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
This website features a searchable feed composition database, which could be a resource in accounting for dietary impacts on GHG emissions from livestock.
CGIAR System-wide Livestock Program
2011
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
This paper describes the current approach used to model enhanced livestock densities of the world, adjusted to match official FAOSTAT national estimates for the reference year 2005. It presents new global distribution maps for cattle, pigs, and chickens. The digital layers are publicly available here.
Robinson TP, Wint GRW, Conchedda G, Van Boeckel TP, Ercoli V, Palamara E, Cinardi G, D’Aietti L, Hay SI, Gilbert, M
2014
PLoS ONE
The methodology, outlined in this report, presents requirements for a standardized baseline, guidance for quantification of GHG emission reductions in smallholder dairy production, quantification of project emission intensity, and quantification of net emission reductions. It also outlines monitoring methodology for data, monitored and not monitored parameters. Total emissions are calculated by multiplying the annual FPCM yield by the appropriate emission factors.
FAO and ILRI
2016
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy
The Dairy Gas Emissions Model is a calculator of GHG emissions from dairy systems 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
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
The Cool Farm Tool is a farm-level GHG emissions calculator that integrates both crop and livestock systems by quantifying on-farm GHG and soil carbon sequestration. It allows farmers to evaluate different management systems to assess the impact on GHG emissions and has been adopted for use worldwide. Video demos provides a step-by-step tutorial for using the tool.
Cool Farm Alliance (CFA)
COMET-Farm is a farm-level carbon and greenhouse gas accounting system and calculator for the United States. It uses information on management practices on an operation together with spatially-explicit information on climate and soil conditions from USDA databases (which are provided automatically in the tool) to run a series of models that evaluate sources of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration. It is based on the methods described in the report Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Agriculture and Forestry: Methods for Entity-Scale Inventory.
USDA/Colorado State University
