One Welfare: an innovative approach to resilient livestock farming

Contribute to the resilience of livestock systems, with a focus on "One Welfare", by implementing good practices for cattle and sheep based on animal welfare principles.

Context of the story

Sustainable livestock growth is a key challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean, given the increased demand for quality products, animal welfare, and sustainability. Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, major suppliers of meat, milk, and wool, face the impacts of climate change, which particularly affect small and medium-sized producers. This initiative promotes a comprehensive approach to “One Welfare”—animal, human, and environmental—integrating technical and traditional knowledge. Through Good Livestock Practices adapted to each region, it seeks to strengthen farm resilience, reduce losses, improve productivity, and move toward more sustainable and innovative livestock farming.

Strengthening the co-participatory capacity of livestock-raising communities to implement the GLP-AW and disseminate the results of their adoption.

The Implemented Initiative

The consolidated regional co-innovation platform now covers six ecoregions: from the highlands and eastern plains of Colombia, through the of northeastern Argentina and Patagonia, to the valleys of central and southern Chile. Through co-participatory workshops, technicians, producers, Mapuche communities, cooperatives, universities, and institutions identified and prioritized Good Livestock Practices with a focus on Animal Welfare to adapt them to each reality. The goal is to weave local networks that generate sustainable solutions with territorial identity, cultural respect, and shared commitment.

"Capacity development is essential for improving animal welfare in practice, enabling farmers and communities to enhance productivity, reduce stress and disease, and improve livelihoods."

— Food and agriculture organization of the united nations (FAO, 2009)

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Type of project

Agronomic Practices

Strategy 1. Resilient farms

Applied

Technological

Cattle raising

Productive systems

Results

The project successfully established a regional co-innovation platform that brings together producers, technical experts, researchers, and institutions from Argentina, Chile, and Colombia to promote the adoption of Good Livestock Practices with a focus on animal welfare. As a result, ten practices adapted to six ecoregions were identified and prioritized; a common monitoring methodology was developed under the “One Welfare” approach; and indicators were harmonized to evaluate productive, environmental, and socioeconomic dimensions.

Likewise, the capacities of more than 700 stakeholders were strengthened through regional workshops, courses, and seminars, creating a network of trained implementers to support innovation processes in the field. Concurrently, a network of 24 (twenty-four) pilot sites was established across Argentina (12), Colombia (8), and Chile (4), aimed at the participatory validation of the prioritized practices. In the initial phase, comprehensive diagnostic and monitoring processes were launched at selected farms, enabling the establishment of baselines and the adaptation of methodological tools to the production and territorial conditions of each ecoregion.

These advances have provided concrete tools for decision-making, strengthened local capacities, and laid the groundwork for the future validation of Good Livestock Practices with an Animal Welfare focus, contributing to improving the resilience and sustainability of the region’s livestock systems.

Relevant data