The just published FAO discussion paper "Accounting livestock water productivity: How and why?" presents the results of a review of livestock water productivity studies. The paper was compiled by ATB scientist Katrin Drastig and an international team of experts.  

More than a quarter of the world's population lives in countries where water is not always sufficiently available. Persistent and severe droughts, aggravated by climate change, threaten agricultural production. Strategies are needed that can improve the efficiency of water use and promote the protection of ecosystems. To have a successful impact, measures such as better coordination of water management must be well integrated into political and development policies.

A more efficient use of available water in feed and livestock production can alleviate pressure on water resources. As there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to water scarcity and shortages, solutions can only be context-specific. They need to take into account the particular local and seasonal challenges that countries are facing. How can these measures be designed? What are the options for improving water productivity and how should they be assessed?  

For this report, an international team of specialists analysed 50 studies on water productivity in livestock production conducted in different regions of the world between 1993 and today. The studies differed considerably in terms of their assessment objectives, methodology and the water sources used in the analysis. The main methodological differences were the inclusion or exclusion of background processes, such as water input and the treatment of precipitation when balancing water use in livestock production. In addition, uncertainties in the assessment had mostly not been taken into account. To develop a suitable catalogue of tailor-made measures to improve water use, the international team of authors argues that there is first a need for uniform guidelines that can ensure consistent and coordinated application of water productivity analysis of livestock production systems worldwide. The assessment of water productivity in livestock production is of central importance for the design of sustainable agricultural systems. This is especially true under conditions where the availability of land and water resources is increasingly limited.

Drastig, K., Vellenga, L., Qualitz, G., Singh, R., Pfister, S., Boulay, A.-M., Wiedemann, S., Prochnow, A., Chapagain, A., De Camillis, C., Opio, C. & Mottet, A. (2021): Accounting for livestock water productivity - How and why? Land and Water Discussion Papers. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca7565en

The paper is available for download under http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca7565en 

Contact ATB: Katrin Drastig