Livestock are more than food

Topic 2024

In the context of climate change, measurement of the use of animal resources in all its components is a key question. It includes the use of animal products for human food consumption but also many other uses: fibre, feed, energy, manure for fertilisation, biodiversity and fire management, enhanced nutrition, insulation of houses, medical intervention, drugs production as well as culture and vibrant rural communities.
All these uses, in addition to food, contribute to the closing of the biological cycle, and are key points to reduce waste and valorise the contribution of animal production to the circular bioeconomy. Some of them, like manure, fibre and drug production are alternatives to the use of fossil resources and contribute significatively to improving the climate balance of animal production.

The theme covers all the species and involves all the actors including production, industry, and the co-product valorization sector.

  • Assessment methods to estimate all these non-food use benefits with the appropriate measurement tool;
  • Demonstration of the contribution of these non-food uses to the overall balance of animal production and energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions;
  • Fields of research necessary to increase the benefit of non-food use of animal product;
    Estimation of synergies and trade-offs between food and the other valorizations;
  • Compatibility of these uses with health and food security (the spectra of BSE is still present in the public opinion);
  • Wool, leather, fur, feathers: clothes, bags, equipment’s, insulation for houses or cars…
  • By product of slaughtering: fat, protein, bones, and product extracted (collagen, gelatin (cooking))
  • Methane or biogas production as a renewable energy source
  • Manure to fertilise the soils
  • Landscape management (forest fire, avalanches); effect on soil with pasture and trampling
  • Eco-shepherding in the towns
  • Used as a mediator in certain mental illnesses (autism…)
  • Support of human culture (cf. classification of transhumance on patrimony of UNESCO)…
  • Animal traction: skidding (forest preservation); local transportation in some villages or towns for example for waste bin or children to school…