Women are main guardians of crucial livestock diversity

New study argues that to succeed, breed conservation efforts must empower women

Women livestock keepers worldwide must be recognized as the major actors in efforts to arrest the decline of indigenous breeds, crucial for rural food security and animal genetics, a new FAO study argues. Yet women’s contribution to indigenous livestock breeding and conservation is poorly documented and undervalued, the study Invisible Guardians: Women manage livestock diversity says. [...]

US increases funding to combat influenza and emerging disease threats

FAO’s commitment to fight emerging disease threats in "hotspot" regions worldwide is getting a boost with new funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The funding amounts to more than $20 million. [...]

FROM THE FIELD

in action

Taking the Laboratory into the Field - Rapid and Early Animal Disease Diagnosis with Nuclear Applications. After a four-hour drive over dusty, potholed roads, the vets finally reach their first destination – Yagoua in the Far North region of Cameroon. The team consults with the local animal health services and then heads further north towards the Chad border to a village where goats have reportedly been dying. [read more] [audio]

Putting Small-Scale Farmers at Centre Stage in the Efforts Towards Higher Animal Welfare Farmers as protagonists of this moment in which animal welfare is progressively being recognized as a common good and its benefit for farmers, animals and citizens alike are being understood, at the conference “Animal Welfare: a Win-Win Opportunity for Animals, Farmers and Consumers” jointly organized by FAO and Slow Food [...]