DISAL - Digital techologies to increase sustainability of african livestock systems under climate risks
Funding and duration:
TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering | 2024-2028
Summary:
Significant advances have been made in recent years in the manufacturing of low-cost digital technology (digi-tech) devices, opening novel avenues for commercial and scientific applications. The livestock sector stands to benefit both economically and environmentally from such technologies, enabling livestock farmers to adopt precision-management techniques, and for the scientific community, novel avenues for scientific enquiry. Using a co-design approach, the project will collect data using novel digi-tech and explore the causes and implications of digi-tech adoption through simulation modelling, focusing on regions in East Africa where ruminant livestock hold broad economic and cultural significance. Novel experimental data using animal sensors be used to track movement of livestock in the landscape and their consumption of biomass. Simulation models embedding animal-level livestock production and environmental impact assessment, especially greenhouse gas emissions, will then be used to simulate impacts of disruptive digi-tech. The project will adopt novel methods to simulate biomass production using crop/grass production models, which will be combined with economic foresight tools developed jointly by Technical University Munich, University of Queensland, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya). In doing so, the project provides new insights into impact pathways through which digi-tech can enhance economic and environmental performance for African livestock, identifying technologies most lucrative for sustainable development.
Research Team:
This is a joint collaboration between: Professorship of Soil Biophysics and Environmental Systems, Professorship of Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions, Chair of Lifestock Systems, and the University of Queensland.
Project owner:
For more information please contact: Fredrick Onyango(at)tum.de
Recent publications:
Current publications are in process and will be posted once available.