CATIE's research on sustainable livestock was presented at GASL Global Meeting

• In Thailand, CATIE's Livestock and Environmental Management Unit presented two scientific posters on governance and biodiversity in sustainable livestock.

November 3, 2023. At the recent 13th Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) World Meeting held in Thailand from October 30 to November 3, the Livestock and Environmental Management Unit (GAMMA) of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) presented two research studies in the field of sustainable livestock through scientific posters.

The first study, entitled Fostering Sustainable Livestock: Insights from Institutional Agreements in the Beef and Milk Production Chains Across Mexican States, highlights the importance of inter-institutional management for the successful adoption of sustainable livestock practices in the beef and milk production sectors in Jalisco, Chiapas and Campeche, Mexico.

In addition, it highlights how relationships between actors influence the promotion of sustainability in livestock farming, identifying challenges and opportunities in different types of institutional arrangements, from hierarchical to collaborative, and providing recommendations to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of the sector.

This research not only provides valuable insights into sustainable livestock farming in the Mexican context, but also offers perspectives applicable to similar regions around the world.

The second study, still under development, entitled An Initial Approach to Tree Cover Dynamics in Mexican Cattle Ranching Areas: A Multitemporal Analysis, examines the relationship between livestock and vegetation in areas influenced by farms in Jalisco, Chiapas and Campeche.

Preliminary results aim to identify the direct impact of cattle ranching on vegetation dynamics, as well as the need to adopt sustainable ranching practices to maintain a balance between production and ecosystem conservation.

"Both posters represent a significant contribution of CATIE in this international forum, addressing key factors for the sustainability of livestock systems at a global level," said Ileana Ávalos and Astrid Pulido, principal investigators of the studies.

The research was developed within the framework of the Biodiversity and Sustainable Agrosilvopastoral Livestock Landscapes project, known as BioPaSOS, which was funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented by CATIE from 2016 to 2022, and was supported by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), in coordination with the National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRICULTURA), together with multiple local partners in their territories of intervention, in the states of Jalisco, Chiapas and Campeche.

This research is aligned with the objectives of GASL, promoting solutions and policies for sustainable livestock farming in vital areas such as economics, food security, animal welfare and environment.