Mobilising Climate Finance for Livestock Transformation in the Global South

Livestock systems sustain more than a billion people, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, while accounting for roughly a fifth of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. With demand for animal-sourced foods projected to double by 2050, countries face a dual imperative to raise productivity and resilience while reducing emissions. Yet less than one per cent of global climate finance reaches the livestock sector.
This brief sets out how climate finance can close that gap. It reviews productivity and emission trends across regions, showing that growth in Africa and parts of Latin America has come largely through herd expansion rather than higher output per animal, and that the resulting efficiency gap reflects chronic underinvestment in feed, animal health, extension, infrastructure and finance rather than biophysical limits. It then assesses the main financing mechanisms, the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and Adaptation Fund, blended finance and impact funds, green and sustainability bonds, and voluntary carbon markets and Article 6, and their fit with livestock realities, with case studies from Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia.
A four-stage readiness pathway: policy alignment, piloting and cost validation, scaling through investment logic, and long-term scaling, guides Member States from concept to bankable, verifiable programmes.