CATIE shared experiences in Mexico on how to promote sustainable livestock farming

• Researchers from the Livestock and Environmental Management Unit participated in the first International Forum on Sustainable Livestock in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

November 22, 2022. On November 10, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER, its Spanish acronym) and the Regional Livestock Union of Jalisco held their first International Forum on Sustainable Livestock. Experts from the Livestock and Environmental Management Unit of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) shared experiences and results of tropical animal production systems in which sustainable livestock production has been promoted in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In this forum, CATIE experts showed achievements in the technical, economic, environmental and social sustainability of livestock production systems, as well as strategies for the improvement, conservation, utilization and characterization of natural resources. For example, Santiago Garzón addressed the topic of field schools; Felipe Peguero shared a comparison between conventional livestock farming and silvo-pastoral systems; Andrés Vega presented a case study on greenhouse gases on ranches in Jalisco, Chiapas and Campeche; and Cristóbal Villanueva spoke about the profitability of silvo-pastoral systems.

At the inauguration of the event, Ana Lucía Camacho, head of SADER Jalisco, said that fortunately in the Jalisco countryside there are already very concrete advances in this environmentally friendly approach to livestock farming, especially in the regions: Costa, Sierras de Amula and Occidental.

The official also stressed that several institutional programs have contributed to this progress, with specific support to counteract climate change; in addition, extension and field technification have been important tools, so policies related to these actions must be strengthened.

In this forum, which seeks to socialize environmentally friendly production practices that are at the same time profitable for the livestock family, four lectures were given on successful experiences in the Jalisco countryside, as well as in the national and Latin American spheres.

The forum was attended by more than 157 participants (105 men and 52 women), including farmers, students and the general public.

During the forum, it became evident that the Jalisco countryside already has convincing data that support the possibility of a sustainable approach to livestock farming; thus, it was invited to use concrete tools so that producers have a profitable and environmentally friendly activity at the same time.