Africa's Livestock Systems on the Brink: Navigating Climate Change, Animal Health, and Food Security

As the rainy season hits parts of Africa, areas already recovering from years of drought and famine face another challenge: excessive rain leading to flooding and water-borne diseases. Amidst this precarious situation, communities heavily reliant on livestock for sustenance and livelihoods are struggling to cope with the double threat of extreme weather conditions. Despite the critical role of animal health in addressing these issues, current climate change planning focuses narrowly on weather patterns, neglecting the far-reaching impacts on animal agriculture.

Key Takeaways:

• Only 20 out of 176 countries mentioned animal health and welfare in their latest climate commitments (NDCs), highlighting the lack of attention to this critical aspect.
• Animal health is a global public good, and the recent State of the World's Animal Health report found that outbreaks of avian influenza in mammals more than doubled in 2023, raising alarms about its potential spread to humans.
• Climate change accelerates disease threats by changing animal disease patterns, creating new environments for diseases to spread, jump between species, and appear in new areas.
• Governments must prioritize animal health as a matter of urgency, as healthy animals are good news for the climate. Research shows that smart animal health and husbandry practices can reduce climate-warming emissions from livestock by up to 30 percent.
• Investing in measures to prevent zoonotic spillover would cost less than 5 percent of the damages those diseases could inflict on society.
• Vaccination is essential to any effective animal health strategy, and safe, effective vaccines curb the occurrence and spread of diseases, reduce the need for antimicrobials, and boost productivity sustainably.
• Forward-thinking African nations are leading the way by adopting a One Health approach, which acknowledges that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply intertwined. Countries like Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zambia are moving away from fragmented, sector-specific responses in managing the health of humans, animals, and the environment.
• The solution to supporting farmers in keeping their animals healthy lies in integrated national policy, incorporating One Health principles and fostering collaborations between agriculture, health, and environment ministries.

Statistics:

• 20 out of 176 countries mentioned animal health and welfare in their latest climate commitments (NDCs).
• The recent State of the World's Animal Health report found that outbreaks of avian influenza in mammals more than doubled in 2023.
• 30 percent reduction in climate-warming emissions from livestock with smart animal health and husbandry practices.
• Investment in measures to prevent zoonotic spillover would cost less than 5 percent of the damages those diseases could inflict on society.
• 12 times as many people could die from zoonotic diseases in 2050 compared to 2020 without stronger prevention measures.
• Vaccination is among the most cost-effective tools for keeping communities across Africa and the rest of the world safe and healthy.

Sources:

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO) - "Above-normal rainfall forecast for the Greater Horn of Africa"
• Harvard Dataverse - "State of the World's Animal Health report 2025"
• World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) - "The State of the World's Animal Health 2025"
• Science - "Cost-effectiveness of prevention measures for zoonotic diseases"
• Inter Press Service (IPS) - "Africa's Livestock Systems on the Brink"