Global Methane Hub launches Time2Graze to help farmers cut livestock emissions

AFRICA – The Global Methane Hubs, a philanthropic initiative dedicated to supporting efforts to reduce global methane emissions, has launched a new international project aimed at helping farmers manage livestock grazing more efficiently while reducing these emissions.

The initiative, called Time2Graze, was announced during the Africa Climate Summit 2025 (ACS2), which took place from September 8 to 10 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Backed by 35 partners across Latin America and Africa, the project will use satellite-based systems to monitor pasture growth and provide farmers with near-real-time data to guide grazing decisions.

Two-thirds of global agricultural land is used for grazing livestock. Yet pasture availability and quality vary widely with the seasons, and climate change is making conditions less predictable.

This impacts animal nutrition and productivity, while also driving up methane emissions, one of the most potent greenhouse gases.

Time2Graze will track pasture levels across 10 by 10 meter plots every five days, producing data farmers can use to better plan their grazing. Research shows that a 10 percent improvement in feed digestibility can cut methane emissions by 20 percent.

“Grazing livestock systems are common worldwide, but they are both highly variable and seasonally constrained,” said Dr. Santiago Rafael Fariña, senior agriculture program officer at the Global Methane Hub.

“The Time2Graze project aims to empower farmers with real-time information about the standing biomass of pasture to sustainably increase milk and meat production while also bringing down methane emissions.”

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is leading the development of the remote sensing system, while the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Uruguay’s National Agriculture Research Institute (INIA), and WWF will build decision support tools for farmers.

Giving farmers practical tools

In an interview with AgriTech Middle East & Africa Magazine, Paul Mulondo, Coordinator of the Forests and Biodiversity Programme at WWF-Uganda and Time2Graze lead in Uganda, described the project as a response to long-standing problems.

“Grazing livestock systems are widespread across Africa, but pastoralists face the persistent challenge of unpredictable levels of pasture for their animals. Feed availability varies according to the season, with climate change and grazing management also impacting pasture levels,” he said.

“Unpredictable levels of pasture make livestock-rearing inefficient, undermining animal nutrition, productivity, and livelihoods. The Time2Graze project will address these inefficiencies by providing farmers with near-real-time estimates of pasture levels to help optimise grazing, improve animal nutrition, and reduce methane emissions.”

Reaching smallholders

The project also aims to ensure smallholder farmers are not left out. “The project will engage with farmers, advisors, and extension workers to refine and implement the tools and ensure they are appropriate and accessible, including within contexts that have limited connectivity,” Mulondo said.

Seven country-specific decision support tools will be co-developed and tested through 115 on-farm trial sites, a process that Mulondo says will help fine-tune the technology for local realities.

The project now brings together 35 partners, including Global Pasture Watch, OpenGeoHub, universities, research institutes, and livestock farmer associations. Local involvement is considered crucial to adoption and long-term use.

Wider African context

The launch of Time2Graze follows fresh commitments made by African governments to strengthen pastoral systems.

On September 3 in Dakar, during the African Forum on Food Systems (AFSF), 13 countries unveiled measures including the creation of feed banks, breeding programs for high-yielding animals, and youth-focused initiatives to support livestock systems.

Senegal’s Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Livestock, Mabouba Diagne, highlighted the production gap. “We produce only 400 million litres of milk, compared to more than 2 billion litres per year in Kenya and Uganda,” he said.

Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), stated that Africa can build on its existing progress. “The solutions already exist in Africa, and we need to scale them up at the regional level by mobilizing institutional expertise to connect science, policy, and practice. We have win-win solutions: meeting the growing demand for livestock products, improving the livelihoods of more than 200 million African pastoralists, while ensuring environmental sustainability.”

Looking ahead

Africa’s demand for meat is expected to triple and milk demand to double by 2050. With pastoralism already supplying 65 percent of beef and 75 percent of milk in West Africa, the pressure to strengthen grazing systems is expected to intensify.

Yet the sector continues to face pressures from climate change, land competition, and insecurity.

“The Time2Graze project is an exciting initiative that stands to offer livestock farmers a win-win opportunity by improving animal nutrition and productivity while also meeting global climate goals,” said Hayden Montgomery, director of the Global Methane Hub’s agriculture program.

“Enabling the livestock sector to reduce methane emissions is critical for safeguarding a vital sector for food security and livelihoods for more than a billion people.”

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