Technical performance and carbon footprint of commercial dairy farms in South West Uganda

Abstract

Dairy production in Uganda is rapidly expanding as a result of a high and increasing market demand and strategic prioritization of dairy for agricultural development. While the increase in production contributes to improved nutrition and livelihoods of rural communities, it may also be accompanied with significant increases in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Ugandan dairy sector and may lead to increased deforestation. The aim of the present study was to estimate and compare technical performance and GHG emissions of dairy farms participating the dairy development project SNV TIDE in south western Uganda. To this end, longitudinal data were collected from 101 commercial dairy farms participating in the SNV TIDE project in the districts Kiruhura, Lyantonde, Ntungamo, Isingiro and Mbarara in south western Uganda. GHG emissions were estimated using life cycle assessment (LCA). Results of this study can contribute to development of effective GHG mitigation strategies for the Ugandan dairy sector.