This open-source book provides best-practice guidance on MRV in smallholder agriculture, including methodologies for measuring methane emissions from ruminants. It delves into designing a measurement program, data acquisition, and identifying mitigation options. It is has a solution-oriented structure, having leading experts in the field provide clear guidelines on how to deal with the issues raised in the book.
Rosenstock TS, Rufino MC, Butterbach-Bahl K, Wollenberg L, Richards M [Eds.]
2016
Springer Open
This manual provides guidance for using the Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool for MRV. The manual presents the rationale of the tool and discusses the logic behind it and introduces more technical aspects of the methodology, data collection, and entry. It is intended for use by National Development Banks in conducting monitoring and evaluation of mitigation and adaptation impacts of their projects.
Bockel L, Vian L, Torre C
2018
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy
The EX-ACT tool is a project-level tool for estimating the net GHG impact of AFOLU projects and policies. The website contains multiple resources that support use of the tool, including guidance manuals, and are available to download.
FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy
The Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM) is a detailed farm-level process-based model for estimating nutrient flows and GHG emissions in livestock-agriculture based on US practices and conditions. It allows farmers to evaluate different management systems to assess the impact on GHG emissions. The website features download links, training manuals, and other support.
USDA-ARS
2017
United States Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service
This report contains a compilation and review of dozens of publicly accessible GHG accounting tools in the AFOLU sector, including livestock, to quantify GHG emissions/offsets from agricultural and forestry activities. The tools include calculators, protocols, guidelines and models; relevant examples are described separately in this document.
Denef K, Paustian K, Archibeque S, Biggar S, Pape D
2012
Interim report to USDA under Contract No. GS23F8182H
The ICAT Agriculture Guidance provides methodological guidance for assessing the GHG impacts of agriculture policies that enable or incentivize mitigation practices or technologies that reduce emissions from enteric fermentation and increase soil carbon sequestration in pasture, grazing lands and croplands. It is part of the Initiative for Climate Action Transparency (ICAT) series of guidance for assessing the impacts of policies and actions. This guidance is intended for use by policymakers and practitioners seeking to estimate GHG mitigation impacts in the context of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) development and implementation, national low carbon strategies, Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and other mechanisms. The primary intended users are developing country governments and their partners who are implementing and assessing agriculture policies.
Initiative for Climate Action Transparency
2018
Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, Verra
The Agriculture and Land Use Greenhouse Gas Inventory (ALU) Software is a free tool developed to assist countries in developing greenhouse gas inventories for agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) and sectors, including livestock. The tool is based on 1996 and 2006 IPCC guidelines.
Colorado State University Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Guidelines are formally mandated for use in preparing national GHG inventories under the UNFCCC. The 2006 guidelines updated 1996 guidelines. The 2006 guidelines consist of two volumes, worksheets for developing an inventory, and a software tool.
- Volume 1 contains general guidance, including regarding how to deal with uncertainties (Chapter 3), the choice of methods (Chapter 4), and QA/QC (Chapter 6):
- Chapter 4 provides guidance on whether or not to include an emissions source (e.g., a livestock category for which Tier 1 and 2 methods have not been developed but may or may not be a significant source)
- Volume 4 Chapter 10 addresses emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use. For livestock, it presents updated Tier 1 and 2 methods while also presenting the possibility that a country develop a national-level approach (Tier 3 method) for livestock species of significance and/or that are not already covered by Tier 1 and 2 methods (e.g., alpacas, enteric fermentation from poultry).
- References (e.g. to the NRC nutrient requirements texts) are updated to reflect the availability of new research and data.
- Characterization of regions (and corresponding emission factors) are updated to reflect development, e.g. higher milk yields in North America
- Additional categories of livestock are included, e.g. reindeer, deer, and mink are included in Tier 1 manure management
- Opportunities for improving on Tier 2 methods are highlighted.
- Worksheets are provided to facilitate development of an inventory
- Updated versions of the inventory software can be found here.
The website provides whole site translation is several languages.
IPCC
2006
Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Program
This CCAFS webpage provides data and maps (available for download) and a review of agriculture’s role in the INDCs. The analysis and data are meant to inform national planning of mitigation and adaptation strategies. This website includes information about: agriculture in INDC mitigation targets, agriculture in INDC adaptation priorities, sub-sector targets, livestock systems in the INDCs, cropping systems in the INDCs, agroforestry in the INDCs, gender in the INDCs, and methodology.
CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security
2016
