Estimation of Tunisian Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Different Livestock Species

Hajer Ammar, Sourour Abidi, Mediha Ayed, Nizar Moujahed, Mario E. deHaro Martí, Mireille Chahine, Rachid Bouraoui, Secundino López, Hatem Cheikh M’hamed and Haikel Hechlef
Additional contact information
Hajer Ammar: Higher Agriculture School of Mograne, 1121 Mograne, University of Carthage Tunisia, Zaghouan 1100, Tunisia
Sourour Abidi: Laboratory of Animal and Forage Production, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunis, Street Hédi Karray, El Manzah 1004, University of Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
Mediha Ayed: Higher Agriculture Institute of Chott Meriam (ISCM), Department of Animal Resources, Agri-food and Rural Development, University of Sousse, Sousse 4047, Tunisia
Nizar Moujahed: Agronomic National Institute of Tunisia (INAT), Unity of Ecosystem Research and Aquatic Ressources, 43 Street Charles Nicolle, Tunis-Mahrajène 1082, University of Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
Mario E. deHaro Martí: Gooding County Extension, University of Idaho, 203 Lucy Lane, Gooding, ID 83330, USA
Mireille Chahine: Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Idaho, PO Box 1827, Twin Falls, ID 83303, USA
Rachid Bouraoui: Higher Agriculture School of Mateur, Mateur, Bizerte 7030, University of Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
Secundino López: Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña (IGM), CSIC-Universidad de León, Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de León, E-24007 León, Spain
Hatem Cheikh M’hamed: Agronomy Laboratory, Street Hédi Karray, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Tunis, El Manzah 1004, University of Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia
Haikel Hechlef: Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries and Hydraulic Ressources, 30 Street Alain Savarey, Tunis 1002, Tunisia

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: This study aimed to determine the emissions of methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from seven Tunisian livestock species and their evolution over eleven consecutive years (2008–2018). The species of animals used were cattle (dairy and others), sheep, goats, camelids, horses, donkeys and mules, and poultry. The estimations of CH 4 and N 2 O emissions were based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for national inventories, using Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches, with its default emission factors (EFs). The Tier 2 approach was applied only for the calculation of EF to estimate CH 4 emissions related to livestock manure management. CH 4 emission represented more than 92% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) from livestock emissions. Moreover, 53% of the total CH 4 emissions from livestock were derived from cattle, followed by sheep, goats, other mammals (camelids, horses, mules, and donkeys), and poultry. During the period covered by the study (2008–2018), a slight and continuous decrease of both livestock population and total GHG emissions was observed, mainly in terms of CH 4 . In mammals, CH 4 emissions were greater than N 2 O emissions, whereas in poultry, N 2 O emissions were up to 2.6 times greater than CH 4 emissions. The aggressive drive of the government to increase cattle and sheep production might affect CH 4 emissions in the future. Therefore, periodic estimations of GHG emissions from livestock are required to follow the time trends for more rational decision-making regarding livestock and GHG emissions policies.

Keywords: livestock; enteric fermentation; manure management; methane; nitrous oxide; emission factor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/11/562/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/11/562/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:11:p:562-:d:448282

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().