Development policy
The growing demand for livestock: will policy and institutional changes benefit poor people?
Can better policies help poor livestock producers?
Authors:
A. Catley
Publisher:
id21 Development Research Reporting Service, 2008
As global demand for meat and milk increases, many policies focus on promoting international trade in livestock and livestock products. How does this affect the community-based livestock services that poor people use, and who will benefit from the expanding global markets?
In all developing countries, people live side by side with livestock. Animals are reared in nearly all ecosystems, from arid high-mountain zones to low-lying deserts. People benefit from livestock in many ways:
- livestock are used for food, income and draught power. Their skins are used for housing, clothing and household utensils and their dung is used for fuel and manure
- livestock often provide a substantial proportion of household wealth; they are the key asset in many dryland environments
- for poor families with just a few chickens or goats, livestock-derived foods (such as eggs and milk) are an important source of nutrition, especially for children and mothers
