Livestock and enteric methane

Sri Lanka

DC_Sri Lanka

  • 22.2 million
    Human population
  • 26.2 million
    Livestock population
  • 93% Chickens, 4% Cattle  and 3% other 
    Livestock composition
  • 9 percent
    Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)

Overview
National milk production in Sri Lanka satisfies only up to 30 percent of the demand for dairy products in the country. Productivity is generally low, which results in a shortage of supply of dairy products in the country. As a result, Sri Lanka heavily depends on milk imports, mainly in the form of powdered milk. 

Baseline greenhouse gas emissions
The dairy cattle sector in Sri Lanka emitted about 2.3 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq.) of greenhouse gases in 2014. Methane was the predominant greenhouse gas in the livestock sector, contributing to over 93 percent of the total. At the national level, the emission intensity of milk produced was on average 7 kg CO2-eq. per kilograms of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM).

Mitigation interventions
Interventions to improve the quality and availability of feed resources, strategic feeding and supplementation to address feed seasonality constraints and herd management and animal health can address low productivity in Sri Lanka’s dairy systems. Applying these interventions can reduce enteric methane emission intensity by up to nearly 50 percent and increase milk production by up to 107 percent. Improving feed availability and quality in Sri Lanka can be a key strategy to achieve higher animal productivity, improve food and nutrition security and reduce enteric methane emissions. The cost-benefit analysis showed that the highest returns per dollar invested would be achieved in Sri Lanka’s dry lowlands where production costs are lower compared to the intensive systems.

Highlights
Tackling methane through livestock in Asia and the Pacific
25/11/2022

With climate change and population growth affecting production and demand for livestock products in Asia and the Pacific, countries in the region...

Finding climate solutions in the livestock sector
05/11/2020

Five key takeaways from FAO regional workshops on climate action in the livestock sector

Climate and Clean Air Coalition ministers approve strategy to significantly cut short-lived climate pollutants this decade
09/11/2021

To kickstart the CCAC's 2030 Strategy countries pledged an initial $25 million to the Coalition’s trust fund as a first step towards a $150 million...

New IPCC Report Bolsters Evidence that Methane Reductions are Key to Preventing Climate Catastrophe
08/04/2022

The IPCC amplifies the conclusions of CCAC-UNEP Global Methane Assessment, showing the urgent need to reduce methane in parallel with decarbonization.

The CCAC shows agriculture is key to the success of climate change and air pollution Solutions
02/05/2022

Ten years ago, it was uncommon for agriculture to be seen as a major contributor to the global climate crisis, let alone as part of the solution....

Key documents
See also