A study on GHG emission mitigation scenarios for dairy farm in Ethiopia

Hanna Park; Seongyeon Park; Abera Jabessa Fufa

doi:10.11109/JAES.2025.27.1.001

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2025 Vol.27, Issue 1 Next Page

Research article

A study on GHG emission mitigation scenarios for dairy farm in Ethiopia 에티오피아 착유 목장의 온실가스 배출 저감 시나리오 연구

30 April 2025. pp. 1-16

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Abstract

This study aimed to explore greenhouse gas (GHG) emission mitigation by introducing improved dairy cattle genetic resources to Ethiopian dairy farmers. In Scenario 1, genetic improvement reduced the number of indigenous cattle from 12,406 to 11,402 head, while crossbred cattle increased from 1,196 to 8,474 head and exotic cattle from 222 to 973 head. CH₄ emissions from indigenous cattle decreased by 84.6% relative to the baseline, but emissions from crossbred and exotic cattle increased by 52.42% and 60.08%, respectively, resulting in an overall CH₄ reduction of only 75.50%. The total number of milking cows increased from 6,454 to 14,437 head, causing GHG emissions to rise by 151.53%. Meanwhile, male cattle numbers decreased from 3,603 to 625 head, leading to a 91.35% reduction in GHG emissions. However, an increase in heifers and calves caused overall GHG emissions to rise by 109.78% compared to the baseline. In Scenario 2, off-take practices reduced the indigenous cattle population from 11,402 to 1,583 head while maintaining crossbred and exotic cow populations at 8,474 and 973 head, respectively. Enteric CH₄ emissions from indigenous cattle decreased by 92.52% relative to the baseline, while emissions from crossbred and exotic cattle were reduced by 70.39% and 17.48%, respectively, resulting in an overall GHG emission reduction of 90.82%. The number of milking cows decreased significantly to 5,546 head, which increased GHG emissions by 21.12%, but a further reduction of male cattle from 625 to 486 head decreased emissions by 95.82%. Despite these changes, increases in heifers and calves caused the overall GHG emissions to rise by only 1.01% compared to the baseline. The high emission factor (EF) of exotic dairy cows and the extensive adoption of the AI breeding system highlight the importance of efficient population size (Ne) and mitigating inbreeding (Δf) risks, aligning with sustainable practices for effective GHG emission reductions.

Keywords

Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emission mitigation

Enteric CH₄ emissions

Genetic improvement

Efficient population size (Ne)

Artificial Insemination (AI)

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Information

Publisher :The Korean Society of Animal Environmental Science & Technology
Publisher(Ko) :(사)한국축산환경학회
Journal Title :Journal of Animal Environmental Science
Journal Title(Ko) :축산시설환경학회지
Volume : 27
No :1
Pages :1-16
Received Date : 2025-03-25
Revised Date : 2025-04-14
Accepted Date : 2025-04-18
DOI :https://doi.org/10.11109/JAES.2025.27.1.001

Journal of Animal Environmental Science ISSN:1226-0274(Print) 축산시설환경학회지

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