Protecting the environment from the impact of the growing industrialization of livestock production in East Asia (South China Sea)

Background

The South China Sea is a locally, regionally and globally significant body of water surrounded by countries that are experiencing rapid population and economic growth and facing major environmental challenges. This bio-geographic region is one of the world's most biologically diverse shallow-water marine areas. Of the three major near-shore marine habitat types - coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses - the South China Sea has 45 mangrove species out of a global total of 51, almost all the 70 currently-recognized coral genera, and 20 of 50 known sea grass species, as well as several endangered shellfish species. However, this biological richness is seriously threatened by two major environmental problems - over-fishing and land-based anthropogenic pollution. Reflecting the area's biological diversity and the tremendous local importance of its marine resources, the GEF has developed a major program of marine management assistance for the South and East Asian Seas. The proposed project would catalyze immediate action on a key environmental threat under the umbrella of this GEF program.

Pollution run-off and inland discharges to the South China Sea are estimated to contribute 44 percent of marine pollution, followed by atmospheric depositions (33 percent) and marine transportation (12 percent). Land-based pollution reaches marine ecosystems by three main routes: rivers, drains and direct discharge. It is severely degrading seawater and sediment quality (e.g. causing "red tides"), and severely damaging marine habitats (including coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses).

The target issue, livestock production is such a major source of land-based pollution in East Asia (including South-East Asia) because the region is the World's most important livestock production area. Southeast Asia is particularly dominant in the pig and poultry sectors, which are the two biggest livestock-based sources of water (and other) pollution. Today, East Asia accounts for considerably more than half of the world's stock of pigs and more than one third of the world's stock of poultry. In 2001, China, Vietnam, and Thailand alone accounted for 52 percent of all pigs and 28 percent of all chicken in the world.

These shares of East Asia in world livestock production are rising fast. Fuelled by a growing population, rising incomes and urbanization, demand for livestock products in the region is growing at an extremely high rate and will skyrocket over the next decades. This rise in demand, coupled with economic, technological, and political evolution, is causing significant change in the scope and the structure of the livestock industry. The vast majority of these intensive production units are located around the major urban centers that lie in or close to the coastal regions of the (East and) South China Sea. The reason for this geographic concentration of production is that it is advantageous for the enterprises to be close to the consumer and feed input market, given that, in most countries, infrastructure (including roads, cold chains, marketing and handling facilities) is still not well developed.

Due to the high animal concentration and the insufficient agricultural land destined to the production of feed within these peri-urban areas, most feed inputs are brought from elsewhere. Considering that a large proportion of the nutrients contained in feed are not retained in the animal's body but excreted in urine and manure, the result is an excessive concentration of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) compounds in the periphery of the urban areas, which results in significant water, land, and air pollution. An initial estimate indicates that 26 percent of the total area in East Asia suffers from significant nutrient surpluses which emanate mainly from agricultural sources.

Preliminary estimations of nutrient mass balances in the region, which include manure and chemical fertilizers as source of nutrients and crops as the main nutrient sink, have been made for a coastal band of 50 km from the South China Sea. These estimates indicate Nitrogen and Phosphorus overloads on the coastal land, with hotspots in the Mekong delta (7.2 and 3.1 tons per square kilometers receptively), the Mouth of the Red River (6.3 and 4.0 tons per square kilometers receptively) and the whole Chinese coast of the South China Sea (3.1 and 2.4 tons per square kilometers respectively). Currently, animal manure is estimated to account for 47 percent of the phosphorus supply and 16 percent of the nitrogen supply in these areas. With the dramatic expected increase in demand for meat and milk, this share will continue to grow.

A World Bank analysis for the coastal regions of Central South, South-west, and East China showed that the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) from untreated piggery waste alone accounted for about 28 percent of the current urban plus-industrial COD loads already in 1996. However, this share is estimated to rise to 90 percent in 2010.

The Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative is providing financial and technical assistance to China, Thailand, and Vietnam to help them begin to address this problem. The results from these pilot activities clearly indicate the magnitude of the environmental degradation that industrialized livestock production is causing to freshwater ecosystems and to the seas of south and east Asia. However, the studies in all three countries also show that the countries lack effective tools and institutions to address this problem. The measures being introduced mainly seek to mitigate the symptoms (end of pipe pollution), but do not address the underlying cause of excessive concentration of livestock production. Despite an increasing awareness of the issue at the local and political level, technical solutions and policy instruments are still to be developed and implemented. The main weaknesses of the current situation are:

• Lack of specific management policy instruments;
• Existing regulations regarding waste disposal do not favor the recycling of nutrients and treatment and discharge are assumed to be the only solutions;
• Lack of law enforcement and co-ordination between agencies; and
• Counter-productive policies (e.g. subsidies for mineral fertilizer acquisition, direct subsidies to large operations with any attention to environmental management).

Countries involved in the project formulation

Thailand, Vietnam, and China (Guangdong Province).

The three proposed project components

Component 1: Institutional Development
Component 2: Mitigation of livestock waste environmental impacts
Component 3: Project Management and Monitoring

Current status

A concept note has been submitted to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which has approved the project for pipeline entry, and has granted a US$ 700,000 Project Preparation and Development Facility (PDF-B). The PDF-B involves Thailand, Vietnam and China (Guangdong province) and will largely be based on experiences gained in these countries from LEAD Area Wide Integration pilot projects.

Launching workshop

The workshop took place in Bangkok, from the 10 to the 12 September 2003. It was attended by about 25 participants from the three countries, involving representatives of the GEF focal point offices in these countries, Ministries of Agriculture, Environment and Finance, experts and WB and FAO staff (LEAD and regional office). The workshop agreed on:

• A logframe for the PDF B and for the project
  
• A detailed timeframe targeting submission of the project brief in November 2004,
  
• A preliminary design of the institutional arrangement for the project and PDF-B implementation,
  
• Detailed terms of reference for the preparatory phase which will be executed by FAO. This will include (a) collecting selected baseline information and assessing said information; (b) identifying selected stakeholders for the proposed Project, assessing the respective stakeholders' interest and its impact in the Project's risks and viability; (c) analyzing selected geography for livestock production; (d) analyzing the cost-benefits and cost-effectiveness of selected types of manure management strategies and options; (e) analyzing the Participating Countries' institutional capacity in managing livestock waste; (f) analyzing selected alternative technologies and management options on manure management; and (g) designing a monitoring and evaluation plan for the proposed project.

Downloads

List of Documents	Formats
Project Concept For Pipeline Entry And Pdf B Request
List of Participants
Next Steps for preparation work
Draft Logical Framework
Introduction to GEF and Project
Area Wide Integration Pilot Projects: tools and methods developed
Area Wide Integration Pilot Project in Thailand
Area Wide Integration Pilot Project in China
Area Wide Integration Pilot Project in Vietnam - Economics and Policy options
Area Wide Integration Pilot Project in Vietnam - Manure Management
Livestock Waste Management Policies in Thailand
Livestock Waste Management Policies in China - SEPA
Livestock Waste Management Policies in China - MOA
Livestock Waste Management Policies in Vietnam - MARD
Livestock Waste Management Policies in Vietnam - MNRE
Group discussion - Component 1: Institutional Development
Group discussion - Component 2: Livestock Waste Environmental Impacts Mitigation