IRISH CHARITY Bóthar says it is considering sending cow, goat and pig embryos to Africa and eastern Europe instead of live animals as the cost of airlifting livestock increases.
The charity is airlifting 450 goats from Belfast to Uganda this evening and preparing to send up to 80 heifers from Shannon to Rwanda at the weekend.
But questions have been raised about the sustainability of its work by a number of people in the agriculture and development sectors.
Prof Jim Phelan, dean of agriculture at UCD, said Irish dairy livestock were of "huge benefit nutritionally and economically" to African communities.
But, he said: "Where I would have a question is on cost. If one were to look at the cost of keeping them in quarantine, transporting them, getting veterinary checks, I wonder is it a good use of money."
He firmly believed "we should be sending embryos to be implanted in local animals.
"Science has moved on hugely and we have developed successfully the ability to transport thousands of embryos in a can of nitrogen. It has huge potential."
Conor O'Donoghue, Bóthar's grants manager, acknowledged that transport costs were a growing issue "for the past two or three years".
"For instance, we are not going to do as many airlifts this year and cost is an issue we have to monitor. It's hard to know what way it will go."
He said Bóthar had been sending embryos since it was established, adding it was a method that will be used more if the cost of airlifts continued to be an issue. "It is something we can fall back on. It is a back-up plan."
He also responded to criticism from other charities, which did not wish to be named, that introducing Irish livestock to the African environment was bad for the cows' and goats' health.
Mr O'Donoghoe said cows sent were "zero-graze" in that they did not have contact with native cows. They were sent to less arid areas and were vaccinated against diseases that might be spread by flies or in the air.
The charity, which does much of its fundraising in the pre-Christmas period, also released a study yesterday showing the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its flights to Africa were being offset by planting trees in the continent.
The study by environmental consultants Richard Webb and Associates shows Bóthar is more than offsetting CO2 emissions.
The study noted the carbon offsetting capacity of 200,000 saplings planted at Nyabushosi in Uganda, including 53,000 eucalyptus trees, and calculated that these should offset more than 96,839 tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime.