Livestock in low income countries
Background to the Roundtable
Part One: Background papers
Part Two: Issues/constraints and opportunities for livestock development
Part Three: Options for increasing livestock's contribution from the major production systems
Part Four: Working groups and Final Plenary Session
Between 1960 and 1990 the world's human population increased by 75 per cent from 3.1 billion to 5.4 billion but developing country populations increased by 97 per cent from 2.1 billion to more than 4.1 billion. In the late 1970s, 45 developing countries were unable to assure adequate food energy needs of 2200 calories per person per day for their populations and 25 of these countries still had food deficits the late 1980s. Some 800 million people now suffer from malnutrition and hunger, not only due to low production and unequal distribution but also because poor people lack the income to acquire adequate quantities and qualities of food. The world population will increase from 5.4 billion in 1990 to about 7.2 billion in 2010. The increase will be mainly in the developing countries and in urban areas and will have major effects on patterns of food production, marketing and consumption.
Developing countries have nearly two thirds of the world's livestock but produce less than a third of the world's meat and a fifth of its milk. Low output is due to low offtake rates and low yields per animal. Beef and veal output per head of cattle in North America is 281 kg whereas yields in Africa and Asia are about half of this. In South America beef and veal output per animal is 213 kg. Milk yields are only one tenth in Africa and one quarter in South America and Asia of those in North America and Europe. These data suggest that major improvements in livestock productivity are possible. Research can provide technology to help achieve productivity increases but technology needs to be transferred to producers to ensure impact.
Livestock are a major component in agriculture in the developing countries and produce much more than food. Livestock and their products provide direct cash income, animals are a living bank for many farmers and are critical to agricultural intensification via provision of power and manure for fertilizer and fuel. They are closely linked to the social and cultural lives of millions of resource poor farmers for whom livestock ensures varying degrees of sustainable farming and economic stability. Exports earn foreign exchange to add to national reserves. Official statistics often underestimate the contribution of livestock and especially their multipurpose contributions to food and agricultural production. Livestock in developing countries often contribute more than 50 per cent of agricultural GDP and more than 20 per cent of total GDP.
Animal agriculture is often, and usually wrongly, seen as harmful to the environment. Global losses of tropical rainforest are of international concern and deforestation has been associated with increased production of greenhouse gases and global warming. Another global concern is desertification. That livestock are a major factor in deforestation and desertification is a widespread belief in the developed world and affects donor contributions to research and development. Empirical evidence does not support the contention that livestock contribute to these problems.
Poverty is the main reason for farmers Using practices that may result in natural resources depletion. Increased farm incomes from cash generating activities can lead to withdrawal from areas susceptible to degradation. Neither people nor policy makers in poor countries will feel much concern for the environment or biological diversity until basic needs are fulfilled and economic systems develop a capacity to respond to rapidly increasing demands for food. The immediate problem, therefore, is to get technology moving through national research systems and onto farmers' fields.
Concept
The Roundtable on Livestock Development Strategies for Low Income Food Deficit Countries was a joint undertaking between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The initiative originated from informal discussions between the Animal Production and Health Division (AGA) of the Agricultural Department of FAO and ILCA (as it was then). FAO provided funds for ILRI to undertake the arrangements and also contracted an experienced writer and resource person to compile and edit the Proceedings. Preparatory work was undertaken by the ILRI Organizing Group who decided that it should directly follow the inaugural Board meeting of the new ILRI which combines the infrastructure and human and technical resources of the two previously independent centres, the International Livestock Centre for Africa and the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases.
The presence of board members and experts with vast experience in livestock development from many parts of the world greatly increases the chances that the recommendations will be rapidly adopted by the international community. This is especially important for the time is opportune, with attention focused on the newly established ILRI, to put livestock back on the world stage where they rightfully belong. It is also important that the recommendations and rationale for development arising from the Roundtable reach the widest possible audience of policy and decision makers.
It is hoped that this Roundtable will mark the beginning of a period of greater cooperation between FAO and ILRI and with all the institutions and organizations represented. It should also result in a more rational and efficient use of scarce resources. An earlier Consultation hosted by ILRI in January 1995 to discuss A Global Agenda for Livestock Research complements this Roundtable. A further companion meeting organized jointly by FAO/WAAP will take place in May 1995 in Korea to discuss issues relating to the supply side of livestock products, especially to urban consumers.
Objectives and expected outputs
The primary objectives of the Roundtable were to:
· provide a forum for scientists and developers to exchange views and experiences; and
· raise the level of awareness of a broad and influential audience with regard to the potential and the constraints facing animal agriculture in low income countries.
The immediate objectives of the Roundtable were to:
· review the contribution and potential of livestock to increase sustainable food production, and contribute to income generation in low income countries with a forward perspective to 2020 ("The Global 2020 Vision for Livestock");· identify major social, economic, technical and institutional constraints limiting livestock's contribution to achieving food security and economic development; and
· define appropriate strategies to alleviate these constraints and propose a framework for international action to enhance animal productivity.
The expected outputs of the Roundtable were:
· an analysis of past and present trends in livestock productivity and consumption of livestock products which would be used in part as an input to a "2020 Vision" paper to be further developed after the meeting;· a defined of objectives for the time frame specified and a related description of the constraints that must be overcome for the objectives to be achieved; and
· formulation of the set of measures ("a framework for action") or strategies needed for increasing livestock productivity in low income countries and securing better management of natural resources from the present to the end of the second decade of the 21st century.
Programme
The Roundtable was organized around four sessions. Session One started with a Keynote paper and two other background papers were presented to set the scene for the remainder of the programme. Session Two comprised two detailed papers that dealt in depth with major issues, constraints and opportunities for development. Session Three drew on the expertise of scientists and field workers to present a series of five papers covering the options for increasing livestock's contribution to human welfare from the world's major production systems and agroecological zones. These three sessions included discussion periods following the presentation of each paper and a fuller discussion of all papers together before the session closed. The last part of the meeting, Session Four, consisted firstly of detailed discussions by participants who were split into three Working Groups covering: sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia and North Africa; Asia; and Latin America and the Caribbean. Secondly, the conclusions and recommendations of these Working Groups were presented in a Plenary Session, again discussed and then formed the basis of the final presentation and recommendations.
Keynote paper: The contribution of livestock to food security and sustainable development
Summary
This paper considers both direct and indirect contributions of livestock to food security and sustainable development in the developing countries. Major sections cover the meaning and scope of food security, livestock and food supply, livestock as a source of income, livestock as generators of employment and livestock as suppliers of draught power and inputs for agriculture. Livestock production in relation to resource management and environmental degradation and then trends and projections in food production are considered in two final sections.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
The contribution of animals to agricultural and overall economic development has not been adequately evaluated. Statistics generally underestimate livestock contributions since many important non-food outputs which are difficult to quantify in monetary terms are excluded from calculations. The role of animals in development programmes is generally underrated in spite of the demand, especially in the developing countries, for animal products and services. Improved efficiency of animal agriculture with its various commodities and service products is critical to achieving sustainable agricultural development and food security, particularly in low income food deficit countries.
A prerequisite for sustainable animal agriculture is the development, testing and promotion of technology that uses local and affordable resources. Policies, infrastructure and support services must be established to enable technology to succeed and reach small scale farmers. Integrating livestock and crops increases the short term benefits to and the long term sustainability of agriculture.
The livestock sector is multipurpose and flexible and able to react to changes in national economies. Monogastric animals and ruminants are adapted to varying local conditions and use local resources to produce products and services. Increased productivity requires research to develop feeds and feeding systems, identify and use adapted genotypes, reduce mortality, improve production systems and inform appropriate policies. Pigs and poultry are likely to remain the main source of meat where rapid urbanization is occurring. Use should be made of transferable technologies to expand small scale production. Emphasis should be given to feeds that do not compete with human food.
Discussion points
This Keynote Paper incited discussion over a broad range of issues. Principal among these were the functions of livestock in mixed farming systems and their various roles in use of natural and other resources, the supply of and demand for livestock and livestock products, the development and transfer of technology to beneficiaries, policy issues.
Development support and livestock services
Summary
A developer's perspective of the current state of key issues in the establishment and functioning of effective livestock services for small holders in low income countries is presented. The paper covers issues and trends affecting all services. It uses examples from publicly funded development support for key services such as animal health, livestock extension, breeding, credit and marketing services.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
Livestock ownership is frequently equated with wealth but livestock development often benefits the poor. In Morocco and Egypt small farms have four to six times more animals per hectare than larger farms. Landless farmers in India and those with less than one hectare own more than 30 per cent of cattle and buffaloes and have four times more stock per hectare than larger farmers. Higher stocking rates may not result in optimal efficiency but they demonstrate the importance of livestock development for rural growth and poverty reduction. Effective and sustainable livestock services are a key issue in rural development policy and have attracted 30-50 per cent of international support for livestock development in the last 10 years.
Livestock services in developing countries have not been very effective, especially in reaching the poor. Two key factors - declining budgets and administrative efficiency, and changing clients, problems and issues - caused this lack of impact and led to a search for alternative systems.
The most important trends in the institutional organization of livestock services now in the mainstream of the current development dialogue are a better distribution between the public and private sector and greater decentralization and transfer of responsibility to direct beneficiaries. The public sector must maintain public good which it can (or must) do itself, can subcontract to the private sector under close supervision, or can transfer fully to the private sector and maintain only an overview function. Pure public good services include policy planning, quarantine, food inspection and quality control. Public service responsibilities which can be subcontracted to the private sector are goods with externalities, such as compulsory vaccinations, extension through the mass media and research that is not patentable. Pure private goods include clinical animal health care, animal breeding and credit.
Livestock development in low income countries needs to operate within the overall development objectives of reducing rural poverty, promoting rural growth and enhancing sustainable resource use. Future development support could therefore be expected to concentrate on three main areas: further fine-tuning of economic policies; strengthening services to small holders; and increased emphasis on environmental investments in the livestock sector. In the last case, subjects for emphasis might cover the whole spectrum from land degradation and management (especially in the arid zones), through programmes to reduce livestock methane emission and then to cleaning of the environment.
Discussion points
The discussion on this paper again covered a broad range of questions. The relative roles of the public and private sectors were considered very important. There was general consensus that clear distinctions must be made between the role of the state in public good areas and that of the private sector in private good areas. Privatization should not be pushed too fast where a private sector was not yet able to perform efficiently in the interests of producers and consumers. The role and timing of credit were also considered important.
Impact of human activities and livestock on the African environment: an attempt to partition the pressure
Summary
The impact of human endeavours on the environment in the struggle to eke out a living through crop and animal agriculture is examined in a holistic context. Analyses focus on all the sources of pressure that modify the vegetation cover of rural Africa, including the effects of fires and burning of biomass, fuel wood extraction and deforestation and land clearing.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
Direct and indirect impacts of livestock production on the natural resources can only be assessed as an integral part of the overall pressures that human activities exert on the environment. Work on the dynamics of Sahel ranges shows that livestock are not a major factor in degradation. Even under extreme grazing during droughts less palatable and lower productivity plants supplant more palatable and more productive species only in the short run. A recent review concludes that the effects of grazing and drought are confused and that there is no solid evidence of irreversible effects on vegetation from livestock except around water points and permanent human settlements.
Woody cover in African drylands has decreased at a rapid rate, especially in the arid and in the drier parts of the semiarid zones. Soil degradation is less serious on crop than on rangelands with 75 per cent of the drylands being unaffected. Soil erosion, shifting sand and surface crust formation impeding infiltration and promoting run-off are among the major causes of soil degradation. It is probable that depletion of soil organic matter and nutrients is the most common cause of degradation.
Fire is responsible for 42 per cent of gross atmospheric emissions of CO2 to which Africa contributes 43 per cent, this exceeding the combined emissions of South America and Asia (39 per cent). Savanna fires consume more than 80 per cent of all burnt biomass. The impact of fuel wood use by rural populations and urban centres on wood resources and vegetation structure is a major pressure on the environment. In rural Africa, 80-90 per cent of the energy demand is derived directly from woody vegetation and wood-derived charcoal is an important source for food preparation and heating in the urban sector. Deforestation and land clearing for crops are other major sources of degradation.
Partitioning of biomass removal reveals the relative importance of the pressures exerted by human activities. By assessing support capacities for crops, livestock and fuel wood an aggregate index could thus emerge that would measure overall impact on the environment. Depending on ecosystem resilience -emanating from climate, landscape and soil and vegetation cover characteristics - risks of degrading processes and their resulting impact could then be identified. Causes of degradation such as wind and water erosion and nutrient depletion in soils due to crop and biomass removal could be given importance rankings and then aggregated.
Impact assessment could be incorporated into procedures developed by FAO to estimate the human support capacity from assessment of potential yields and outputs of crops. Conversion of yields of appropriate crop mixes into calories and protein enables computation of potential population densities that the food output can support. Comparison with present and future anticipated densities allows identification of critical areas where food output is or will be insufficient to meet minimum human needs. Livestock and fuel wood productivity models have recently been added by FAO to the estimation of potential productivity of land resources. These models, designed to operate on a digitalized land resource data base, include provisions for quantifying soil erosion hazards and resulting estimates of "tolerable" soil losses. Since the models are interphased, land productivity can be optimized for any set of development constraints and demand. A contextual framework thus exists that incorporates the essential building blocks for assessing whether current land use is sustainable and this framework could accommodate location specific data sets to estimate environmental impact.
Discussion points
There was general consensus during discussion that the role of livestock in resource degradation was still largely misunderstood in the broader world but that this ignorance resulted in negative effects being exaggerated. Methodologies need to be developed to study environmental issues. Proper presentation of results is also needed to avoid adverse criticism.
Macroeconomic, international trade and sectoral policies in livestock development
Summary
Following a general introduction Section 1 reviews regional trends in production, consumption and trade and highlights some related policy issues. Section 2 then considers in conceptual terms the importance of macroeconomic, trade and other economic policies to provide a basis for the remainder of the paper. Section 3 examines agricultural and livestock development in major developing regions in relation to macroeconomic and trade policies whereas Section 4 looks at livestock sector policies. Recent West African experiences in livestock production and trade against a background of changes in international and regional economic policies are the focus of Section 5. The concluding Section 6 focuses on appropriate economic policies for livestock development in low income countries.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
Macroeconomic, trade and sectoral policies are among those affecting the livestock sector in addition to public infrastructure, animal health services and investment in processing and marketing facilities. Because many services are public goods and essential to the success of other economic reforms governments needs to promote or provide them.
Policy should promote optimal use of domestic resources for both local consumption and export. The specific economic, social and natural resource characteristics of each country and the varying potential for livestock sector growth mean that policies must differ from country to country. Each country's production potential, consumption profile and market opportunities will determine livestock's role and the areas in which governments might seek to promote greater market efficiency.
The institutional capacity for micro and macroeconomic analysis of livestock issues is limited in most low income developing countries. For low income exporting countries, greater familiarity with international market developments is especially important, as is the development of more accurate and comprehensive data bases for policy analysis.
International market instability and distorted world prices create major policy dilemmas for developing countries that can produce livestock at relatively low cost. These dilemmas include whether world prices that are primarily the result of distortionary policies in developed countries should be used, whether to import lower cost livestock products because they benefit consumers despite the negative impact on producers and long term growth, and whether to protect domestic producers to encourage development of their own livestock sectors and thereby forego the benefits of low import prices.
Economic theory suggests international prices as the best measure of opportunity cost and determinant of domestic prices. The argument for using world prices depends only on the fact that they are fixed from the point of view of the country concerned. Each country needs, however, to make a critical appraisal of its own situation to arrive at a desirable solution. Careful assessment should he made of the possible extent to which inappropriate domestic policies are also important factors in the unsatisfactory performance and contribution to overall economic growth and poverty alleviation of the agricultural sector in general and the livestock subsector in particular.
The processed food sector offers opportunities for growth especially in Latin American and Asian countries already involved in exports. In the medium term low income countries in the Sahel and other developing regions might be able to increase production of dairy and other processed products to meet expanding regional and local demands. Beyond regional markets there are formidable barriers. To overcome these, developing countries need to engage in frequent negotiations with the industrial countries for better market access and seek agreement to be consulted in the setting of food import standards. Developing countries also need to encourage foreign investment in domestic industries in order to get support from the multinational firms that dominate world food markets.
In all regions, but especially in sub-Saharan Africa, governments must ensure the availability of the infrastructure and support services that producers need in order to be able to respond effectively to price incentives. Governments also need to help develop private sector capacity where state marketing boards are being dismantled and the private sector appears unable to respond to the new marketing environment.
Discussion summary
There was animated discussion on this paper and more detailed explanations were called for in some aspects. It was emphasized that the analysis in the paper does not support active government intervention to limit trade in order to further existing or new development policies. It was also pointed out that livestock sectors have suffered from policy interventions due to the anti-agriculture bias displayed by the economywide and sector policies adopted in most developing countries.
Research and technology transfer for livestock development
Summary
A framework for international action to support livestock development is presented and discussed. The goal is to help achieve increased and sustainable food production and generate revenue for improved food security in low income countries. This goal conforms to the global mandate of ILRI which, although its main function is research, cannot ignore the linking of research to technology transfer if it is to make an impact. Issues related to the role of livestock research in strategies making up the action framework and especially effective linkage with technology transfer are discussed. Africa is the focus, because, although it is not unique in facing the problems of low income countries, it provides the greatest challenge to the global agricultural development community.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
NARS need not only trained personnel but also adequate funds to cover fixed and operating costs if they are to function effectively. Government funding for livestock research has rarely been sufficient and has often been used ineffectively. Average expenditure on agricultural research for less developed countries in 1981-1985 was in the range 0.54-0.94 per cent of agricultural GDP, this being about a quarter of the percentage investment in developed countries. National resources are used mainly for staff salaries, which often account for 90 per cent of the total budget, and infrastructure. Donor funding is thus most often used for the marginal costs of experiments. Many NARS are still considered to be performing badly in spite of donor aid.
A human capacity/institution building model must replace long term technical assistance in order to develop national capacity. Building effective systems capable of doing adaptive as well as applied research requires continued investment in higher education in the agricultural sciences. IARCs can play an important role in capacity building through training and collaborative research. Short courses should be supported by research training to collaborators in the context of projects undertaken in CGIAR-sponsored cross-centre and ecoregional initiatives. CGIAR scientists can also act as technical resource persons in applied and adaptive research projects. Increased efficiency will result from regional groupings of NARS or using established networks to carry out this research.
The action framework needs to include research and technology transfer policies. It also needs measures to promote increases in agricultural research investment within the framework of the new human capacity and institution building model. The effects of macro and sectoral policies affecting research impact also need to be considered as do international concerns about the consequences of livestock development on the environment, human health, equity and other critical issues.
An effective mix of research types and the strengths of all partners in global research and development need to be included in strategies that promote livestock development goals. Models such as CGIAR ecoregional projects, the CGIAR systemwide livestock initiative and the ILRI conceptual framework for dairy research provide useful examples. Organizational models that ensure transfer of new technologies are also needed and must include international organizations and NGOs. FAO/IARC cooperation is a useful model for effectively linking research and technology transfer.
To accomplish the framework's objectives explicit measures will be required to harness resources and ensure impact. Such activities could include:
· an ILRI/FAO/IFPRI policy unit charged with carrying out impact and policy analysis, educating the public, and garnering advocacy and support for livestock development; and· a livestock policy network such as that seen as part of the ILRI/IFPRI project on the determinants of dairy demand, which could help train NARS scientists in policy research and analysis and could be tied to the previously described policy unit.
Using these two structures, a "2020 Vision for Livestock Development" could be mounted to promote the message of the positive effects of livestock development for the public, interest groups and donors in the developed countries. These tangible measures would ensure that the framework for action is translated into reality and result in livestock development that will have a strong impact on human well being in low income countries.
Discussion points
There was some concern that direct participation by the beneficiaries - the small farmers - was not accorded sufficient attention. This argument was countered by the fact that the social dimension is included to the extent that the recommendations will positively affect farmer welfare. There was avid discussion on the role of research and how it should be funded. Consensus was difficult to reach on the latter, mainly because of efficiency issues with the public impression being that staff numbers and therefore expenditure had increased relative to operations in recent years. It was agreed that this should be viewed in the light of initial low staff numbers and salaries. The role and methods of technology transfer were discussed especially in relation to the framework of the proposed policy unit.
Redesigning for risk: tracking and buffering environmental variability in Africa's rangelands
Summary
Changes in the way rangeland development projects have been conceived and operated and better understanding of the priorities and strategies of traditional pastoral systems are the subject of this paper. Using a traditional conceptual framework approach, changes in overall objectives, project purpose, results and activities in relation to intervention logic, achievement indicators, sources of verification and assumptions are reviewed and compared for "ranching model" projects of the 1960s and 1970s and "tracking and buffering" projects of recent years.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
In the 1960s and 1970s the blueprint for African range and livestock development projects was the ranching model. By the early 1980s poor performance had subverted confidence and a decade of experiments involving large and small donors ensued. This was accompanied by extensive field research (including pastoral systems studies conducted by ILCA) and theoretical retooling (notably in scientific ecology). Much of this was innovative and practical but it did not provide a framework for assembling new research ideas and intervention techniques into an adequate policy for rangeland development. Recent advances in scientific ecology and pastoral studies have also failed to "solve" the overstocking problem and have not suggested more effective ways of removing surplus animals. They have, however, encouraged a reframing of the problem.
Typical projects of the 1980s sought to provide services, improve welfare and pastoral incomes, or develop pastoral community organizations. They had little success in accounting for how these activities contributed to sustainable resource management and its links with economic development.
Changes in the 1990s are underlined by abandoning of the earlier goal of "rangeland conservation" in favour of "sustainable rangeland production". Applied research on pastoral economies shows that priorities hinge on the volume and kind of produce and, contrary to the assumptions of the ranching projects (which were that sales equalled income), that traditionally managed livestock often provide their owners with cash and in kind benefits in excess of those derived from additional animal sales.
The dominant variables driving ecological changes on communal rangelands are physical factors, such as rainfall, outside management control. In these event dominated systems it is unrealistic for managers to try to forestall environmental change by tinkering with a single dependent biological variable such as livestock numbers. Managers who cannot control their environment must quickly adapt to it if they are to minimize the consequences of unpredictable rainfall. This opportunistic approach demands temporary but sudden and very substantial adjustments in livestock feed demand in response to abrupt changes in feed supply. Flexible exploitation strategies must be profitable as well as environmentally beneficial if producers are to adopt them. In other words, environmental concerns dominate project objectives but economic ones define project purpose. These dual intentions require both biological and economic indices of success - tracking and buffering of environmental fluctuations. Tracking refers to the biological phenomenon of prompt adjustment of livestock feed needs to fluctuating levels of primary production. Buffering refers to the economic phenomenon of shielding of pastoral incomes from the worst effects of violent climatological and biological changes.
Field research on problems of opportunistic management would undoubtedly produce more precise recommendations or increase confidence in those already proposed. Some activities such as paraveterinary programmes, water harvesting and famine early warning systems are ready for large scale use. Other potential project components such as famine relief, land tenure, livestock marketing and forage production still need research and field experimentation but are likely over the long term to improve the tracking and buffering of environmental variability in Africa's rangelands.
Discussion points
The role of research was the main focus of discussion. There was general agreement on the need for policy research and that institutions such as ILRI have a comparative advantage in undertaking surveys among systems. The concepts of "tracking" and "buffering" raised both comment and required clarification. Land reform and tenure were discussed with a consensus that widespread agrarian reform for communal areas is neither desirable nor feasible but that there is a need to explore other forms of tenure that allow for greater control of "key" resources such as dry season grazing.
Mixed farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa
Summary
The important position and role of mixed farming systems in land use intensification in sub-Saharan Africa is reviewed. This is done by examining the current situation that is followed with a justification for mixed farming. Further sections follow on changing patterns of land use, including the effects of tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis, and on constraints to further crop-livestock integration. Research needs are considered in a final section with particular emphasis on biophysical factors (feed development, nutrient management, dual purpose livestock, animal health, genetic improvement and natural resource management) and policy analysis.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
Development objectives for sub-Saharan Africa are moving towards resource conservation and natural resource management while striving for greater agricultural production. Economic growth must increase by 4-5 per cent annually if food security is to be achieved and a modest standard of living provided for the 1.3 billion people expected in the region by 2025. Rapid urban population growth (55 per cent of Africans will live in urban areas in 2025) and higher incomes will create a need for better quality food, particularly of animal origin, from a rural population that is expected to feed 592 million by 2025 compared to 350 million in 1990. This is an enormous challenge in a region that experienced a negative per caput GDP during the 1980s.
Strategies designed to rats-e the productivity of specific mixed crop-livestock systems must consider the stage of development of the target area in relation to intensification and the nature of crop-livestock interactions, the availability and cost of inputs, and whether or not policies favour mixed farming. No one set of actions is applicable to all situations. Mixed farming is an option for increasing agricultural productivity while ensuring environmental safety in the semiarid, subhumid and highland zones.
Mixed farming is developing naturally in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. At present economic levels livestock seem a viable alternative to manual labour and they help to replenish soil fertility and provide cash income for household needs. Production increases need to be rapid and sustainable and guarantee the well being of all. In order for this to be achieved political will and national commitment need to enact the required policy changes to intensify agriculture.
Discussion points
Discussion focused on the likelihood and impact of intensification including competition for land and labour. New technologies were considered important in the intensification process although the poor past performance of "technology transfer" and the lack of research relevance were noted. There was no consensus that integration and intensification is the only way forward. It was pointed out that many arable farmers do not own animals and those who have do not necessarily have the incentive to integrate or commercialize. The need for characterizing integrated farming systems by various economic, environmental and social indicators was discussed.
Livestock, feeds and mixed farming systems in West Asia and North Africa
Summary
This paper looks forward to 2020 in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region, extending from Morocco in the west to Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east and from Turkey in the north to Ethiopia and Yemen in the south. Prospects for crop and crop residue production, range capacity and livestock and feed deficits are reviewed. Macrobalances of food, feeds and livestock are projected in relation to human population trends. Case studies of flock diet calendars for small ruminants and whole farm economic views of mixed crop-livestock systems are presented. The ways in which microlevel balances help in understanding how livestock management options affect cropping decisions while country macrobalances determine the economic contexts of livestock production are demonstrated.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
The region has large areas with winter rainfall and hot dry summers. Population increase has been rapid in the past and many countries will have accelerated growth at least up to 2020. The social as well as the physical ecology of the region must be respected in deciding on policy and production.
Policy issues remain a problem. In many countries grain is heavily subsidized as feed for animals. Rangeland tenure and farm level decision making need attention, the informal seed sector need supports and more support is needed for improved on-farm livestock management and nutrition. Management issues should have more attention paid them to bring them into better balance in relation to the current emphasis on veterinary and animal breeding investments.
Food and feed demand have grown faster than domestic production in most countries and will continue to do so. The resource base for traditional animal production, mainly native rangelands and crop residues, is under increasing pressure and large future feed deficits are projected. Differences in income, food and feed supplies are so great among WANA countries that indiscriminate aggregations of their prospects can result in serious misconceptions. Smaller groupings are proposed to distinguish clusters with contrasting prospects in an attempt to prevent these misconceptions.
Microstudies of mixed systems show the adaptability of animal diets by means of diet calendars and of crop-livestock mixes on individual farms but the microview of improved mixed systems offers only partial relief from the gloomy macrovision of rising feed and livestock deficits in the region's future.
Discussion points
There was discussion on the sustainability of many current practices, particularly the use of subsidized feed grain and its consequences. The future for many countries is bleak, especially those lacking a potential manufacturing base or mineral wealth. Self sufficiency grain or animal products is unlikely although rotations incorporating legumes might increase overall production and have the additional effect of increasing the amount of animal feed. Considerable interest was expressed in the survey methodology used by ICARDA and its potential for use by NARS.
Constraints and opportunities for livestock development in mixed farming systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
Summary
Opportunities for development of the animal component of mixed farming systems in the tropical countries of the region are examined. The emphasis is on cattle because they are the most widespread species and contribute nearly half the meat and almost all of the milk produced in the LAC countries.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
Mixed systems that include crops and livestock are widespread at all altitudes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on small and medium sized farms. On larger farms, as in the South American savannas, integration is becoming common despite traditional separation of crops and livestock.
Major social, economic and environmental changes took place in the region in the last 20 years including stagnation or a fall in GDP, hyperinflation, acute fiscal deficits and large foreign debts. Population growth was more than two per cent per year. Macroeconomic adjustments to reduce market distortions and public deficits have been harsh in the short term. They have included removal of subsidies and caused lower production of staple foods, widespread unemployment and reduced social services. Public spending on agricultural research and support has decreased. Civil disturbance, organized violence and crime symbolize the period. Recent improvements in some countries have been offset by deterioration in others and international war returned to the region in 1995.
Milk and beef are important in the Latin American diet. Overall average consumption of milk and meat per caput remained fairly static between 1976-1983 and 1984-1991 but more countries recorded decreases than increases in both products, especially in Central America and the Caribbean.
Total milk production has increased by about two per cent per year since 1976 but has generally failed to keep up with population growth. Tropical LAC produced 88 per cent of its milk requirements during 1984-1991. A deficit of nine million tonnes is predicted for the year 2000. Beef production has increased more rapidly than milk. Most expansion, however has been from increases in inventory as yields per head have remained fairly stable. The region has been a net exporter of beef over the last two decades but a shortfall of 356000 tonnes is predicted by 2000.
LAC has a privileged situation compared to other parts of the tropical world but has major problems of poverty and violence, declining standards of living and environmental degradation. Cattle have an important role in improving this situation and there is much current technology to do this. Yet progress has been slow and opportunities lost. A holistic, integrated concept of livestock production is the most important factor for harnessing resources and catalysing change. Once this is in place, policies conducive to the sustainable development of systems including livestock will be set more widely and appropriate research and training to serve the region's future needs can be undertaken.
Discussion points
Discussion centred on what many participants obviously considered controversial matters introduced by the speaker. There was concern in particular about remarks that extension workers were not needed as farmers acted as their own extension agents as well as about the need to avoid continuing with farm surveys over long periods of time without achieving tangible results. The amount of information available and its accessibility and transfer were also major points of discussion.
Mixed farming and intensification of animal production systems in Asia
Summary
Mixed farming systems are discussed with reference to general characteristics, economic importance of animals, genesis, types and relevance of crop-animal systems, and priorities for research and development. Mixed systems are found in rainfed areas in the temperate and highland zones, humid and subhumid tropics and arid and semiarid subtropics and under irrigation in the humid and sub humid tropics and arid and semiarid tropics and subtropics. The relevance of integrated crop-animal systems is highlighted with reference to advantages, synergism and complementarily, economic benefits and sustainability. Illustrative cases of two broad types of mixed farming systems combining animals and annual cropping and systems combining animals with perennial cropping are presented.
Conclusions and/or recommendations
The economic importance of livestock in Asia is reflected in their contribution of 10 per cent of the total value of commodities, this figure being the highest of all the developing regions. The largest contribution within agroecological zones of 44.9 per cent is from the warm humid/subhumid tropics and subtropics, the arid and semiarid tropics with summer rainfall being next with 37.6 per cent.
Increased investment in research in the rainfed warm humid/subhumid and arid/semiarid tropics is necessary together with strong multidisciplinary efforts to address the more complex problems associated with natural resource use and management in mixed systems. The potential benefits are directly associated with a more concerted role for animals, increased productivity from these zones and demonstration of environmentally sustainable mixed farming systems.
Opportunities for research and development to overcome existing constraints are enormous and the contribution of animals can be greatly increased. Reorientation of programme focus and direction is necessary to achieve this, using multidisciplinary strengths in target agroecological zones. Holistic research on mixed systems has been weak and most past research has been on cropping systems. Inclusion of animals in systems research began only 10 years ago in some countries. Some progress has been made in the development of methodologies to understand the interactions between subsystems but much research has been sporadic and has not been tested on a large scale. Research needs in support of crop-livestock-tree systems include baseline studies to quantify energy flows, simulation models to identify possible coefficient changes, field testing of interventions and new technology, and "test marketing" of proposed developments on typical subpopulations within the region.
Better use of animal genetic resources is necessary to maximize productivity. Dairy production, for example, has received major attention in almost all countries and has had varying degrees of success but is hampered by yield-reducing environmental stresses, inadequate feed production and poor nutritional management, high capital costs, limited market size, low cost of competing imports and product perishability. Investment in these programmes has been enormous but returns are essentially short term and long term viability is very doubtful. An associated inability to sustain breeding and maintenance of crossbred animals is a further problem. Such massive use of resources has diverted attention from more balanced development and use of other species to increase protein production. Notable in this regard are beef cattle, swamp buffalo, goats, sheep and ducks. Many potentially important breeds have never been adequately used and many are destined for extinction.
Feed is the principal constraint among the non-genetic factors affecting productivity. Ruminant feed resources are greatly underused. Better feed use is hampered by low animal numbers, inadequate intensification of the production system and poor technology delivery and use. The approach should be towards a balanced feed supply, with balanced energy/protein ratios and correction of critical deficiencies with low cost supplements. In areas where livestock are the basis of the economy and the production system is largely pastoral increased fodder production is necessary as are corrections to problems of mineral deficiencies. Research into these and other constraints provides a major challenge for rangeland ecology and national livestock production.
Inadequate, inappropriate and inefficient technology use is a major limitation to increased animal output. Technology application at farm level is especially weak and is related to poorly formulated development programmes that often preclude strong interdisciplinary team effort and concerted on-farm use. Large scale on-farm testing is needed, involving a major shift to participatory development.
Successful project implementation needs strong policy support. A reorientation of animal production programmes is required to deal with more complex multisectoral and multidisciplinary projects that address natural resource use and management and that provide for environmentally sustainable development. Some factors to be considered include watershed management, nutrient recycling, biodiversity, changing socio-economic conditions and attitudes, and consumer preferences.
Discussion points
The complexity of Asian systems was a major focus of discussion. Non-ruminants are very important and may need more research. It was agreed that conventional and non-conventional systems are evolving rapidly in response to population growth and urbanization. More information on the extent of the positive and negative (including waste generation) changes taking place would be useful.
Introduction
Working groups were assigned three tasks:
· Task One was to review changes that have taken place in the supply and demand for livestock products over the last 30 years. The analysis was to include directions in input use and resource management and degradation and identification of the factors underlying these changes, such as macroeconomic policies, institutional elements, trade, urbanization and population growth. The output was expected to contribute to a report on past and present directions in livestock productivity and consumption of livestock products as part of a forward looking 2020 vision paper to be produced later.· Task Two was to identify the key goals and opportunities for livestock development over the next 25 years by major agroecological zones and the major social, economic, environmental, technical, policy and institutional constraints to achieving these goals. The expected output was a clear statement of defined goals and opportunities for livestock development that could realistically be achieved by 2020 and a related description of the set of concerns and constraints that must be overcome for the goals to be achieved.
· Task Three was to identify appropriate strategies for the goals identified in Task Two, including actions on- and off-farm at the national level, and at regional and international levels, in order to improve livestock production and the research and development implications of these actions. The temporal, spatial and social implications of these actions were to be indicated if possible. The expected output was a clear formulation of the measures required for achieving better management of the natural resource base to 2020.
Group One - Sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia and North Africa
Task One: Sub-Saharan Africa
General trends have been away from extensive and mobile range systems towards more intensive and sedentary small holder agropastoral and mixed farming systems. Some data are available on research and extension funding, human resource situations and levels of training but there is no political lobby or domestic constituency for long term agricultural research. Structural adjustment has improved the image and acceptance of policy research but associated budget cuts have had a negative effect. Link between research and extension are generally poor. Vocational training and farmer education require strengthening but a training needs assessment is required. With regard to resource management and degradation, it is not possible to identify trends until a workable definition degradation is agreed. If soil nutrient depletion is a good criterion degradation on crop lands may be serious but it will be much less so on grazing lands. Awareness of natural resource management problems is improving. NGO interest is high but their effectiveness is unpredictable because they lack appropriate technical knowledge. In the field of policy, devaluation has a negative effect on high input, intensive, import dependent systems but favours those based on domestic natural resources. Anti-agricultural trade, marketing and exchange rate policies are changing and have already had an effect on trade. Badly conceived domestic sectoral and trade policies can offset the benefits of devaluation. Correlations between tenure reform and changes in agricultural output are weak and other constraints to better performance are more important than deficiencies in land laws.
Task One: West Asia and North Africa
Livestock product supply is well below demand and the general trend is downwards. Most countries are net importers of livestock products. Socio-economic and development indicators show the share of GDP derived from agriculture to be good. Some countries, through policy instruments, are committed or attempting to implement structural adjustment programmes but others are resisting them. Rangeland tenure policies vary although there has been a general trend towards privatization. Most WANA countries have had politically motivated land reforms that have been variously effective. Production quotas remain for several critical crops but movement and sales controls are now being removed. The primary effect of irrigation is through fodder crop production and the use of crop residues. Credit availability has promoted livestock production. Extension services are weak in technology transfer and often act as state agricultural police but there are some signs of improvement. Expenditure on agricultural research is low in relation to GDP. Road and railway infrastructure is generally better in WANA than in sub-Saharan Africa. There are regional organizations and some potential for regional market integration but there is generally not much current activity.
Task Two: Sub-Saharan Africa
Development prospects over the next 25 years seem bleak without fundamental policy reform and technical innovation. The importance of small ruminants is likely to increase with increasing population pressure and declining farm size in the semiarid zone. There is potential for increased dairy production but appropriate policies are required. Fattening operations can be expected to develop where feed is available. There are prospects for expansion and intensification in the subhumid zone where cattle will take precedence over small ruminants but the output mix will depend on prices. Larger crop areas will have a negative impact on migratory livestock producers who will tend to settle. Tsetse flies will decline in importance as cultivation spreads and Bos indicus cattle will expand at the expense of trypanotolerant Bos taurus types. In the humid zone it is likely that crop-livestock integration will be limited to economic links but poultry and pig production will probably expand. The disease challenge is high but there is good potential if the considerable health and management problems can be overcome. The main consuming areas in the humid zone give it a comparative advantage for final fattening but there will be a need to control potential environmental pollution. There are possible resource degradation problems in parts of East Africa. Soils are better than in West Africa so nutrient depletion is less of a risk but slope and wind erosion may be problems. The bimodal rainfall pattern allows pastoralism to penetrate deep into relatively high rainfall areas. Subhumid lowlands in parts of East and Southern Africa have low population density and high potential if tsetse problems can be overcome. Root crops are expanding in these areas which may limit integration possibilities. There is potential for intensive livestock production for small scale pigs and poultry in Southern Africa in general. The highland areas can be considered as a series of subzones with different sets of advantages and problems. In the "roots and beans" highlands the demand for livestock products is limited by low purchasing power of consumers and continued civil strife is a problem. In the "dairy" highlands land is the scarcest production factor but further specialization in the vicinity of urban areas can be expected. Temperature is the limiting factor at high altitudes in the "grain" highlands where extensive sheep grazing predominates and prospects for more efficient production through fattening are good. Dairy production is likely to replace the oxen/cereal system at middle altitudes as farm sizes become smaller.
The major causes of concern are security at the local level, especially between pastoralists and farmers over crop damage and competition for scarce resources, and civil war on a wider scale. Human health problems and weaknesses in the marketing system are additional problems. Concerns about animal welfare and the environment will assume increasing importance.
Task Two: West Asia and North Africa
A major general goal is to exploit the comparative advantage presented to livestock by crop residues and native pastures and the integration of forage crops, feed grains and agroindustrial by-products in livestock diets. Nutritional management of small ruminants should be improved to avoid feed wastage and to make better economic use of animal genetic potential. Expansion of meat, dairy and poultry production based on domestic and imported feed grains and agro-industrial by-products should take place where there is a comparative advantage in so doing. An institutional framework for the most appropriate management of rangelands missing. Development prospects over the next 25 years are that West Asia and North Africa will continue to be the biggest importer of livestock and livestock products in the world and will be a major potential market for sub-Saharan Africa.. There are prospects for intensifying existing mixed farming systems through the use of external feed resources and forage crops. Intensive horticulture may compete with intensive livestock production for capital and scarce natural resources. There is considerable potential for increased milk production if suitable policies are put in place. More intensive production will increase the absolute value of livestock output but livestock's contribution to GDP may show some decline. An area of concern is that there is no unused land and no possibility of horizontal expansion so increases in output must come through intensification and irrigation.
Task Three: Sub-Saharan Africa
In the low potential areas comprising the arid and part of the bimodal rainfall semiarid zones there is some need for development and employment of both existing and new technology but policy and institutional factors are of greater importance. All of the technology, policy and institutional spheres are in need of very strong support in the high potential areas of the semiarid and subhumid zones and that part of the highlands with good development opportunities where returns to investment should be very high. Highland areas with high population densities are considered to be of reasonably high potential deserving of strong support and returns to all of the technology, policy and institutional spheres should be reasonably high. There is little need for technology or institutional support for agribusiness but the policy area needs clarification.
Task Three: West Asia and North Africa
In the arid zones (< 200 mm) where range and pastoral mountain systems are dominant technology should focus on known techniques to arrest degradation and possibly to increase productivity. In the policy area there is need for clarification of property rights and establishment of appropriate communal or private management. There is typically weak institutional capacity at the national level and political and legal issues are not well understood. There is potential for social conflict in many countries. Partnerships between IARCs and NARS on strategic issues related to interactions between technology and policy are essential to the development of sustainable management.
In the cereal-legume mixed farming semiarid zones with 200-450 mm annual precipitation the technology focus on introduction of legumes, especially forage legumes, has had limited success. Adoption rates for seed and fertilizer technology for barley production have been low. Sheep are the key enterprise on many farms. The main focus should be on economic integration for optimal nutritional management of small ruminants. Policy must focus on integration of cereals and legumes with small ruminants. Strategic research is needed on price-subsidy relations, structural adjustment, comparative advantage and factor availability. The institutional capacity of NARS must be strengthened and governments must increase funding to research. The effort devoted to management and nutrition of small ruminants should be increased to bring it in better balance with existing efforts on animal breeding and veterinary services. IARCs must work together on policy, trade, price and factor issues to balance long term strategies against social disfunctions due to sudden policy changes.
The subhumid zones where precipitation is in the range 450-1200 mm have considerable diversity with emphasis on winter wheat, horticulture and industrial crops and intensive dairy, feedlot and poultry enterprises. Long term technology issues relate partly to the management, scarcity and competition for water and potential pollution of the environment by agroindustries and feedlots. Current technology and knowledge is adequate for short term management of resources through NARS. There appears to be no major need for IARC involvement. There is a need for greater policy emphasis on strategic issues affecting resource use, inputs, import and export issues and markets for horticultural products. The scope for integrating crops and livestock within and across ecozones and within existing land use patterns must be further defined. Institutional needs relate to integration of livestock with crops and rangeland, inadequate links between research and extension for technology transfer and feedback to policy, development of effective mechanisms for people participation in improved range production, encouragement of appropriate privatization of services, consideration of who should do strategic research on major animal diseases, seed deficits, and macroeconomic distortion.
Cold winters and transhumant livestock compound technology problems in the highland zones. Integration with the rest of the region to assist trade and poor infrastructure in remote areas are policy domain concerns. Low literacy and poor technology uptake are among the institutional problems.
Group Two - Asia
Tasks One and Two
The three major agroecological zones are the humid and subhumid, arid and semiarid and highland zones. Analysis of trends over recent years and expectations and identification of opportunities indicated that investment in livestock research and development has been falling in Southeast Asia but the current rate of decline is expected to slow down. Human populations will rise rapidly but this will be accompanied by an increase in average incomes. The rapid increase in crop area should not continue and a change to oil palm, rubber and citrus fruit tree crops may reduce the total crop area early in the 21st century. Increases in livestock numbers will mainly be in pigs and poultry.
Task Three
The initial emphasis was on opportunities, constraints affecting them and supporting research and development strategies in order to define broad priority research spheres. Six major research areas were identified within which specific issues were further indicated. These, ranked in order of importance, are feeds, systems, genetics, policy, socio-economics, and health policy. Within each research area the magnitude of a particular constraint was further identified.
In the humid and subhumid zones feed use requires more research than conservation or production. Capacity is lacking in systems research and has the highest priority with methodology being next, followed by environment, watershed management and dynamics. There is only low priority for research on plant and animal genetic resources. Domestic policy requires average resource inputs as does scenario development in the socio-economics area. Community development in the socio-economics area demands few resources in all three agroecological zones as does health policy.
In the arid and semiarid zones most emphasis is needed on feed production and animal movement in systems research. Average resources should be directed to feed utilization, systems dynamics and methodology, animal genetic resources and socio-economic scenarios. Relatively little support is needed for systems environments and research capacity, plant genetic resources and domestic policy.
In the highlands high priority is needed for feed production and animal movement in the systems area. Conservation and use of feeds is of medium priority as are systems dynamics, watershed management and methodology. Domestic policy and socio-economic scenarios should also receive average priority. Least use of resources is demanded by environmental research and research capacity in the systems area and by animal and plant genetic resources.
Development must be a partner in research. If both research and development efforts focus on defined problems the outcomes for low income farmers and livestock herders are likely to be significant increases in productivity. The development focus should be on lowland rainfed systems. The core themes could be community development to encourage local groups to improve the productivity of the resources they manage, applied research and technology transfer with a view to substantially improving linkages between research and extension, increasing the efficiency of extension and adapting strategic research findings to local conditions, and price policy so that the probability of adoption of general recommendations arising from pure policy research is high. Links between research and extension could be further strengthened by setting firm time specific targets. Field rather than station research might be an important element in the pursuit of such targets.
The efficiency of many research and extension programmes is low. Attention should thus be given to the development of indicators of effectiveness so that there will be faster transfer of potential benefits at less cost. A parallel problem is lack of awareness of emerging research technologies and methodologies among scientists working on core problems, particularly in the suggested focus on the development of systems thinking and integrated systems. A third aspect is the need for a forum to bring together research and development specialists to develop, for Asia or by theme, draft proposals, act as a coordinating body, and evaluate and/or supervise projects where this is appropriate. In all these developments maximum use should be made of existing bodies and structures.
Group Three - Latin America and the Caribbean
Task One
Indicators selected for this task relate to demography, macro and trade policies, consumption, imports, exports, inflation, land availability and use, income, impact of attitude to adoption of new technology, trends in production systems, product yields and offtake rates, input sales for livestock, importance of livestock products in diets and elasticities of demand, structural adjustment programmes leading to opening of markets, and regional and international trade agreements. The human population is about 450 million of whom more than 50 per cent live in urban areas. Cultivated land is equivalent to 0.43 ha/caput and grazing land to 1.27 ha/caput, both these being considerably higher than the average for all developing regions. Crop and livestock output per caput is also relatively high, the latter being more than two and a half times that of low income countries as a whole.
Milk production increased by 23 per cent from 1985 to 1990 but was mostly from more animals and not from higher production per animal. Beef production is 13.9 per cent of world output. As for milk, production increases are mainly from horizontal expansion and not from animal productivity increases. Horizontal expansion results in cattle gradually being displaced to more marginal land.
There is extremely rapid urbanization and the rural population declined from 50-60 per cent in various countries of the region in 1960 to 10-40 per cent in 1990. Milk production has not kept pace with demand and urban growth. Meat production exceeds local demand and allows considerable exports but regional consumption per caput shows a downward trend. Low land prices allow production systems to remain extensive in nature and there is little pressure to intensify in many areas. Price policies have focused on urban consumers and this has been assisted by subsidized prices of imports from the European Union. Prices paid to consumers have remained low.
Tasks Two and Three
Priority areas are the humid, subhumid and semiarid lowlands and the highland agroecozones. The goal is the sustainable improvement of the welfare of people and the environment, which can be described as ecosystem health. The main purposes in achieving ecosystem health are to optimize the contribution of livestock to the national economy and welfare, increase livestock productivity, and maintain or enhance the natural resources and biodiversity in the context of livestock production systems. Each purpose has an accompanying set of outputs and these in turn are achieved by a group of activities. Outputs expected from optimized livestock contributions are improved farm income and better rural development, improved health and welfare of the rural and urban poor, improved livestock markets- and better conditions for research on crop/livestock systems. Optimized feeding strategies, improved animal health, selected and appropriate species and breeds, an improved understanding of the role of livestock in mixed farming systems, better training and education programmes and improved product quality and processing methods are the outputs expected from the increased livestock productivity purpose. Maintained or enhanced natural resources and biodiversity are expected to result in improved soil fertility, stabilization of hillsides and reduced erosion, and reduced deforestation and smaller areas of slash and burn agriculture.
Final Plenary Session
Discussion
The discussion centred largely on points requiring clarification in the presentations by the three working groups. General comments covered the costly and rot very successful farming systems approach in sub-Saharan Africa but it was felt that this criticism of on-farm research was probably premature as the real objectives and problem definitions were not sharp enough and lead to the collection of costly and unnecessary data that were not analyzed or, if they were, contributed little to the removal of the ill-defined constraints. A further comment on research failure related to the lack of a genuine needs assessment of rural farmers, insufficient attention being paid to an ecosystem approach and the hierarchy of nested ecosystems that comprise the animal production system.
It was also considered that widespread support for helping people in low income countries through livestock development needed some institutional structure based on sustained allocation of funds and manpower. There was also considered to be a need for a mechanism that takes into account the concerns of the public, interest groups and policy makers in developed countries and that a global forum, a secretariat, a policy network and a "2020 vision for livestock" would be complementary activities in this mechanism. Attention was also drawn to the fact that publicizing the role of livestock and promoting policy research would cost money. Funding might have to be a consortium effort.
Finally, policy was highlighted as important but it was accepted that this is swayed by politics, external funding, resource allocation, interest lobbies and many other factors. Livestock were considered to make a major yet still undervalued contribution to development. The answers coming out of this meeting and the constraints and opportunities identified must be exploited for the benefit of livestock development and the welfare of the world's people.
Peroration
The main point arising from the Roundtable is that the welfare of small farmers and herders - and not of livestock - is the goal. Livestock research and development must turn the goal into reality. Livestock's case must therefore be presented to show that improved production will not adversely affect opportunities to feed people, maintain environmental quality and conserve genetic resources.
The new vision places livestock in a production and an ecological system. There are immense opportunities to improve producer and consumer welfare by further integration of crops and livestock into truly mixed systems. This new system thinking presents a challenge. Experts in systems analysis and modelling need to be brought into livestock research fore. A critical factor for further progress will be a clear articulation of the role of livestock in advancing human development.
Understanding of the consequences of continuing with the status quo versus the pursuit of visionary hut realistic alternatives must be developed as part of the process. A capacity to create development scenarios and policy alternatives has been identified as a need, requiring the blending of Global Information Systems and modelling with policy analysis techniques. The resultant framework should show where livestock can make a difference. It could form the basis of a set of research and policy decision support systems for use by international, national and local organizations.
Progress in the development of realistic scenarios needs to be supported by research on indicators of performance - ecosystem health - so that the models can be simple and persuasive. Research on indicators will also be useful in clarifying the relations between livestock and the environment.
One of the greatest openings for progress lies in the identification of opportunities to improve livestock policy and the institutional arrangements that influence livestock management and investment strategies. Land tenure arrangements, for example, can give investment security and facilitate joint management of resources. New price and regional trade policies would do much to improve overall welfare and reduce land degradation. As some reforms would bring about significant structural adjustment it is important that the most effective order or sequence for implementing change is identified. Simple generalized recommendations that fail to clarify the impact of change are insufficient and only serve to discredit livestock research.
Past research agendas have failed to involve local farmers. Isolated behind field station gates much research has seemed, and on examination has proved, to be irrelevant. Research projects that focus on problems that are not relevant to farmers' needs risk failure. The alternative is a research environment that creates a seamless link between resource use, people, development, extension and research. Development projects can be modified to provide the adaptive platforms necessary for effective research. Animal breeding trials and forage utilization trials can be carried out on farms.
The search for new research mechanisms suggests a parallel need for research on ways to encourage local communities to solve their own problems, to form their own organizations and, even, to commission research. Overall the vision is one that is output and product focused with people at the centre. Problem recognition, firm product targets, clear hypotheses, system thinking, policy relevance and small farmer welfare provide focus for that vision.
Recommendations
The livestock roundtable concluded its meeting with optimism and purpose. In particular, it felt that the new vision of livestock research and development working in partnership must result in the development of an action plan. It resolved unanimously:
· that senior representatives from FAO and ILRI meet before May 1995 to form a Livestock Research and Development Forum with a charter to· coordinate livestock related research and development across the developing world,· identify opportunities to create synergies between development and research by, for example, targeting work in the same region and designing projects so that they can be used for complementary research and development purposes,
· ensure that research conclusions are incorporated into development proposals as soon as possible,
· act as a clearing house for information about livestock development and research proposals,
· facilitate the refinement of draft project plans by means of appropriately constructed working groups,
· endorse integrated development/research plans for submission to donors,
· promote livestock's image in development and the potential for research on livestock production and resource conservation to enhance their positive contribution to sustainable development, and
· identify opportunities for the development of innovative livestock communication strategies.
· that FAO/ILRI/IFPRI develop a proposal for a Livestock Policy Research Network for submission to the livestock planning group responsible for implementing the CGIAR's new Systemwide Livestock Initiative.
· that ILRI, in association with FAO, take a lead role in developing the image of livestock, livestock research, and livestock development.
· that ILRI ensure that the new CGIAR communication strategy give prominence to livestock research.
It is anticipated that the Executive of the Livestock Research and Development Forum would comprise a small group of FAO and ILRI representatives responsible for the general direction of livestock research and development. The opportunity to expand the Executive to include people from other agencies, NARS and farmer organizations should be considered. The Executive would be aided by a Secretariat comprising senior staff of FAO and ILRI. One or two resource persons could be appointed to the Executive and/or the Secretariat. Opportunities to allow open membership of the forum and hold periodic meetings should be considered carefully. It is envisaged that the forum's Executive would meet at least once a year and, through its Secretariat, convene regularly by e-mail.
