Strategies of integral valuation of ecosystem services and environmental benefits in livestock farming

Abstract

The presentation outlined strategies for the integral valuation of ecosystem services and environmental benefits in livestock farming, focusing on findings from field studies in Colombia and Kenya. It identified key ecosystem services such as food production, carbon storage, and microclimatic regulation, alongside environmental benefits like methane emissions reduction. The authors proposed an integral valuation strategy to incorporate these values into economic evaluations of sustainable interventions. The results emphasized that understanding the integral value of these services would support informed decision-making and facilitate the design of economic instruments, such as carbon credits and Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). This was presented at the Congreso Economia Agrícola in San Juan, Costa Rica, in October 2024.