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| Agriculture :: Livestock :: Regional Role |
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Millions of rural households in Asia-Pacific countries depend on domesticated animals for food, farm power and income. The region is home to 30 percent of the world's livestock species. Though livestock food products are still not a significant part of the diet in developing Asia-Pacific countries, consumption is growing rapidly. Developing Asian countries now have the world's highest growth rates of production and consumption of food derived from livestock.
Numerous development problems have arisen as a result of this Asian "livestock revolution". Key areas being addressed by the FAO regional office are:
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Economic and environmental sustainability |
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Improving the livelihoods of producers, especially small-scale livestock producers |
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Control of transboundary animal diseases |
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Loss of genetic animal diversity |
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Food safety standards |
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Strengthening national veterinary services |
The dynamic Asian livestock subsector is growing at a rate between 3.5 and 5
percent per annum – more rapid than the crops sector – driven partly by rising incomes
and changing preferences of urban consumers. Livestock producers in peri-urban areas
are increasing production and modifying management systems to respond to this rapid rise
in demand. Small-scale producers are not generally a part of the rapid rise in intensive
animal production. And yet, more than half of the small-scale farmers in Asia rely on livestock as a major source of income and nutrition.
The drive by peri-urban producers to serve urban markets has led to intensive
production, with problems of livestock waste, land management
and distribution. There is greater awareness of the potential for
transmission of disease from animals to humans, particularly with the current bird
flu (avian influenza) crisis. Such diseases affecting animals and humans can spread
rapidly across the region, creating transboundary animal disease epidemics.
There are also concerns about the rising demand for livestock feed, increased need
for veterinary services and training, loss of genetic resources and need for
extension of cash-making livestock opportunities for small-scale producers.
International concerns for food safety are also of increasing relevance as
World Trade Organization (WTO) guidelines come closer to demanding that standards be adopted by trading partners. Questions remain unanswered as to the structural changes that will occur following adoption of food safety standards – addressing the legitimate concerns of consumers – and their impact on small-scale producers. Structural changes are also being led by the growth in urban areas of supermarket vendors of livestock products, intensifying the need to examine opportunities for vertically integrating vulnerable producers.
FAO is responding to these concerns in a number of ways through its activities and programmes in the region. |
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