In response to the increasing demand for livestock products, livestock industries in developing countries are tending toward increased scale of operations, concentration and integration, with little consideration given to rural development and poverty alleviation. Most of the livestock sector growth in developing countries therefore stems from intensive commercial production systems close to urban centres

Furthermore, trade liberalisation and integration of international and domestic markets, with the concomitant proliferation and tightening of food safety and quality standards, are transforming formal input and commodity markets in ways that hinder or exclude participation by small-scale producers.

Despite these unfavourable trends, opportunities for small-scale producers in developing countries to benefit from the growing demand for livestock products can be created through identifying and developing niche markets, and by developing beneficial contractual arrangements with commercial processors and distributors.

To guide policy decisions and processes at various levels towards safe and equitable outcomes, under the ‘Markets & Standards’ theme the Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI) facilitates processes that:

	develop a thorough understanding of how formal and informal markets for various livestock species and products operate, and of how of these local, national and international markets include or exclude poor livestock keepers;
	identify those policy regimes that favour commercial and industrial livestock producers and processors, whilst raising transaction costs and barriers to market access for poor livestock keepers, and to explore policy options that might reduce these market distortions; and
	identify areas of institutional change that could strengthen the linkage of poor livestock keepers to the mainstream markets for livestock and livestock products.