Send A Cow, a charity set up by Christian farmers, organised a full environmental audit of cows in an African village setting in response to headlines suggesting that greenhouse gases from cattle did more damage to the atmosphere than a 4x4 motor.

The preliminary finding – from Simon Penney of Promise Consulting – is that giving a family a cow does more good than harm over five years in rural Uganda.

That finding took into account air travel by staff of Send A Cow, monitoring their programmes; plus details right down to the impact on human excrement.

The investigator found that manure from the cow improv-ed carbon-retention
in the soil and
meant more carbon-eating crops could be grown.

And keeping the cow required fodder crops which also absorbed carbon.

Sir John Houghton, a former member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, praised "a most interesting and thorough report that addresses the issues well".

He said: "More organisations should do the same sort of analysis and calculations."

The full findings will be published soon. See www.sendacow.org.uk