The Green and Low-Carbon Dairy Cattle Development Case from the Institute of Feed Research of CAAS Selected for the Sixth Global Best Poverty Reduction Cases  

On December 10, 2025, the 2025 Global Poverty Reduction Partnership Seminar, jointly organized by the China International Poverty Reduction Center and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), among others, was held in Beijing. The case titled "Promoting Green and Low-Carbon Dairy Development in Dairy Farming Through Resilient Farming Models—A Case Study of the FAO Low-Carbon Dairy Farming Project in Eryuan", submitted under the leadership of the Institute of Feed Research of CAAS, was successfully selected and awarded as a Best Case in the Sixth Global Best Poverty Reduction Cases Call. The case will be included in the South-South Cooperation Poverty Reduction Knowledge Sharing Platform, namely the China-Foreign Poverty Reduction Case Database and Online Sharing Platform, which is of great significance for enhancing the institute’s international visibility and influence.

In 2021, under the guidance of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Department of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Institute of Feed Research of CAAS implemented a technical cooperation project on low-carbon dairy farming in Eryuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Centered on training-of-trainers programs and Farmer Field Schools, the project developed a climate-resilient dairy production system – known as the “Eryuan Model” – through an integrated pathway of improved breed selection →application of feed-saving rations → integration of efficient low-carbon production models → enhancement of dairy product quality.  As the world’s first technical cooperation project dedicated to low-carbon livestock production, the initiative has benefited more than 600 household-based dairy farmers, with women accounting for 57% of participants, representing multiple ethnic groups including Bai, Wa, She, and Yi. Project implementation reduced feed costs by over 20%, lowered carbon emission intensity by approximately 40%, and increased average annual household income by over RMB 4,500.

Launched in 2018, the Global Poverty Reduction Cases Call has been jointly organized by the China International Poverty Reduction Center, together with the World Bank, the FAO, and three other institutions. The initiative aims to address poverty reduction and rural development from a global perspective and to share successful poverty alleviation models and innovative practices worldwide through case selection and dissemination. The selected project represents FAO’s first globally supported technical cooperation initiative focused on low-carbon livestock farming. Its inclusion further advances the implementation of the FAO-CAAS Innovation Platform agreement, and contributes Chinese experience, expertise, and solutions to the pursuit of high-quality, green, and low-carbon development of the global livestock sector.