Water Contamination in Livestock Production: Impacts, Causes, and Mitigation Strategies

Livestock production in South Africa faces numerous challenges due to climate change, resource limitations, and economic constraints. Climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are essential to ensure sustainability. This systematic literature review explores the adaptation and mitigation strategies employed in livestock production systems in South Africa. The literature review used a systematic approach to identify relevant studies using Google scholar, Scopus and Web of science. To ensure the relevance and quality of the selected studies, specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Studies were included if they addressed adaptation and or mitigation strategies in livestock production, were specific to the South African context, and were published between 2000 and 2023. Conversely, studies were excluded if they focused on regions outside South Africa, did not specifically examine livestock adaptation or mitigation, or lacked methodological rigor. This approach allowed the author to identify and synthesise a wide range of literature on the topic. Based on the inclusion criteria for the literature review, an initial screening of 330 articles was conducted, resulting in 55 articles meeting the criteria and included in the systematic review. This rigorous process helped to identify the high-quality and relevant studies on the topic. The data extracted from the 55 articles were then analysed and synthesised to identify adaptation and mitigation strategies of livestock production systems in South Africa. This helped to identify similarities and differences within the literature and supported drawing conclusions about adaptation and mitigation strategies in South African livestock production systems. Key practices include destocking during dry months, selective breeding, water resource management, construction of shade to reduce heat, financial planning, feed supplementation, and innovative approaches like wildlife ranching. These strategies, when adopted at farm level enhance resilience, productivity, and environmental conservation. Demographic, environmental, socioeconomic, and knowledge-related factors influence strategy adoption. Research progress shows increasing interest and diverse methodological approaches, indicating a growing awareness of livestock production resilience. Collaborative efforts are crucial for advancing sustainable practices and maintaining the sector's long-term sustainability.

According to the Administrative Arrangement (AA) No. AGRI-2008-02451 signed between DG AGRI and DG JRC in 2008, the final expectation of the GGELS project is a more precise quantification of the greenhouse gases emission (GHG) from livestock production in Europe by considering GHG emission all along the production chains. To later analyse and plan European GHG mitigation scenario for the livestock sectors, a particular effort of description of the Livestock Production Systems (LPS) in place in Europe is necessary, livestock production is differing largely over Europe according to the local farming particularities and to the specific practices in vigour. The previous statements asked for considering spatial as well as strategic diversity of LPS existing in Europe and for the classification of LPS. For that, Work Package 2 (WP2) of the GGELS project has to focus on the conceptualisation and build up of a new LPS typology allowing policy makers to precisely identify LPS diversity. Regarding the main scales at which LPS datasets are available to date, LPS typology is planed to be performed at NUTS2 level (region level) in EU27. The dimensions to be considered in the LPS typology must reflect the strategies decided by the breeders according to market and regional (mainly biotic) constraints met in regions; these dimensions have also to point out the major livestock production steps responsible for GHG emission variation between regions such as manures management practices. Concerning manures management practices, since no specific information existed at region level, while JRC expertise on this issue was insufficient, it has been decided to launch a call for tender to select academic parties for a specific study on this issue following a questionnaire approach. To facilitate this task, DG JRC decided to perform a preliminary classification of the NUTS2 zones according to the remaining dimensions plus other regional descriptors such as regional meteorological particularities, economic intensity of the LPS, stocking density or again the potential autonomy to feed reared animals from local crops production. For that, official statistics contained inside databases of the CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact Analysis) Modelling System have been used to describe diversity and particularities of the LPS (by specie) in every one of the European regions. Independently, by using Crop Growth Monitoring System (CGMS) datasets, classification of the climatic conditions met in Europe have been mapped. All classifications were performed using multivariate statistical procedures such as Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and two-way Hierarchical Ascendant Classification (HAC). Results of the by-specie LPS classifications have been then confronted to the clusters describing climate conditions in regions to interpret LPS diversity. In parallel, other statistics such as regional farm types repartition provided by Eurostat were used to verify of the pertinence of the results obtained from the purely statistical method applied. Then, clusters verified were interpreted by relating all dimensions together to give a picture as reliable as possible of the reality following a more subjective approach; finally, to ease the comprehension of the reader, by-specie LPS clusters were mapped in a GIS environment.\nDespite possible improvements, the preliminary zoning performed here allowed us to identify and describe reliably the specificities of the LPS in every one of the European regions (EU27). From this, we proposed a by-specie and by-LPS type sampling of the regions. This was undertaken to help the academic party to decide later of the minimum sample size necessary to obtain reliable information on the regional manures¿ management practices in vigour regarding the particularities of the LPS pointed out in this report.

Livestock production is a major source of pharmaceutical emissions to the environment. The current scientific discourse focusses on measuring and modelling emissions as well as assessing their risks. While several studies evidence the severity of pharmaceutical pollution resulting from livestock farming, differences in pollution between livestock types and production systems are largely unknown. In fact, there is no comprehensive analysis of factors influencing pharmaceutical use - the emission's source - in the diverse production systems. To address these knowledge gaps, we develop a framework to investigate pharmaceutical pollution from different livestock production systems and apply it in a first pilot assessment to compare pollution from organic and conventional cattle, pig and chicken production systems on selected indicator substances, covering antibiotics, antiparasitics, hormones and NSAIDs. Given lacking statistics, hereto we retrieved novel qualitative information about influential factors for pharmaceutical use and pollution from expert interviews combined with quantitative data on a.o. the environmental behavior of specific substances from literature. Our analysis shows that factors across a pharmaceutical's entire lifecycle influence pollution. However, not all factors are livestock type or production system dependent. The pilot assessment furthermore reveals that differences in pollution potential between conventional and organic production exist, but for antibiotics, NSAIDs (and partially antiparasitics) some factors lead to higher pollution potential in conventional, others in organic systems. For hormones we identified a comparatively higher pollution potential from conventional systems. Among the indicator substance, the assessment over the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle illustrated that flubendazole in broiler production has the highest per unit impact. The framework and its application in the pilot assessment generated insights useful to identify which substances, livestock types, production systems, or the combination thereof have high or low pollution potential, informing more sustainable agricultural management practices. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:0-0. © 2023 SETAC.

Rethinking livestock production systems on the Galápagos Islands: Organizing knowledge-practice interfaces through reflexive interactive design

Climate change and livestock: Impacts, adaptation, and mitigation

Simple SummaryEgypt is one of the hottest countries on the planet, with significant warming predicted to occur over the course of this century. It has a substantial livestock population to feed its growing human population, but the hotter temperatures will constrain the production of ruminants in particular because of their high internal heat production during the digestion of fibrous material by micro-organisms. The net result will be the diminished availability of animal products per human member of the Egyptian population. Some products can be imported, but this is difficult for products with a short shelf life, such as milk. We use estimates of climate change, population growth and the impact of higher temperatures on cow productivity to predict that milk availability per person will decline from 61 kg/year in 2011 to 26 kg/year in 2064. We discuss the range of alternative options available to make up for diminished animal product availability per person as the century progresses.Egypt is one of the hottest countries in the world, and extreme climate events are becoming more frequent, which is consistent with the warming of the planet. The impact of this warming on ecosystems is severe, including on livestock production systems. Under Egyptian conditions, livestock already suffer heat stress periods in summer. The predicted increases in temperature as result of climate change will affect livestock production by reducing growth and milk production because of appetite suppression and conception rate reductions and will increase animal welfare concerns. In severe cases, these effects can result in death. We review the heat stress effects on livestock behaviour, reproduction, and production in the context of predicted climate change for Egypt over the course of this century and offer alternative scenarios to achieve food security for a growing human population. As an example, we combine predictions for reduced milk production during heat stress and human population trajectories to predict that milk availability per person will decline from 61 kg/year in 2011 to 26 kg/year in 2064. Mitigation strategies are discussed and include the substitution of animal-based foods for plant-based foods and laboratory-grown animal products.

The global agenda for livestock research must be led by the requirements for agricultural development, recognizing the integral and complementary rôle livestock play in sustainable agricultural systems. Demand for meat and milk will increase by more than 150 per cent over the next three decades, fuelled by the combination of income growth, population increase and urbanization. Increased demand will be primarily in developing regions, where current consumption per capita is low and livestock production systems are inefficient relative to those in developed countries. This situation encourages development to increase supply of livestock product. Research can facilitate sustainable livestock development to serve the needs of both producers and consumers.The benefits already realized from past investments in research, primarily in developed countries, help make the case for investing in livestock research. Nevertheless, the resources available for research are limited; choices must be made and expected benefits and costs should guide priorities. These benefits and costs should take into account social and environmental as well as financial values. Procedures for valuing the contribution of livestock research to sustainable development are inadequate and, in themselves, are a priority in the global agenda.Priorities for research differ but are generally linked across the levels of agricultural systems: household, community, landscape, national, regional and international. Specific priorities in the global agenda vary with livestock species (ruminant, non-ruminant), production systems (grazing, mixed, industrial), agro-ecological and socio-economic factors (especially, those differing for developed and developing regions) and whether research will be supported by public or private sector funding. The priorities for developing countries emphasize increasing productivity and efficiency; whereas for developed countries, more emphasis is given to food safety, zoonotic diseases and environmental issues. Non-traditional, but increasingly important priorities derive from the need for information and technologies to improve soil and water management to ensure long-term sustainability of livestock production systems and for socio-economic analysis to provide policy options for decision makers.The global agenda for livestock research is broad, embracing the full spectrum from basic to adaptive research. The traditional animal sciences will continue to be important but there is increasing need to draw from crop and environment research, from human health and genetics research, inter alia. Results from research in developed regions can be adapted to the needs of livestock systems in developing regions. In return, research on genetic resistance developed through natural selection in livestock populations in developing regions, may provide environmentally friendly means to control livestock disease and parasites in developed regions.The challenges posed by the global agenda are considerable. To meet these challenges, partnerships are required, linking skills, capacities and access to problems. The successes of these research partnerships will meet the requirements for sustainable agricultural development and ensure support for livestock research in the future.

Livestock production is an important contributor to rural development. In the past two decades, developing countries have experienced changes in market structures, climate and demographic characteristics. These changes have been accompanied by fast growth in demand for livestock products and the increasing dependence on livestock for sustainable livelihood systems. In response to these changes, there has been rapid land use and land cover changes, characterized by expansion of agricultural land, and land fragmentation. This has caused environmental degradation in several rural areas, including the River Njoro watershed. Policy makers and development agents are therefore, facing a dilemma on trade-offs between meeting the expanding demand for livestock products and sustainable utilization of the limited stock of natural resources. At the backdrop of this dilemma, this study sought to identify and characterize livestock production systems in Njoro River watershed using principal components and cluster analysis. A multinomial logistic regression model was then used to determine the factors that influence the spatial distribution of livestock production systems and Changes in Land Use Efficiency for Small extent (CLUE- S) model used to assess the effect of suggested policies on the spatial distribution of livestock production systems. Primary data used in the study was collected using a household survey. Data was managed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v15, STATA V9, and (CLUE-S) Modeling softwares. Results indicate that farmers in the watershed fall under three major livestock production systems: Intensive, Semi intensive, and Extensive. Land size, access to extension services, age of household head, altitude of the farm, distance of farm household to the river, number of extension visits, value of physical assets, access to credit, household size, household income, and involvement in off-farm activity are the factors found to significantly influence changes in livestock production systems. It was also observed that if the current trends in land use changes continue, the production of livestock products will continue to decline in the future. This study concludes that if the growth in food production has to surpass the population growth rate, relevant policy issues to enhance sustainable livestock production have to be addressed. Policy implications drawn from this study have focused on incentives for intensification, institutional reforms, improving livestock productivity, and innovations that enhance the synergies between livestock production and the environment.

Agriculture sector is one of major sources of income and livelihood to many populations of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the past years animal production has been playing a vital role not only in generating revenues to farmers but also as a source of high qualitative proteins and essential micronutrients (i.e iron, zinc and vitamins) and boosting the agricultural productivity due to its importance in farmyards organic fertilization (i.e manure). Livestock production and Milk market in SSA are dominated by smallholder dairy farming (SDF) which employ nearly 70% of all livestock farmers. Despite its positive impact on people and SSA countries’ economy, SDF has been the major fastest growing agricultural contributors of GHG emissions such as CH4, N2O and CO2 (i.e 9t CO2e per tonne of milk; the highest in the world compared to other regions) thus accelerating global warming effect.Although several articles have investigated the impacts of livestock production on climate change, to the best of our knowledge the existing literature doesn’t contain any studies that provide insight review of smallholder dairy farming’s carbon footprint (CF) in SSA. This review paper is therefore aimed at critical analysis of current knowledge in terms of CF of smallholder dairy farming in SSA and effective mitigation strategies (dietary, manure and animal management) recently proposed to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions from ruminants. SSA was selected because of rapid rise of SDF in the region therefore it is expected to rapidly increase its GHG emissions in future if no sustainable measures are taken.The critical analysis, what is known and gaps in SDF from this review will help to inform the farmers, researchers, decision and policy makers interested in GHG emissions thus to provide the next direction in research and improvement of the sector for sustainability. Capacity building for raising awareness among farmers was identified as paramount to better understand the issue and the options to mitigate emissions on-farm. As longer as adaptation and mitigation strategies become paramount on national and regional agenda, SDF will make significant contribution to economies, improved livelihood and become sustainable livestock production systems in SSA at large.

Given that the livestock production system is sensitive to climate change and at the same time itself a contributor to the phenomenon, climate change has the potential to be an increasingly formidable challenge to the development of the livestock sector in the world. This chapter provides the salient findings established by various researchers in their field of specialization and also elaborates on the future research priorities that are available before the researchers in the field of climate change and livestock production. In the changing climatic scenario, apart from high ambient temperature, air movement, solar radiation, wind speed, and relative humidity are other critical attributes of the climatic variables that hamper livestock production. The direct effects on livestock production are primarily mediated through increased temperature, altered photoperiod, and changes in rainfall pattern. The indirect effects on livestock production are mediated through sudden disease outbreaks, less feed and water availability, and low grazing lands. There are different adaptive mechanisms by which livestock respond to fluctuations of climatic changes including physiological, blood biochemical, neuroendocrine, cellular, and molecular mechanisms of adaptation, respectively. Globally, the livestock sector contributes 18 % of global GHG emissions. Hence, understanding of GHG emissions by sources and removal by sinks in animal agriculture is critical to take appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies and to estimate and develop inventory of GHGs. The chapter also signifies that considerable research efforts are needed to modify the existing shelter design to make them more suitable for the current climate change scenario. The chapter also calls for multidisciplinary approach to develop suitable technological interventions to cope up to climate change for the ultimate benefit of livestock farmers who rely heavily on livestock resources for their livelihood security. If one attempts improving livestock production under the changing climate condition, research efforts are needed to develop strategies encompassing adaptation, mitigation, and amelioration strategies simultaneously, apart from strengthening the existing extension system.

Livestock production is the world’s dominant land use, covering about 45% of the Earth’s land surface, and much of it in harsh and variable environments that are unsuitable for other purposes. Climate change (CC) can impact the amount and quality of produce, reliability of production, and the natural resource base on which livestock production depends. Climate is an important factor of agricultural productivity and CC is expected to severely impact livestock production systems. Furthermore, global demand for animal protein will rise as populations become more affluent and eating habits change. Therefore, animal production plays (and will continue to do so) a key role in the food supply chain. While the increasing demand for livestock products offers market opportunities and income for small, marginal, and landless farmers, livestock production globally faces increasing pressure because of negative environmental implications, particularly because of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Agriculture is one sector which is important to consider as it both impacts CC as well as is influenced by CC. Higher temperatures, potentially caused by GHG, would likely result in a decline in dairy production, reduced animal weight gain, reproduction, and lower feed-conversion efficiency in warm regions. Incidence of diseases among livestock and other animals are likely to be affected by CC, since most diseases are transmitted by vectors such as ticks and flies (development stages of ticks and flies are often dependent on ambient temperature). Cattle, goat, horses, and sheep are also vulnerable to an extensive range of nematode worm infections, most of which have their development stages influenced by climatic conditions. CC will have far-reaching consequences for dairy, meat, and wool production systems that rely primarily on grass and rangelands and this will likely detrimentally affect vulnerable pastoral communities which are engaged in extensive livestock production systems in drylands. Although the direct effects of CC on animals are likely to be small (as long as temperature increases do not exceed 3°C), CC will affect animals indirectly through physiological stress and thermoregulatory control, nutrition, and disease stress. Because livestock products are an incredibly important human food, and because animal farming is a significant source of income for millions of farmers, it is necessary to identify CC mitigation strategies and solutions.

Feed safety is needed to produce and provide safe animal feeds for consumers, animals, and the environment. Although feed safety regulations have been set for each country, there is a lack of clear feed safety regulations for each livestock. Feed safety regulations are mainly focused on heavy metals, mycotoxins, and pesticides. Each country has different safe levels of hazardous materials in diets. Safe levels of hazardous materials in diets are mostly set for mixed diets of general livestock. Although there is a difference in the metabolism of toxic materials among animals, the safe level of feed is not specific for individual animals. Therefore, standardized animal testing methods and toxicity studies for each animal are needed to determine the correct safe and toxic levels of hazardous materials in diets. If this goal is achieved, it will be possible to improve livestock productivity, health, and product safety by establishing appropriate feed safety regulations. It will also provide an opportunity to secure consumer confidence in feed and livestock products. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a scientific feed safety evaluation system suitable for each country's environment. The chance of outbreaks of new hazardous materials is increasing. Thus, to set up appropriate toxic levels or safe levels in feed, various toxicity methods have been used to determine toxic levels of hazardous materials for humans and animals. Appropriate toxic testing methods should be developed and used to accurately set up and identify toxicity and safe levels in food and feed.

This discussion explores the opportunities and challenges in enhancing food production and security in the context of climatic variability in Sub Saharan Africa. The promotion of sustainable use of plant and animal products with emphasis on satisfying basic human needs, improving people’s standard of living, enhancing food security and reducing poverty have taken a center stage in Sub Saharan Africa. However, the efforts in this direction are being impacted negatively by climate change, through animal and crop production which have not been spared due to the natural disasters and environmental challenges which have affected all regions of Sub Saharan Africa indiscriminately. Climate is a particularly important driver of food production systems performance at the agriculture end of the food chain. It can affect the quantities and types of food produced as well as production-related income especially for the poor resource farmers. In order to be able to adequately address food production and security in the context of climate, there is need for the region to carry out thorough climatic vulnerability and adaptation assessments. Supporting research and training of experts to carry out vulnerability and adaptation assessments on crop and livestock production is crucial in order for respective countries to develop climate change adaptation measures to meet the obligation on food production and security. Sub Saharan Africa’s agro-ecological regions are variable and need to develop specific adaptive measures to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Due to the changing climatic conditions which the continent has already witnessed many severe climatic induced vulnerability such as decline in rainfall amounts and intensity, reduced length of rain season and increasing warm and occasionally very hot conditions has affected food production and security. Crop and livestock production systems will need to adapt to higher ambient temperatures, lower nutritional value of feed resources and new diseases and parasites occurrence. It can be seen that the present crop and livestock production systems based on pastoral or rangeland grazing husbandry systems, ecological destruction through climatic variability and overgrazing due to high stocking rates in areas where feed and water has been compromised due to high temperatures caused by climate change does not augur well for future livestock productivity. The understanding of climate change variables and their impacts is the first step in climate change research and prerequisite for defining appropriate adaptive responses by local crop and livestock farmers. Sustainable crop and livestock production supporting rural development should be compatible with the goals of curbing the effects of climate change. Production priorities should be directed towards promoting local crop and livestock genetic resources by providing comprehensive research support services on the impact of climate change. Both crops and livestock play important roles in farming systems, as they offer opportunities for risk coping, farm diversification and intensification, and provide significant livelihood benefits and food security. The discussion therefore, concludes that the effectiveness of biophysical responses of crop and livestock production systems to specific environmental challenges that are anticipated as a result of climate change, and then the range of adaptive measures that might be taken by local producers to ameliorate their effects will be the prerequisite for defining appropriate societal responses and meet food security targets.

Livestock production system and productivity are increasingly constrained by climatic variability, disparities in available production resources, and livestock population challenging pastoral livelihoods. These burdens accelerate loss of climate-resilient, and eco-friendly livestock diversities, and limit productivity enhancing interventions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the availability, and spatial distribution of livestock production resources, and to evaluate land suitability for major livestock species in the pastoral districts of Bale, and East Bale Zones of Ethiopia. Multi-stage sampling procedures were followed to select target kebeles (mini administrative units) for data collections on forage availability, water sources, veterinary services, and livestock market infrastructure. Data were collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field observations, and GIS-based spatial analysis. The study showed that resources for livestock production are limited, and unevenly distributed, resulting in a substantial mismatch between livestock requirements, and available resources, thereby constraining the productivity, and sustainability of pastoral livelihoods. The estimated annual biomass yield (DM) from the existing land use surpasses the annual feed requirement (DM) for livestock body maintenance. Though surplus annual biomass, it is constrained by dense unpalatable vegetation, rugged terrain, early forage drying, and seasonal variability. Only 57.1% of animal health centers, and 41.0% of livestock markets are functional, concentrated in nearby towns and mixed-farming border, make the area undeserved. Suitability analysis revealed that only small proportions of the landscape are highly suitable for cattle, sheep, goats, and camels (3.4, 2.6, 1.4, 5.5%), respectively. The finding discloses a significant gap between livestock needs, and resource availability. The study emphasizes the urgency for focused forage and water development, increased veterinary and market services, and better resource management. Further, it helps stakeholders, and policymakers to support resilient pastoral systems that are subject to socioeconomic, and environmental stresses as well as sustainable livestock production.

The most important task of the modern agrarian policy for the development of the meat products sub-complex is to maintain and increase the level of meat production, stimulate the expansion of its range and degree of processing, as well as to improve the quality. The country's transition to market relations necessitates further improvement of the economic mechanism of management in the meat products sub-complex, their reorientation to stimulate the production of competitive products, considering consumer demand. The article aims to reveal modern approaches to guaranteeing the quality and safety of livestock products in the EU and substantiate the possibilities of their application in Ukraine. This work reveals modern approaches to guarantee the quality and safety of animal products in the EU and justify their possible use in Ukraine. The key elements of the new food safety concept in the EU, rooted in the early 2000s are discovered. The specific legislation governing food safeties in the EU is shoved up. The features of the system of quality certification and livestock products produced with food are discovered. Directions for the formation of an effective system for ensuring the quality and safety of organic livestock products are proposed. The experience of product quality management in the meat sub-complex of the EU countries is revealed. The trends of the European system of compulsory labelling of animal welfare in the manufacture of certain types of livestock production and distribution systems of the voluntary certification program for the protection of animals are revealed. The problems in quality due to the intensification of livestock are noted. The trends and modern approaches to improving knowledge about the impact of a number of substances and ingredients contained in animal products, on human health are analysed