End-of year reflections: 2023 successes and plans for 2024
S. Mann (ILRI)
LD4D’s Development Manager looks back on recent achievements, and highlights plans for the coming year.
By Ana Miranda
As the year draws to a close, I am happy to say that LD4D has achieved many milestones and I looking forward to the plans that lie ahead. Our network continues to grow and attract organisations and individuals working in the livestock sector across the globe. This diversity of perspectives is what makes the LD4D network such a unique community. In November we held a successful Annual Meeting where over 150 members came together to share knowledge and innovations. I would like to thank all of you for your presentations and contributions.
A year of highlights
We are proud of what LD4D has achieved over the last 12 months. This includes:
Relaunching LD4D’s website livestockdata.org. This serves as a central hub for LD4D members to share insights, access a wealth of resources, and utilize innovative data analysis tools.
Developing a Guide to understanding decision makers’ data needs, building on a commissioned study by the Busara Center for Behavioural Economics. This is a key resource for members interested in influencing decision making with data and evidence.
Developing a dashboard to help users find the right tool to assess emissions and environmental impacts of farming. Our tools navigator can help decision-makers select the right tool for assessing GHG emissions in farming systems, a key step in applying for climate finance.
Launching the Solutions group on Livestock and Climate Finance. As the first LD4D solutions group, it will focus on mobilising data and evidence to unlock climate finance for livestock development projects. Our solutions groups are a new collaboration platform aiming to provide decision makers with tailored knowledge products and tools.
Co-facilitating an active Livestock & Gender Data Community of Practice with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The CoP supports learning, sharing and collaboration on this important topic. In 2023, they held six community conversations on a range of topics, launched training videos on qualitative research approaches, and presented work in international fora.
Looking ahead to 2024
Next year, we will ramp up our efforts to support livestock sector decision makers’ data needs and will focus our attention on supporting livestock decision makers working on climate and environment challenges. To this end, LD4D is setting up a new working group in partnership with Cornell University to address feed-basket data gaps and help generate more accurate measures of greenhouse gas emissions. Together with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition we will organise a series of events to promote more collaboration between actors working in livestock emissions.
We also plan to undertake a big refresh of our online resources - update our fact check series and further develop our data visualisations so they become storytelling tools that can transform complex datasets into clear, actionable insights. We will continue to strengthen and expand these initiatives to ensure that LD4D responds to decision making data challenges.
Focus on financial sustainability
In 2024, we will also develop plans for LD4D’s long-term sustainability. This includes LD4D’s long term strategic direction as well as a funding model to support our work - stay tuned for updates and opportunities to engage. We know evidence and data play a crucial role in generating good outcomes for smallholder farmers and the wider livestock sector. However, supporting decision making through data and evidence is a complex undertaking with many uncertainties. Our strategy will help to focus our efforts in areas where we can be most impactful.
Nurturing engagement
In the coming year, we have exciting plans for collaboration, learning, and growth. There are many ways that members can engage with the LD4D network. You can contribute to discussions, participate in events and different collaboration platforms, or use our new website and data tools – there are many ways to get involved! Your involvement is key to our collective success. Please also get in touch if you have any suggestions or feedback.
Wishing you a joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year!
