Santé animale et gains de productivité réduisent l’impact de l’élevage sur le changement climatique

Abstract

Animal health and productivity gains reduce livestock impact on climate change. Productivity gains allow an increase in animal production with fewer animals, less greenhouse gas emissions and less pressure of livestock on soils. Proper control of animal diseases is a prerequisite essential for improving livestock productivity. All over the world, strengthening the fight against animal diseases would greatly reduce the environmental impacts of livestock productions. However, in the poorest countries, where animal diseases are an obstacle to the improvement of productivity and where, by promoting extensive growth of livestock and by killing many animals, animal diseases are responsible for a huge waste of environmental resources, the improvement of animal health has the most beneficial effects on the well-being of people and on the preservation of the planet. Because of their importance, the interactions between animal health and the environment should be better studied and better addressed by public policies.