Livestock consumption- and production-related emissions are expected to increase due to changing diets and increasing wealth. Smallholder livestock systems are often characterized by sub-optimal feeding practices and 30-40% of the milk is wasted, either on the farm or within the food chain. FAO contracted UNIQUE and ClimateCHECK to develop a practical method to link productivity gains to verifiable emission reductions in smallholder dairy production systems. The method should meet the requirements of the most suitable carbon standard and could be used as a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA). Although the improved dairy management practices and related costs and benefits quantified are based on a smallholder project in Kenya, the method developed is applicable to ruminant production on a global basis.

• Identification of the most promising practices to increase the efficiency of smallholder dairy production.
• Analysis of available data for stratification of farm types and performance benchmark setting.
• Support for methodology development and validation of this methodology.