Invited paper Building a Regional Approach for Sustainable Cattle in the Americas: a first experience in the Southern Cone and Bolivia

Abstract

Rising global food demand calls for agricultural systems that are productive and environmentally sustainable, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries where agriculture is crucial for development. In 2023, the IDB and the IICA launched the Sustainable Cattle Platform of the Americas for CAS countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay), which are major global beef producers. The platform aims to showcase CAS livestock systems, share sustainability practices, encourage dialogue, and promote policies for more sustainable cattle production. To achieve these goals, a multi-method approach was adopted: literature reviews, expert consultations, workshops, and mapping exercises to conceptualize sustainability; detailed reviews and expert input to assess state-of-the-art knowledge on carbon balance, water balance, biodiversity, and animal welfare; stakeholder surveys and interviews to identify science and technology gaps and demands; participatory processes to design a sustainability indicator framework; and national-level surveys and interviews to assess challenges in greenhouse gas inventory (NGHGI) systems. The first year of implementation produced several key results: a regional definition of sustainable livestock, a map of existing initiatives, the identification of priority challenges, the evaluation of stakeholder perspectives, the proposal of fourteen sustainability indicators, and a dense network of stakeholders and experts. Lessons learned highlight the absence of a common regional language on sustainable cattle farming, the need for stronger economic viability through co-innovation, the predominance of the climate agenda, the limited research on water and biodiversity, weak policy implementation, and the lack of robust indicator frameworks. Enhanced cooperation among public institutions, the private sector, and scientific organizations—supported by an effective regional communication strategy—is critical for establishing sustainable cattle farming as a leading regional priority and a model of best practice at the global level.