Meat Naturally Initiative: Embedding sustainability into South Africa's emerging red meat sector

South Africa contains some of the most biologically rich rangelands in the world and a full 70% of the country is suitable for sustainable grazing. South Africa’s rangelands are also home to 76% of the poorest people in the country, many of whose livelihoods depend on livestock. In fact, 50% of the country’s livestock is owned by subsistence farmers or farmers who are just starting to sell to commercial markets. Increasingly, these farmers are women who have inherited herds.
This project seeks to shift corporate and government policies to support social equity and the environmentally sustainable management of communal rangelands by addressing implementation (landscape demonstrations), sustainability (industry and market engagement) and informing national policy and programmes as part of a single green economic development project.