Long Run Effects of Livestock Production, Fossil Fuel Consumption and Trade Openness on CO2 Emissions in South Africa

The study explored the long-run impact of livestock production alongside some hypothesized determinants of CO2 emission, especially in South African economy including fossil fuel consumption, population growth and trade openness. Institutional data from 1971-2014 were used. After testing and correcting the series for unit roots presence using ADF, cointegration test was performed using Johansen Cointegration approach with the selection of the appropriate lag order done based on AIC. We found that natural log of livestock production natural log of fossil fuel consumption and natural log of GDP exerted long run significant effects on the level of CO2 emissions in South Africa during the period. On the short run. only the 3rd lag of the natural log of population exerted significant relationship on the air quality (CO2 emissions) in South Africa. It was therefore recommended that key stakeholders in environmental management and South African government should put forward policies that will reduce the consumption of fossil fuels through more investment in clean energy sources; funding research in livestock farming to improve the systems of livestock production that will contribute less to CO2 emissions; and on the short run, the country's leadership should pursue a policy for sustainable control of human population through birth control policy.