Options for low emission development in the Tanzania dairy sector - reducing enteric methane for food security and livelihoods

Book excerpt: Given the importance of the dairy sector to livelihoods and its potential role in poverty reduction, this study evaluates the potential for improving milk production while reducing enteric methane (CH4) emission intensity from dairy production in Tanzania. The study reveals that improved management practices and technologies can increase milk productivity while reducing methane emission intensity in both traditional and improved dairy systems. The economic analysis shows that in improved systems, all interventions assessed were cost-beneficial, however the analysis indicates that in traditional systems, both the baseline scenario and mitigation options present economic returns of less than 1. Although the economic analysis might not directly support the application of mitigation practices in traditional systems, the study does not exclude the importance of mitigation action focusing specifically on traditional systems since their existence and persistence is already threated by the effects of climatic variability and climate change. All the mitigation options analyzed in this study presented significant gains in productivity, which in practice can generate improvements in food and nutrition security, as well as boost farmers’ incomes. Moreover, some of the mitigation options can maintain and/or improve herd parameters, feed resources and water supply during and after climate shocks, supporting these systems to move from relief to resilience.