The author is Senior Officer (Livestock Production Systems), Animal Production Service, Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Rome.
Depuis 1996, le programme de la FAO consacré à l'élevage a été considérablement modifié. Le programme précédent, fondé sur des disciplines techniques distinctes concernant la production et la santé animales, les produits, leur transformation et leur commercialisation, s'est orienté vers une approche systémique intégrée. Pour ce faire, il a fallu procéder à une série d'études au niveau mondial permettant de mieux connaître l'importance des systèmes d'élevage dans différentes régions et zones agroécologiques, qui faciliteront la réorientation du programme et guideront les décideurs pour le développement de l'élevage. La première étude présentant des statistiques et une description des principaux systèmes de production est maintenant terminée et fait l'objet d'une publication FAO. Une étude récemment entreprise sur la géographie de l'élevage a pris comme point de départ plusieurs analyses sur l'interdépendance de l'anthropogénie et de l'environnement qui ont montré que les schémas d'habitation humaine, l'intensité des cultures et la pluviométrie sont les principaux facteurs influençant la répartition de l'élevage. Ce document est consacré aux principaux résultats concernant la région Asie.
Desde 1996, el Programa de ganadería de la FAO ha registrado un cambio considerable. El programa anterior, estructurado en disciplinas técnicas independientes relativas a la producción y sanidad animales, más los productos y su elaboración y comercialización, se ha orientado hacia un enfoque de sistemas integrados. Este cambio ha exigido una serie de estudios de alcance mundial para conocer la importancia de los sistemas pecuarios en diversas regiones y zonas agroecológicas, lo cual facilitará la reorientación del programa y servirá de guía a las autoridades en el fomento de la ganadería. El primer estudio, con estadísticas y una descripción de los principales sistemas de producción, ya se ha concluido y ha aparecido como publicación de la FAO. Un estudio que se acaba de iniciar sobre geografía pecuaria ha tomado como punto de partida varios estudios sobre correlaciones antropogénicas y ecológicas en los que se ha demostrado que las modalidades de habitación humana, la intensidad del cultivo y las precipitaciones son los factores fundamentales que influyen en la distribución del ganado. El presente artículo se concentra en los principales resultados obtenidos en la región de Asia.
Since the beginning of 1996, FAO's Livestock Programme has been revised and is now based on an integrated systems approach. This move to a new, more holistic programme has necessitated a series of global studies which aim to provide an insight into the importance of livestock in differing agricultural systems across the world's major regions and agro-ecological zones (AEZs), in order to facilitate this reorientation and to guide decision-makers. The first such study, describing the major systems and containing relevant statistics, has been completed and published as an FAO Animal Production and Health Paper (Seré and Steinfeld in FAO, 1996a). A similar purpose was served by the article Livestock - a driving force for food security and sustainable development, which assessed the overall contribution of livestock to the agricultural economy (Sansoucy, 1995). Other studies are continuing on livestock geography using geographic information system (GIS) techniques to provide a georeferenced livestock distribution database. With specific reference to Asia, FAO invited a full account to be made of the region's livestock production systems, containing suggestions for development opportunities and highlighting those that could be best adopted by FAO (Devendra, 1996). Also, a number of location-specific case studies have been initiated to find indicators that are suitable for defining the productive state of a system, the pressures exerted on it and, finally, the existing opportunities for positive strategic technological or socio-economic interventions.
FAO's livestock production systems classification study has established that systems in Asia are predominantly associated with irrigated or mixed farming systems or where more than 10 percent of the non-livestock farm production comes from irrigated land. A further important feature is that, in terms of output, these systems show phenomenal annual growth rates. The Table shows the annual percentage growths of different animal products achieved between 1983 and 1993. These are the highest growth rates for any land-dependent system in the world and, as will be seen later, are only exceeded by the Asian landless livestock systems.
The irrigated humid and subhumid tropical and subtrop-ical mixed system (MIH), with a growing season of more than 180 days, is particularly important in Asia. This AEZ globally relates to the largest population group, nearly one billion people, of whom 97 percent are in Asia. It is highly stocked with pigs and poultry, including ducks which thrive on the abundant crop residues. In addition, since mechanization has reduced the need for draught animals, large ruminants (buffaloes and cattle) may be alternatively exploited for milk and meat, the output of which may be increased and intensified. The integration of animals and intensive cropping in this AEZ offers good future prospects for economic and sustainable agricultural production.
The irrigated arid and semi-arid tropical and subtropical mixed
system (MIA) is the second most important farming system in Asia and supports a
human population of about 500 million, or two-thirds of all people associated with this
system globally. Year-round intensive crop production is feasible and fodder crops
naturally integrate into the annual rotation. The animal feed base is further supplemented
by crop by-products and often by available natural grazing. In the traditional Asian MIA
system, livestock still play a secondary role in overall activities, as is reflected in
the tendency to practise a more extensive system of livestock management. The dominant
ruminant resources are cattle and buffaloes, which are mainly kept for milk, meat and
animal traction, although sheep and goats also play an important complementary role, as do
rural backyard poultry. In the MIA system in West Asia, pigs are non-existent for cultural
reasons, but they are important in MIA systems in the Far East.
Compared with Asia, where the intensification and commercialization of livestock
production has progressed relatively little, in California, Mexico and Israel the MIA
system has demonstrated some of the highest productivity of any livestock system, for
example in dairy production. The potential to exploit this AEZ for livestock production is
therefore very good in Asia, especially in areas with high demand and good access to
markets. Most of the technologies required for this exist but the problem remains in
finding the right socio-economic strategy to apply them in different situations.
The mixed irrigated temperate zones and tropical highlands (MIT) is a relatively high-investment farming system which in Asia - particularly in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Japan and parts of China - is primarily targeted at irrigated rice production. In the Far East, as in southern Europe, this system is highly intensive and associated with a high human population density. Within the MIT, the main typical contribution of livestock is that of intensive dairy production.
The three mixed rainfed systems support an estimated 850 million people (c. 50 percent of that in the irrigated AEZs) in Asia. The annual meat output from these systems is estimated to be 4.6 million tonnes compared with 29.6 tonnes produced from the irrigated AEZs. These figures clearly demonstrate the serious limitation of feed supply, which seasonally constrains livestock production, and the challenge it presents to farmers and livestock specialists.
The rainfed humid and subhumid tropical and subtrop-ical system (MRH) in Asia, as in the other continents, includes regions of extremely difficult climatic conditions for livestock. Asian smallholders still use mostly local breeds, since adaptation of more productive temperate breeds to these conditions has been poor. Owing to relatively high land pressure in Asia, straw has become the most important feed resource. The multiple functions of livestock favour traditional technologies which have been difficult to change to allow livestock to contribute a more prominent market role. Market incentives have generally not been adequate to persuade producers to go into more specialized production systems which would require purchasing inputs to supplement local resources. There certainly are potentials to improve livestock systems in the MRH but, equally so, there are great challenges.
The rainfed arid and semi-arid tropical and subtropical system (MRA) is important in West Asia and in large parts of India. Livestock's productivity is restricted, mainly owing to low rainfall and the consequent shortage of feed which is based on grazing and supplemented by the strategic use of crop stubble and straw. In terms of future livestock development, the major concerns relate to overgrazing and land degradation. The outlook is rather conservative as the resource base clearly limits expansion and intensification unless supplementary resources can be imported.
Landless livestock production systems (LL), which FAO defines as landless monogastric or ruminant production systems, in 1993 produced 12.8 million tonnes of meat in Asia (more than double that of the total meat production from all rainfed mixed systems). During the preceding ten-year period, the growth rates in Asia reached 17.8 and 17.3 percent per annum for pig and poultry meat, respectively, while the growth rate in egg production was 18.5 percent. It is expected that expansion in the landless systems will continue to be driven by urban growth and family incomes in the growing economies. Since the resource base, particularly for feed supplies but also for animals and labour, is mainly found in the mixed farming systems, a more precise knowledge of the resource and income flows between the land-based and landless systems would be welcome. There are important small enterprise networks (mainly private and informal) which facilitate reciprocal service functions. There are target groups for improvement of feed and animal resource utilization, disease prevention and the handling and distribution of animal products which are still largely unknown and untapped.
Percentage growths of selected animal products, 1983-1993
Taux de croissance respectifs de certains produits d'origine animale, 1983-1993
Tasa de crecimiento porcentual de productos animales seleccionados, 1983-1993
Product |
Annual growth percentage 1983 - 1993 |
||
MIH systems |
MIA systems |
MIT systems |
|
Beef |
10.8 |
7.3 |
15.1 |
Buffalo meat |
6.4 |
6.3 |
19.1 |
Sheep and goat meat |
7.5 |
7.6 |
9.2 |
Dairy milk |
7.3 |
6.5 |
3.0 |
Other milk |
4.2 |
5.0 |
3.9 |
Pig meat |
4.8 |
4.6 |
4.4 |
Poultry meat |
5.4 |
6.1 |
3.7 |
Eggs |
4.8 |
5.4 |
3.2 |
The recent FAO study on livestock geography takes as its starting point several studies on anthropogenic and environmental correlates which have demonstrated that human habitation patterns, cropping intensity and rainfall are the key factors influencing the density and distribution of livestock.
In 1997, FAO decided to pursue this investigative study because many of
the Organization's activities required at least a continental, but preferably a global,
assessment of livestock distributions in relation to AEZs and to human settlement
patterns. Possibilities were explored for using GIS techniques to produce a first database
on global livestock distribution, human settlement and agro-ecological conditions, from
which maps could also be generated. Possible avenues for future development using GIS
techniques were likewise investigated (FAO, 1996b).
The preliminary results showed that GIS techniques can be used to predict livestock
populations from the human population distribution, and that useful and in-depth insights
can be gained into livestock systems defined according to AEZs. Livestock densities,
expressed in this study as livestock biomass (kg/km2) were extrapolated from
country data provided by FAO's World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) for the
years 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992 and 1994. The AEZs in this study were classified according to
length of growing period (LGP). Livestock densities at the ecozone level within countries
were obtained from the people-livestock correlates at the country level.
The results were then presented as a series of demonstration maps showing global livestock
distributions within high-density areas in India, Nigeria, China and Europe.
The figures computed to give the global pattern indicated that two-thirds of the world's
livestock population are found in areas with more than 150 people per km2. This
demonstrates the overwhelming influence of Asian livestock; the high-density human
population areas here comprise about 9 million km2 or some 6 percent of the
total land area. Else where, too, there is a tendency towards aggregations of people,
crops and livestock. Often cattle densities are highest in the moister areas, except in
Africa where tsetse flies occupy better rainfall areas. This study therefore challenges
the conventional wisdom that livestock are generally kept in drylands, away from the
moister cropping areas where most people live.
A further striking finding of this study is the increasing intensification of livestock
production and the development of specialized production systems. Livestock strategies and
policies should recognize that animal protein increasingly depends on intensive livestock
production systems. The traditional extensive grazing and mixed rainfed livestock systems
will become marginalized but will maintain their importance for household-level and local
food supply as well as the livelihood of rural communities.
FAO's livestock geography work is part of an overall effort to define a global
quantitative analysis framework for livestock systems. Although in its infancy, the study
has yielded a number of new perspectives which may associate livestock production with
sustainable land man-agement and food security. For Asia, we may summarize that there is a
shift of animal production towards more humid and more densely populated areas and that
there is a growing prominence of monogastric species such as poultry and pigs fed on
grains and crop by-products. Thus it is estimated that, by the year 2010, 70 percent of
the total meat production in the developing countries will be either poultry or pork. The
per caput number of ruminants (large and small) will continue to decrease. Associated with
these trends is the move of animal production towards more and more land-detached or
stand-alone systems. Even at the household level, the association between livestock and
crops is becoming weaker. This trend is most prominent in South and Southeast Asia.
Further evidence for the above trends comes from a recent European Community research
project carried out with the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) in Pasadena, Sri
Lanka. The study aimed at identifying the households involved in livestock production and
at clarifying the relationships between livestock rearing and crop cultivation. Similar
studies were carried out in Indonesia and India (Zemmelink et al., 1994).
The main conclusions of these collective studies were that:
The results of these studies show that farmers explore all options
available to acquire feed. Many farmers share feed with labourers and neighbours or sell
it. Weeds and crop residues form an in-kind payment to labourers. Thus, the fodder
produced on a farm is not necessarily used by the livestock on that farm, and vice versa.
This important observation goes against the assumption that on a mixed farm the stocking
rate is limited by carrying capacity. Perhaps this may be explained by the fact that
farming systems research (FSR) is mainly developed and led by agronomists. The carrying
capacity concept is inadequate for determining opportunities for and constraints to
livestock production, even on smallholder farms. Access to markets and to fodder/feed is
the main determining factor for the scale of a livestock operation. Within a livestock
system the outcome of the competition for and sharing of feed and fodder among farmers
determines livestock output. In order to realize the production potential and to adopt
appropriate technological tools, future research and studies should seek to understand the
local production aspects such as the feed and fodder distribution at the community and
regional level; fodder utilization over the year; practices for sharing feed and fodder
resources; interactions of livestock producers with crop producers or owners of
fodder production plots; the animal genetic resource base and traditional breeding
methods; and breeding stock trading mechanisms.
Devendra, C. 1996. Mixed farming systems in Asia. Paper prepared for
the Animal Production and Health Division, FAO, Rome.
FAO. 1996a. World livestock production systems: current status, issues and
trends. FAO Animal Production and Health Paper No. 127. By C. Seré & H.
Steinfeld. Rome.
FAO. 1996b. Livestock geography: a demonstration of GIS techniques applied to
global livestock systems and population. Consultancy report. Rome.
Sansoucy, R. 1995. Livestock - a driving force for food security and sustainable
development. World Anim. Rev., 84/85(3-4).
Zemmelink, G., Leegwater, P.H., Ibrahim, M.N.M. & van Bruchen, J. 1994. Constraints
and opportunities for increasing the productivity of cattle in small-scale crop-livestock
systems. Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)/CEC Research Project TS3 - CT
92-0120. Wageningen, the Netherlands, ICE/CEC.