Hello everyone,
It’s about, Set 3: Sustainable Agricultural Development for Food Security and Nutrition: What Roles for Livestock?
Livestock production is important from the point of view of human health, employment and livelihoods, yet questioned by some mostly in environmental implications context. It’s mostly the management issue-how we are keeping the livestock in terms of numbers, production efficiency, feeding regime (competition with humans for feed) etc. The integrated systems could be more resilient, where livestock could be maintained as per the carrying capacity of the land holdings with the farmers. The Extension and Advisory services can design extension strategies around food systems towards ensuring the availability of required amount of animal sourced protein. We need 20gm animal sourced protein/per day which means everyone needs 33 kg lean meat / 45 kg fish / 60kg eggs or 230 kg milk/year. Many countries around the world are having far less consumption from this required levels. This leads to human population suffering from micro- nutrients related deficiency diseases stunting, wasting, anaemia, cognitive problems etc. In India, for instance, Over 70% pre-school children consume less than 50% of Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of iron, vitamin A, and some B vitamins particularly riboflavin and folic acid. Many of these nutritional deficiencies can be overcome, if livestock products like milk, meat, pork, fish and eggs are included in human diets in required quantities. Livestock production offers multiple benefits like improved nutrition, health, incomes, and livelihoods. Yet the potential of livestock production is underexploited in many developing countries. While the research can help improve livestock productivity, the extension and outreach activities can deliver research outcomes to producers leading to improved livestock productivity. But Research-extension- farmer linkages are weak in these countries. So, we need to design extension interventions that include promoting crop-livestock integrated farming systems, fodder cultivation, promoting livestock entrepreneurship, mentoring rural youths, and organizing capacity building programmes including for farm women. The productivity enhancing livestock technologies, when shared with the livestock owners via targeted extension services can improve their production practices for green fodder, milk, meat, fish and egg production.
The questions we need to answer, how best we can ensure the required quantity of ASF to growing human population, with least implications to environment?
You may like to read my blog: http://www.fao.org/cfs/home/blog/blog-articles/article/en/c/1043521
Looking forward to hear more from the participants?
Dr. Mahesh Chander