This study, funded by the Gates Foundation, reviews the currently available tools for and approaches to assessing the environmental impacts of livestock production systems. The demand for food from animal sources is expected to double by 2050, driven by population growth, urbanization and rising incomes.

This report has examined three stress factors that have the potential to decrease the supply of ecosystem services, thus reducing the chances of reaching the Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG 1) in a sustainable way. Air pollution, energy generation and indiscriminate use of pesticides may affect provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services.

This paper draws on the development and use of water resources in the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP), with the LBP reservoir and the 84,000 hectare (ha) LBP command area. The project diverts water from the Bhavani River, a tributary of the Cauvery River, in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.