SUSTAINABILITY 80 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE April 2025 ration in the Global North can be replaced by tropical plants already adapted to harsh weather. “The climate is changing in the global north, and if the species we have there are not adapting, why don’t we try including some of the forages we have here to test their viability for restoring landscapes, slowing desertification and improving degraded soils?” Gonzalez expressed. WHAT’S IN THE WAY OF WIDESPREAD UPTAKE? When coupled with nature-positive agricultural practices like silvopastoral farming, improved forages have proven to be an integral part of improving the sustainability and productivity of livestock systems. But why is widespread uptake so slow? Urgency alone doesn’t seem to be enough of an incentive. “Upgrading livestock production toward greater sustainability is mandatory to achieve our climate goals,” said Augusto Castro, an Alliance researcher specializing in low-emission food systems and post-conflict peacebuilding with sustainable agriculture. Castro, whose team has a wide body of research on successful silvopastoral systems and landscape restoration, said one obstacle is trying to change too much too quickly. “Sometimes, in the development sphere, we want to make many changes instantly. But if you want to promote a very complex system that integrates six or seven new practices into a day-to-day work plan, it’s too complicated. A better approach gradually integrates new practices one at a time,” added Castro, pointing to work in Colombia, Peru and Africa. Misalignment between the values of those who support research for development and on-the-ground scientists and beneficiaries may also be an obstacle. “How can we connect the benefits that we want – social stability, climatic peace and environmental conservation and restoration – with benefits other countries desire?” Castro said. “Some are interested in reducing migration, for example, which, in theory, could result from obtaining the benefits we want.” Other, little-explored externalities of the highly interconnected global food system may also need to be addressed to increase sustainability in agriculture. For example, Castro’s team recently published findings in Scientific Reports that revealed a strong correlation between deforestation and foreign direct investment in some developing countries. “The influence of the Global North on the Global South is very powerful,” pointed out Castro, indicating how diets and consumer behavior in developJuan José Gonzalez, the forages curator at Future Seeds, demonstrates readings from a near-infrared spectrometer (foreground, right). The peak and the green dot indicate that the scanned forage grass has high levels of tannins, which are compounds that reduce methane emissions from livestock. If the grasses are also nutritious, palatable and easily digestible – based on decades of CGIAR research – the grasses are candidates for trials in livestock as part of a new, 4-year study on understudied grasses have high potential for reducing methane emissions from livestock. Near-infrared spectroscopy is one technology that is accelerating this research. Credit: Sean Mattson/Alliance
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