Feed resources vis-à-vis livestock and fish productivity in a changing climate

Abstract

Animal source food production globally already faces increasing pressure because of negative environmental implications, particularly because of greenhouse gas emissions. As livestock and aquaculture are important sources of livelihood, it is necessary to find suitable solutions to convert these industries into economically viable enterprises, while reducing the ill effects of global warming. The most evident and important effects of climate change on livestock production will be mediated through changes in feed resources. The main pathways in which climate change can affect the availability of feed resources for livestock - land-use and -systems changes, changes in the primary productivity of crops, forages and rangelands, changes in species composition and changes in the quality of plant material - will be discussed in the chapter. This chapter will propose an environmentally friendly development of livestock production systems, where increased production will be met by increased efficiency of production and not through increased animal numbers. For aquaculture, the focus will be on better sourcing of feed stuffs and on-farm feed management.