Participants during the Livestock manure management project workshop in Addis Ababa (photo credit: ILRI)

Reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) has the potential to decrease the effects of climate change in the near future, while also reducing human health risks. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) has recently initiated a new livestock manure management project in Sub-Saharan Africa, aimed at reducing global SLCP emissions from livestock manure. The project’s implementation partners include the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), CCAC, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and Wageningen University. ILRI is the African centre for the manure management initiative and along with the Central Hub of the Manure Management Kiosk is working with government and non-government organizations to summarize existing policies and practices and to examine opportunities for improved manure management for the reduction of SLCP emissions. This project is a timely initiative working to propel the objective of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock which has predicted that humans will need more livestock products in the future and hence  the need for increased sustainable production. By reducing the emissions per unit of product (CCAC objective) we are able to produce more livestock with less overall emissions or at least produce more livestock without increasing their emissions.

Two ILRI scientists, Asaah Ndambi and David Pelster in the Livestock System and Environment (LSE) program under the Mazingira centre are coordinators of the CCAC activities and the manure management network in Sub-Saharan Africa.

On 18-19 November 2014, the livestock manure management project organized and held its first workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which attracted a total of 21 participants from 14 countries. The objective of the workshop was to review progress in summarizing current policies and practices, and also provide an opportunity for presentations on some of the current opportunities for improved management that are being pursued.

The workshop included a field visit to small scale biogas units by cattle farmers in Debre Zeit (about 50 KM from Addis Ababa), supervised by the National Biogas Program of Ethiopia, under the Ethiopian Ministry of Water Irrigation and Energy. These biogas units present numerous benefits including economical as well as environmental by trapping methane emissions and providing an alternative source of energy.