Land Use

Livestock production and land use change

Soil, water, fauna and flora are all directly impacted by land management, therefore if livestock production changes land management it will have an impact on these environmental aspects. Evidence suggests that these impacts can be negative (e.g. deforestation, overgrazing, or resource competition with wildlife) or positive (supporting crop production, effective management to restore degraded land by enhancing biodiversity and soils. Livestock land use can also cause conflict between human communities or groups competing for resources.

Header photo: Land Use - To the grazing field, Afar, Ethiopia. Apollo Habtamu (ILRI) (source)