The LEAD Virtual Research and Development Centre promotes multidisciplinary research and development, and increases awareness among key stakeholders of the complex interactions of human needs, animal production and the sustainability of global natural resources.

To improve communication and enhance the relevance of research and development issues related to livestock environment interactions, the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative has established a Virtual Centre for Research and Development.

Functions

The functions of the LEAD Virtual Centre are:

• to assist in capacity building and the dissemination of results, baseline information and resource intelligence;
• to support decision-making on livestock environment issues, support mainstreaming of livestock and environment issues in donor operations, and assist in the formulation of national action plans;
• to facilitate international pilot development programmes and assist in carrying out additional studies on livestock environment issues.

The Virtual Centre fulfils these objectives through the LEAD Platforms and the LEAD Research Network.

The LEAD Research Network

Research for Policy

The LEAD Research Network serves as the hub for information exchange of the LEAD research projects in the field. Acting as a complement to the LEAD Language Platforms, registered researchers can exchange data, documents and links, and have access to shared resources all through a Web browser. The LEAD Research Network also acts as a forum for scientific debate and provides decision support tools for research, extension and policy formulation.

Information services

A full range of information services is available in three languages at the Virtual Centre. These include a digital library, an expert roster,institutions database, online discussion fora, expert consultations, electronic conferences and newsletters, databases and maps, reports of pilot projects, study reports and decision support tools for policymakers, researchers, extension workers, universities, non-governmental organizations and farmer organizations.

Decision support tools

The Livestock and Environment Toolbox is an electronic decision support tool for policymakers that enables them to assess interactions between livestock production and the environment. It helps the decision- makers to identify the appropriate technology and policy interventions to mitigate negative effects and to enhance the positive interactions.

Other decision support tools include:

Fossil Fuel Use Model for Livestock Production Systems
Livestock Development Planning System
Nutrient Balance Calculation Program
Livestock and Environment in the Policy Dialogue

Research and development projects

The Virtual Centre supports the following LEAD projects:

Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management: Aims to improve and develop sustainable management systems for degraded pastures in Latin America, thus reducing pressure on tropical rain forests. Countries: Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Piloting Livestock and Wildlife Integration in Communal Lands Adjacent to Protected Areas in Africa: Identifies land-use planning and cost and benefit sharing mechanisms to improve integration of livestock, wildlife and crops on communal land, reducing conflicts and improving the livelihoods of livestock farmers. Countries: Chad and United Republic of Tanzania .

Decision Support to Livestock and Environment Policy Issues in Watershed Development: Identifies better targeted institutional, socio-economic and technological interventions for the livestock component in watershed development. Country: India.

Pastoral Systems and Land Degradation in West Africa: Reduces land degradation and erosion of biodiversity in the Sahel, leading to the inclusion of livestock environment interactions in the livestock policies. Countries: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger, Senegal (CILSS area).

Waste Management of Intensive Livestock Production: Identifies policies, institutions and investments to achieve better spatial distribution of intensive livestock production units and to mitigate negative externalities of livestock production. Countries: China, Mexico, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Ongoing Industrialization of the Livestock Sector in the Periurban Areas of Developing Countries and its Effects on the Poor and the Environment: Examines livestock sector trends and production costs as well as social, environmental and consumer and animal welfare impacts of different scales and types of production on the livelihoods of livestock-dependent people. Countries: Brazil, India, the Philippines and Thailand.

Impacts of Social, Health, Environmental and Trade Objectives on Domestic Policies and Market Forces Shaping the Livelihoods of Livestock-Dependent People in Developing Countries: Assesses the degree to which greater concern for social, health and environmental objectives has influenced domestic policy and corporate activity. Countries: Brazil, India, the Philippines and Thailand.

The Virtual Centre (based at FAO, Rome) operates globally through Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish language platforms hosted by partner institutions: Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Developpement (CIRAD), France; Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza (CATIE), Costa Rica, Research Centre for Rural Economy (RCRE), China and the Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
The Virtual Centre and the LEAD Platforms work together to provide decision support to the global community on livestock and environment interactions within the framework of rural sustainable development.

Contact the LEAD Virtual Centre

Dr. Henning Steinfeld
LEAD Coordinator
Livestock, Environment and Development Inititative
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
http://lead.virtualcentre.org/
E-mail:

To contact the LEAD Language Platforms:

Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Platform Manager - Spanish Language Platform http://lead-es.virtualcentre.org/ E-mail:	Mr. Vincent Castel Platform Manager - French Language Platform http://lead-fr.virtualcentre.org/ E-mail:
Dr. Fang Yan Platform Manager- Chinese Language Platform http://lead-zh.virtualcentre.org/ E-mail:	Ms. Svetlana Livinets Platform Manager - Russian Language Platform http://lead-ru.virtualcentre.org/ E-mail:
Ms.Prithi Nambiar Platform Manager - India Platform http://lead-india.virtualcentre.org/ E-mail:

The Virtual Research and Development Centre is powered by the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT).