Building collaboration to address heat stress in tropical livestock
Project
Building a new tri-continental collaboration to accelerate the development of a climate-smart technology to address heat stress in tropical livestock
Location
Nigeria
Theme
Livestock
Funding
Travel Grant
Strengthening global partnerships to develop climate-smart solutions for tropical livestock production
Project Partners: Harper Adams University and University Ibadan
This travel grant will support a visit by researchers from the UK and Nigeria to livestock farmers and researchers in Brazil, aimed at exploring and building new international relationships to develop a climate-smart technology aimed at addressing heat stress in tropical livestock, a growing challenge under climate change.
Changing climate effects on animal welfare
Climate change poses a significant threat to livestock production globally, with humid tropics such as those in Brazil and Nigeria being particularly vulnerable. Heat stress occurs when animals are unable to balance their body heat production with heat loss, especially under high ambient temperatures and humidity. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and increased humidity levels are intensifying the risks of heat stress in animals, which in turn negatively impact productivity, reproduction, and overall animal welfare. In livestock management, Climate Smart Agriculture integrates technologies and practices that help reduce the vulnerability of animals to heat stress.
Whilst the UK offers commercial livestock technologies experience, Brazil, with its advanced tropical heat mitigation research, provides an ideal platform for knowledge exchange. The visit will focus on sharing best practices, initiating joint technology research and development concepts, and exploring context-appropriate strategies for the development and application of the technology in tropical (Brazil, Nigeria) and potentially temperate (UK) climates.
For more information
For more information on this project, contact us, or view all projects funded under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Partnership programme.
Innovate UK Climate-Smart Agriculture Partnership: UK-Brazil-Africa brings together innovative people and organisations to promote climate-smart agriculture in Africa.