May 24, 2018: Launch of the public review of the LEAP guidelines for water use assessment of livestock production systems and supply chains. ATB scientist Dr. Katrin Drastig as cochair of the Technical Advisory Group for water use enhanced the joint research activities.
From 2016 to 2018, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for water use, combining the knowledge of more than 30 reknown international experts, has been working diligently to develop guidelines on water foot printing for livestock supply chains.
After having been peer-reviewed, the draft guidelines are now officially launched for public review. The public review will last for three months and be completed by 22 August 2018.
Invitation for public review: To participate click here
The mandate of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for water use is to provide recommendations to monitor the environmental performance of feed and livestock supply chains over time so that progress towards improvement targets can be measured. The new guidelines should be applicable for feed and water demand of small ruminants, poultry, large ruminants and pig supply chains, build on and go beyond the existing FAO LEAP guidelines and pursue alignment with relevant international standards, specifically ISO 14040/14044, and ISO 14046.
The Technical Advisory Group, (TAG) on water use assessment is composed of more than 30 experts from various backgrounds and areas of research and extension services, including water footprinting, water footprints of livestock supply chains, animal science, soil science, agriculture science, hydrology, capacity development, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Experts met for two workshops organized in Rome, Italy and Kigali, Rwanda for consensus building on the different aspects related to water use and potential impacts in livestock supply chains. Several online meetings were subsequently organized by topics to finalize consensus and address all the member’s comments.
These guidelines are a product of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership. LEAP is funded by its Members, with additional support from FAO and the Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Programme.
LEAP guidelines on water use assessment can be used in conjunction with other LEAP guidelines on feed small ruminants, poultry, large ruminants and pig supply chains depending on goal and scope of the assessment.
Contact ATB: Dr. Katrin Drastig