Ready to enhance climate actions in the livestock sector in Senegal

Increasing average temperatures, sea level rise, reduced rainfall and lack of arable and grazing land, water, and fishery resources are just some of the symptoms of the climate crisis affecting Senegal today. The country mainly faces risks associated with droughts, heat waves, and increasing extreme wet events that threaten food security and livelihoods, especially in many pastoral communities that depend on livestock.

With climate change affecting livestock production and animal health in Senegal, the situation calls for an urgent implementation of adaptation measures that enhance the resilience and socio-economic potential of the livestock sector in the country. The sector also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, mainly in the form of methane, which is 80 times more potent to trap warming than carbon dioxide.

Senegal sets livestock-specific climate commitments in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) with a focus on adaptation.  FAO works with the government of Senegal to conduct policy analysis to support the implementation of NDC for better climate actions in the livestock sector. The analysis also responds to the request of the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG)’s Sub-Committee on Livestock to support Members in the integration of effective and actionable livestock-related mitigation and adaptation targets into their national climate actions and policies.

About the workshop

The Directorate of Livestock (DIREL) of the Ministry of Livestock and Animal Production of Senegal in collaboration with FAO  organized a workshop to validate the results of the study “Enhancing climate actions in the livestock sector in Senegal” and to formulate country-specific recommendations to help Senegal better integrate livestock targets and interventions in its NDC.

The workshop will take place in Dakar, Senegal on 13 and 14 February 2023 and will bring together around 90 participants from different stakeholder groups, including Senegal's Ministry of Livestock and Animal Production, and Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, government agencies, academia, international organizations, UN agencies, World Bank, the private sector, livestock producers, non-government and civil society organizations.

The engagement of all stakeholders is key to validate the key findings of the study conducted in 2022 by DIREL with the support of FAO in Senegal as part of the FAO initiative on “Policy Analysis to Support Nationally Determined Contributions for Climate Action in the Livestock Sector” under the Letter of Agreement between FAO and DIREL.