Innovate and intensify to adapt and grow

Innovating in the integral improvement of systems through sustainable intensification, increasing the adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change of family livestock systems in Argentina and Peru.

Context of the story

By 2050, the agricultural sector faces the challenge of increasing production by more than 60% to feed the world. The arid and semi-arid areas of Argentina and Peru, where family farmers rely on extensive livestock farming, have high susceptibility to climate change, environmental fragility and high levels of rural poverty. In these regions, research and innovation are challenged to increase production and efficiency, considering environmental changes. Given this scenario, Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (ISA) is presented as the most rational alternative, to increase the efficiency and resilience of production systems.

Adapting family farming systems to climate change to improve livelihoods

The implemented initiative

With FONTAGRO funding and its own resources, INTA and the Agrarian University La Molina are promoting technological innovations in four regions of Argentina and Peru. The aim is to adapt family livestock systems to climate change and link their production to short marketing circuits in order to improve their livelihoods.

More than 16,000 farmers have been trained in management practices for climate change adaptation through different means of dissemination in the 4 regions of the project. In Argentina, in the project's area of influence, silage production has more

The technological solution

Family livestock producers in Argentina and Peru implement technological innovations in their livestock farms such as: management infrastructure such as paddocks and sheds, capture, store and transport water for family and animal consumption, improve their irrigation systems, cultivate forage species as a protein and/or energy bank, and link up with local markets through fairs and/or associative sales.

Due to climate change we lost our water source for us and our animals. Thanks to the project we were able to capture a spring and bring clean water for us, our animals and now we plan to produce fodder with the surplus water.

Doña Marta Claleo and her family are goat breeders in transhumant systems in the center of the Province of Neuquén, Argentina.

Participating countries

Type of project

Agronomic Practices

Results

More than 16,000 farmers have been trained in management practices for climate change adaptation through different means of dissemination. In Argentina, in the project's area of influence, silage production has more than doubled thanks to trials and training sessions. The production of forage for baling has increased by 50%, as have the services related to this activity. In Peru, the incorporation of improved pastures increased forage production in the demonstration fields by more than 20% and had a similar impact on milk production. The presence of protection dogs has reduced predation by more than 50% on farms where this method of predation control is used. The project helped producers to enter the formal sale of more than 72,000 kg of wool and producers doubled their income. Drip irrigation increased vegetable production by 50%.