropogenic climate change is likely to alter those seasonal patterns on a timescale far more rapid than has occurred naturally over past millennia. It is this rapid rate of climate change which challenges the natural adaptive capacity of livestock. The faster the changes, the greater will be the risk of damage exceeding ability to cope with the consequences. Significant negative consequences including loss of livestock through heat stress, loss of land to agricultural encroachment, an increase in frequency of flooding and the spread of human and livestock diseases were some the problems. Since, livestock are an irreplaceable source of livelihoods for the poor community and there is a chance to give attention for the sector. Because, it is the fastest growing sector and in some countries accounts for 80% of the GDP, in particular in dry lands. As to livestock products, about two-thirds of the increased demand needs to be met by improving the production efficiency of feeds (forages and concentrates). Balanced nutrition contributes to improve animal output as well as to reduce both the cost of production and the emission of greenhouse gases per animal. Ultimately large scale implementation of such programs can help to improve the productivity of livestock in developing countries. Therefore, livestock management system-efficient and affordable adaptation practices have to be developed for producers not able to buy expensive adaptation technologies.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AB  - The growth in demand for livestock products will probably still play a dominant role over the next decades and lead to a net increase in the area dedicated to livestock, despite the intensification trend. It is estimated that the world food requirement by the year 2050 will be double that of 2010. A significant part of this requirement will emanate from the developing countries, on account of increased human populations, disposable incomes and urbanization. To the contrary, climate change poses the threat of serious social upheaval, population displacement; economic hardships and environmental degradation were it has been caused both by natural phenomenon and man-made activities. Livestock established their current geographic ranges through long-term adaptation to seasonal climate patterns. Anthropogenic climate change is likely to alter those seasonal patterns on a timescale far more rapid than has occurred naturally over past millennia. It is this rapid rate of climate change which challenges the natural adaptive capacity of livestock. The faster the changes, the greater will be the risk of damage exceeding ability to cope with the consequences. Significant negative consequences including loss of livestock through heat stress, loss of land to agricultural encroachment, an increase in frequency of flooding and the spread of human and livestock diseases were some the problems. Since, livestock are an irreplaceable source of livelihoods for the poor community and there is a chance to give attention for the sector. Because, it is the fastest growing sector and in some countries accounts for 80% of the GDP, in particular in dry lands. As to livestock products, about two-thirds of the increased demand needs to be met by improving the production efficiency of feeds (forages and concentrates). Balanced nutrition contributes to improve animal output as well as to reduce both the cost of production and the emission of greenhouse gases per animal. Ultimately large scale implementation of such programs can help to improve the productivity of livestock in developing countries. Therefore, livestock management system-efficient and affordable adaptation practices have to be developed for producers not able to buy expensive adaptation technologies.
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Author Information
  • Department of Animal & Range Sciences, College of Agriculture & Natural Resource, Madawalabu University, Bale-Robe, Ethiopia

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