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Livestock are terrestrial, domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide traction or produce commodities such as meat, milk, eggs and hides. They contribute to diverse agri-food systems globally, playing many roles for different groups of people. From the perspective of the sustainability of the global livestock sector, there are four important and interrelated aspects: food and nutrition security; livelihoods and growth; health and animal welfare; and climate and natural resource use. Sustainable livestock are at the interface of these four topics, which provide the structure of the breakout sessions in the 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture.

This brochure has been prepared by FAO to help guide discussions during the Forum in general and specifically during the four breakout sessions. First an overview of global livestock sector dynamics is presented, followed by four sections covering breakout session topics and discussing challenges, opportunities and possible areas for policy action. Sustainable livestock is then discussed in relation to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Finally, the diversity of global livestock systems is presented as a global map showing the distribution of the main systems.