by Neil Palmer | Jun 21, 2016; CIAT

Cows are regularly portrayed as evil: four-legged, four-stomached, greenhouse gas machines chomping through forests and destroying the planet.

It’s no wonder the idea of a climate-smart livestock system sounds like an oxymoron.

Nevertheless, I’m promised a glimpse.

To get it, we head into Colombia’s restive, mountainous, Cauca Department. A few peaks and troughs later, and we descend into Patía – a narrow valley long-plagued by challenges, from sputtering armed conflict to frequent drought.

Patía is also a microcosm of Colombia’s livestock conundrum. With around 23 million beasts, the country has as many cattle as Australia has people, grazing an area the size of Germany. At an average of one animal to 1.4 hectares, it’s lot of land for not much cow.

It’s also the recipe for environmental calamity. Land degradation due to livestock production is widespread, forests have been cut down to make way for new grazing areas, and livestock are responsible for nearly all of the country’s agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

But somewhere like Patía, there are few other options.

Pretty much everyone here depends on cattle – all 35,000 head of them. And in spite of the stunning scenery – striking outcrops and hanging mountain mists – there are telltale signs that the land can’t cope anymore. Stripped of trees and vegetation, tongues of eroded soil rake overgrazed hillsides, and exhausted, trampled rangelands abound.

Needless to say, none of this looks particularly climate-smart to me.

Until we reach Noelí’s farm.

See http://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/whats-your-beef-why-it-might-be-time-give-livestock-a-break/