Livestock Production: The Catalytic Potential of Africa’s Livestock Sector

The document examines the critical role of livestock in Africa's food security and GDP, contrasting low-input agroecological systems with industrial models. It argues that industrial livestock production is unsuitable for the African context due to its negative environmental and social impacts. The brief identifies key hurdles, such as chronic underfunding and policy marginalisation, and proposes specific funding levers for philanthropic investment in disease prevention, rangeland management, and adaptive local breeds to build climate resilience.

• Livestock production is fundamental to Africa's economy and food security, with the sector contributing between 30% and 80% of agriculture-related GDP at the country level, averaging 35% per country.
• Industrial livestock models are deemed unsuitable for Africa's low-input systems because they exacerbate poverty and cause significant environmental harm, including contributing to 32% of global methane emissions.
• African livestock production, primarily based on low-input and open grazing models, has a relatively small global climate impact, accounting for only 1.2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The sector faces severe challenges from climate change, including heat stress that reduces productivity and fertility, with economic costs four times higher than the global average.
• Investment in the sector has been historically misdirected, focusing on individual projects and post-production services rather than building the institutional and infrastructural frameworks needed to address structural barriers.
• Climate-related funding for livestock in Africa is extremely low, with only 0.57% of the US$185 billion in climate funding for the continent allocated to the sector, mostly for mitigation.
• There is a critical loss of indigenous livestock breeds due to the adoption of exotic breeds; 20% of Africa's local breeds have been lost and 32% are currently threatened.

APA

Coetzee, A., Swanepoel, S., Goldsmith, C., & Davies, F. (2025). Livestock Production: The Catalytic Potential of Africa’s Livestock Sector. African Climate Foundation. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_E-Livestock-WEB-1.pdf

Chicago

Coetzee, Angela, Stefanie Swanepoel, Candice Goldsmith, and Frances Davies. Livestock Production: The Catalytic Potential of Africa’s Livestock Sector. African Climate Foundation, 2025. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_E-Livestock-WEB-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Coetzee |first1=Angela |last2=Swanepoel |first2=Stefanie |last3=Goldsmith |first3=Candice |last4=Davies |first4=Frances |title=Livestock Production: The Catalytic Potential of Africa’s Livestock Sector |publisher=African Climate Foundation |date=2025 |url=https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_E-Livestock-WEB-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{coetzee2025livestock, author = {Coetzee, Angela and Swanepoel, Stefanie and Goldsmith, Candice and Davies, Frances}, title = {{Livestock Production: The Catalytic Potential of Africa’s Livestock Sector}}, institution = {African Climate Foundation}, year = {2025}, url = {https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/801023_E-Livestock-WEB-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }