Increasing the readiness of public and private entities within the livestock sector to access climate finance
This report summarizes findings of the work carried out by CIAT under the World Bank project, ‘Livestock sector readiness to access climate finance’, whose objective is to increase the readiness of public and private entities within the livestock sector to access climate finance.
The Colombian beef sector is growing rapidly as a response to increased demand in the domestic as well as foreign markets. There is a growing body of evidence showing that growth in the beef sector is driving deforestation, as the expansion of pastures results from encroachment on forest cover. Thus, negatively impacting the environment. Consumers may be more attracted to buying sustainably-produced beef, thereby avoiding deforestation and using low-carbon methods of production, at a competitive price. However, consumers are often far removed from production zones such as the Orinoquia and may not recognize the negative or positive environmental impacts of production systems.
The World Bank project is thus testing the investment potential of a value chain finance approach. If transparent and reliable traceability systems can be put in place to earn consumers’ confidence that the beef they see in the supermarket has been produced in a climate-friendly manner, this can add value to the product and ultimately compensate actors along the value chain for what may be perceived as higher costs, and at the same time reduce the sector’s climate impact.
