Better livestock production improves family well-being and acts against climate change in Uruguay
How climate-smart practices are providing better incomes and a more resilient environment
In just the first year of the project, an average of 60 percent of farms improved their net income by 50 percent. Costs have fallen by seven percent and the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of meat has fallen by 16 percent. The project intends to reach 700 more family farms in the coming years.
©FAO
Fifty years ago, Maria Teresa De Los Santos and her husband Abayubá Rivas inherited the 495-hectare cow and sheep farm situated in the Salto department in northern Uruguay. This San Ceferino farm had been in Abayubá’s family since he was born. When his father passed away and it became Abayubá’s responsibility, Maria Teresa left her job as a schoolteacher to work on the farm.
Over the decades, with the knowledge that they had, Maria Teresa and Abayubá spent enormous amounts of time and energy working on the natural grasslands and making their livestock as productive as possible to feed their family of six, including two sons, one daughter and one grandson who lived with them. Their considerable efforts were enough to provide food and basic needs for their family but very little else. With the house in disrepair and the farm needing infrastructure upgrades, Maria Teresa and Abayubá looked for opportunities to improve their livelihood.
At this time, a team from FAO’s Livestock and Climate (Ganadería y Clima) project came to this area to present to producer organizations, and Maria Teresa’s was one of them. Both she and Abayubá got very interested in the prospect of improving their farming income and becoming more resilient to climate change while reducing the physical labour the farm required. After the team’s presentation, they submitted their application and were accepted to the programme.