Reversing the impact of soil degradation on livestock production

Worldwide, primary livestock production has seen both a decline in output and a rise in input costs. At the same time, the entire agriculture sector has found itself under the spotlight for causing major environmental degradation.

“This could be blamed on more carbon dioxide [CO ₂ ] and water vapour being released into the atmosphere, the first from degrading soil and the second due to increased evaporation from bare soil,” says Colin Nott, a regenerative agricultural consultant from Namibia.

According to Nott, arid regions account for approximately 40%, or 5,2 billion hectares, of Earth’s land surface. A considerable portion of these are suited to livestock and, to a lesser extent, crop production. Most of the world’s arid zones are also expanding into more humid areas through desertification. This is the process by which fertile land becomes less productive, typically as a result of inappropriate land management, and the