Livestock production systems
Livestock should not be considered in isolation from their surroundings. The established links between livestock numbers, human populations and cultivation levels, and the ways in which these interrelationships are driven by environmental conditions, argue for greater attention to the quantification and mapping of livestock production systems.
The first attempt to map livestock production systems, at least in the developing world, was by Thornton et al. in 2002, based on a classification scheme developed by Seré and Steinfeld in 1996. FAO and ILRI are now collaborating to further this approach – working towards global coverage with better quality and higher spatial resolution input data. New approaches are also being explored for five case studies in the Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI) focus areas: Andhra Pradesh State of India, Peru, Senegal, Uganda and Vietnam.
Livestock production system maps provide a useful stratification for many types of analysis, including estimating production, evaluating the environmental impacts of livestock, quantifying the impact of livestock diseases and in exploring the social and economic dimensions of livestock sector development.
| GLOBAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM MAPS | |
|---|---|
| ILRI production systems |  |
| ILRI/FAO production systems | |