This document could not have been written without the help of many friends and colleagues who provided suggestions or even parts of unpublished manuscripts. Particular mention needs to be made of Roel Bosma, Harm de Vries (backyard poultry), Jaap de Winter (biogas), Peter Fellows (food processing), Alessandro Finzi (rabbits, guinea pigs and pigeons), Hannie Koch (veterinary aspects), Cheryl Lans and Katrien van't Hooft (indigenous veterinary medicine), Max Laplanche (urban pigs), Oswin Pereira (reproduction) and Jaap Schiere (aspects of urban architecture). Their material was invaluable but possible mistakes in the text are not their responsibility. Photographs are from the authors unless otherwise mentioned.
This report is a product of the FAO-Japan Cooperative Project "Collection of Information on Animal Production and Health", with the support of the Japan Racing Association (JRA) fund.