Sustainability Assessment of Animal Systems

Consumers in wealthy countries demand high quality safe food that is produced with minimal environmental losses, and under optimal conditions for animal welfare. In less developed countries, livestock production should not only satisfy an increasing demand, but also contribute to poverty alleviation of smallholders. This course gives an overview of various methods that can be used to assess animal production systems across the world, with a special focus on their impact on the environment (i.e. on efficient use of resources and on emissions to air, water or soil), their impact on the livelihood of people (i.e. on farm income, volatility, employability, and food security) and their impact on animal welfare (i.e. on animal behaviour, animal health). Furthermore, an optimization model is used to explore various scenarios to contribute to more sustainable food production. Finally, trade-offs and synergies between sustainability aspects are analysed.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Calculate indicators for environmental assessment of animal production systems
• Explain the potential use of environmental indicators from a farm and life cycle perspective
• Analyze livelihoods with an economic-based model for different animal production systems
• Compare and judge tools to assess animal welfare
• Interpret results of a risk factor analysis on animal welfare indicators
• Explain why and how food systems models are used and what kind of insights they provide
• Identify synergies and trade-offs among sustainability aspects within animal production systems
• Interpret outcomes of different scenarios using food systems optimization modelling

Assumed Knowledge:
APS20806 Systems Approach in Animal Sciences