Introduction to the Toolbox

The toolbox consists of pages of information on livestock production systems and the way in which they interact with the environment. Access to these pages has been structured such that the reader can use the information, either to evaluate the impact of existing livestock systems on the environment, or to identify appropriate technology, policy and/or institutional management options, to alter the way in which livestock affect the environment under a given set of conditions.

The Toolbox is designed to be used in two main ways:

1. Evaluate the Impact of Livestock Management Systems on the Environment:

The reader can use the toolbox to review the impact of a range of livestock management systems on the environment. Both potential benefits (+) and problems (-) are identified for each of the defined systems and options for enhancing (+) or alleviating (-) these effects are described.

To use the toolbox in this way, readers must be able to characterise the livestock system of interest as either predominately grazing, mixed (crop/livestock) or industrial (intensive) and especially for grazing systems can then either select, or use maps to identify the relevant climatic zone.

Go to the overall Matrix of Risks and Underlying Factors |  | or direct to Grazing, Mixed or Industrial systems

2. Identify Appropriate Technology, Policy and/or Institutional Development Options

One of the expected uses of the toolbox is to provide information on the likely consequences which proposals for interventions directed at the livestock sector might be expected to have on the environment. Outline descriptions of commonly proposed technical interventions, can be accessed either from alphabetical lists (Technology Issues and Solutions) or from matrices grouped according to the objective of the technical intervention (Matrix of Technology Options). Descriptions of policy interventions can be accessed either according to the system on which they exert their major impact (Policy and Institutional Issues and Solutions by Production System), on the basis of type of intervention (Policy and Institutional Issues and Solutions), or as an alphabetic list of Policy and Institutional Issues and Solutions.

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