- 1. Four legs good, two legs good? Livestock and livelihoods of
poor people Animal source foods, food security and climate change:
burden, blessing or both?12 June 2009 Nigel Poole Centre for
Development, Environment and Policy SOAS University of London
2. Outline: livestock and livelihoods
- Terminology and the head count
- Policies, projects and interventions
-
- How livestock matter to poor people
-
-
- Examples from developing regions
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- Animal traction - land, labour and drudgery
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- Lifestyle: social and cultural aspects
3. Livestock outputs and terms *
- hides/skins/feathers/furs
- Livestock and poultry generally refer to domestic animals,
classified by genera and sometimes by species, often aggregated
into groups. Not fish
- cattle, buffaloes, camels, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, mules,
asses, chickens
- Other groups variously important:
- other fowl: guinea fowl, ducks, geese, turkeys, ostriches
- rabbits, guinea pigs, pigeons, fur animals, deer, reindeer,
other camelids
- bees, silkworms, snails, rats (for mine clearance ** )
* Adapted from FAO Statistics Division ** Time Magazine, 2008
*** Neumann, Harris and Rogers (2002), and Garnett (2009,
p.497)
Among poor societies keeping a goat, a pig or a few chickens can
make a critical difference to the adequacy of the diet *** 4.
Livestock headcounts * * Adapted from FAO Statistics Division 5.
ILRI: why livestock matter *
- The poorest people live in rural areas of tropical developing
countries, and most keep farm animals
-
- cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry are among the
most important assets of the poor and are the mainstays of their
farming
-
- livestock are a source of income, food and fertiliser
- sustain their livelihoods, assets, health and environments
-
- Livestock is one of the fastest growing sub-sectors in
developing countries, where it already accounts for a third of
agricultural GDP**
-
-
- 37% of the agricultural GDP and about 9% of the total GDP in
Pakistan
- the livestock revolution: the demand for livestock foods in
developing countries will more than double over the next twenty
years
-
- driven by rising demand for poultry, pork, fish, eggs, beef and
milk
-
- India: Operation Flood (Indias White Revolution)
-
-
- milk consumption nearly doubled between early 1980s- late 1990s
***
-
- offers several hundred million people the opportunity to raise
themselves out of absolute poverty involves intensification of
production
* ILRI (2009); ** WDR (2008, p.52); *** WDR (2008, p.59) 6. The
livestock revolution in Indonesia *
- Indonesia is urbanising rapidly with more than 60% of the
population expected to be living in urban areas by 2025. As people
shift from farming areas to the city, it is inevitable there will
be greater demand for livestock products
-
- World Bank predicts a growth rate of almost 6% per annum in
meat demand in Indonesia by 2020
- Smallholder farmers in South Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara
are important suppliers into this expanding market and, for the
foreseeable future, cattle production is one of the best options
for raising the welfare of smallholder croplivestock
households
-
- livestock production is one of the few ways that smallholder
farmers can accumulate capital, given that livestock give much
greater returns per unit of labour than grain
* Australia Indonesia Partnership (2009) 7. Insurance in Moyale
& Dire, Ethiopia *
- Drought interventions encouraged poor pastoralist communities
to convert livestock to cash:
-
- Households were able to meet their immediate food and health
care needs, while also protecting core livestock assets through
buying feed, moving animals to better grazing areas, and providing
veterinary care
- Selling livestock assets also supported the local community and
economy, as the food and services for families and animals were
purchased mostly at local markets and from local businesses
* Bio-medicine.org 8. Laos: poverty & productivity
interventions *
- Northern Region Livestock Development Project
-
- Introduction of more efficient livestock production and
management technologies among ethnic minorities can considerably
ease pressures on livelihoods as well as the environment, and also
increase livestock productivity
-
- help to raise the income of poor ethnic groups
-
- facilitate their links with the regional markets emerging in
the Greater Mekong Subregion
-
- include a gender dimension
-
-
- women will benefit as most of the small livestock is tended by
them
* ADB (2008) 9. Complex systems in the Peruvian Andes *
- Systems vary across agro-ecological zones
-
- water availability, altitude, frost, slope, market access
- Livestock species important to rural livelihoods
-
- cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, vicua and guanaco, pigs,
guinea pigs, mules, donkey, horses and chickens
- Mixed crop-livestock production is based on pasture
-
- grazing of rangelands comprising native grass species
-
- also crop residues, agricultural by-products, and some improved
feed resources
- Households rely on livestock for a range of outputs
-
- protein, energy, shelter, fertiliser, draught power,
transportation, savings and insurance
* Kristjanson, Krishna, Radeny, Kuan, Quilca, Sanchez-Urrelo,
and Leon-Velarde (2007). 10. Poverty dynamics and the role of
livestock
- Researchers from ILRI examined how households have moved into
and out of poverty in 40 rural communities in two different
highland regions
-
- the role played in these movements by different livestock
assets and strategies
- a significant number of households had escaped poverty, while
at the same time many households fell into poverty, eg through
health (Puno region) and marriage-related (Cajamarca region)
expenses
-
- diversification of income through livestock product sales,
particularly dairy products and fibres
-
- intensification of production through improved breeds
11. Livestock-environment relationships
- The relationships of livestock to environmental management and
climate change are often negative but are also complex, sometimes
complementary
-
- The whole of the Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem is of
particular concern ... Pastoral peoples living in the Mara
ecosystem have less livestock per person than they did 20 years
ago, and about half survive on an income of less than Kenyan
shillings (Ksh) 70 (USD1) per day. If these trends continue, it's
probable that the Mara in 20 years time will support very little
wildlife and very poor pastoral people
* ILRI (2008). 12. Non-food outputs: animal traction, transport
and poor peoples livelihoods
- Animal traction is an example of technical change
-
- adoption of new or different methods of production in response
to changing circumstances, pressures and opportunities with which
farm households are confronted *
- primarily a substitute for labour - factor substitution
- the primary effect is to increase land area cultivated
* Ellis (1989, p.53). 13. Number of draft animals and tractors
in the US, 1910-60 * * Olmstead and Rhodes (2001). 14. US
agricultural land & labor productivity indices,1910-1990 *
Olmstead and Rhodes (2001) 15. The impact of the tractor in the
US
- Replaced about 23 million draft animals
- was one of the great labor saving innovations of the twentieth
century
-
- reduced labor requirements by 1.7 million workers by 1960
-
- the effective cropland base by 79 mn acres
-
- the effective area of pastureland by 80 mn acres
-
- the timeliness and quality of farm work
-
- the draft-power on farms by over four fold
- accounted for the disappearance of about one million farms by
1960
* Olmstead and Rhodes (2001) 16. Animal traction in poorer
countries * :
-
- land cultivation - increase in crop area per worker
-
- personal transport and transport of materials
-
- processing such as milling
- household effects include
-
- extensification of production (wrt labour)
* Starkey (1990). 17. Animal traction facilitates
- timeliness of cultivation practices
- integration of crop and livestock enterprises
-
- utilisation of crop residues
- facilitates greater ability to respond to changing economic
incentives
- increase in marketing opportunities
- reduced dependence on imported mechanisation, technology and
fuel
- increased income opportunities through enabling to
18. Other impacts of animal traction
- children can lose education opportunities
- may exacerbate income differentials
- high inputs and working capital requirements
-
- implements, repair facilities, veterinary care, feedstuffs
- significant requirement for capital or credit for initial
purchase
19. Social and cultural aspects *
- Fundamental difference in animal production between
industrialized and traditional societies:
-
- management is not directed towards maximum performance and
short-term economic gain, but instead geared towards minimizing
risks and ensuring long-term survival
-
- animals represent not just a production factor, but form a part
of the cultural identity of a pastoral group. Livestock may have
ritual and religious meaning and often figure as important items in
social exchange and relationships
-
- survival of humans and animals is still closely
interlinked
* Khler-Rollefson and Brunig (1998). 20. Lifestyle and diet: the
Innu of Labrador *
- Policy interventions of village-isation have changed the
hunting, gathering and trapping lifestyle to sedentary village
life
-
- cultural, spiritual and physical dispossession
- Nutrition and physical transitions have causeda marked decline
in individual physical and mental health and in community
coherence
- Cultural continuity through hunting is a means to decelerate
and possibly reverse their decline
-
- Similar considerations may apply to other indigenous
peoples
* Samson and Pretty (2006). 21. Livestock and livelihoods
research agenda * * developed from Smith, Khoa and Lorenzen
(2005).Industrialisation Diversification for accumulation
Specialisation Diversification for semi-subsistence Subsistence/
pastoralists Hunter-gatherers climate change local NR management
agriculture people & community Complementary/competitive
interactions with: Household participation and equity: age &
gender effects Multiple functions including foods & food
security Systems vary according to the level of dependency &
intensity of production 22. References
- Asian Development Bank. (2008). Northern Region Sustainable
Livelihoods Through Livestock Development
Project.http://www.adb.org/Documents/Profiles/LOAN/35297013.ASP.
Accessed 11 June 2009
- Australia Indonesia Partnership. (2009) ACIARSADI Update 3.1
April. Better livelihoods from livestock: Scaling-up herd
management strategies in croplivestock systems in Lombok. Makassar,
Indonesia
- Bio -Medicine.org. Livestock interventions can protect lives,
livelihoods.
http://news.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-3/Livestock-interventions-can-protect-lives--livelihoods-1164-2/.
Accessed 11 June 2009
- Ellis, F. (1989). Principles of Agricultural Economics.
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
- FAO Statistics Division,http://
www.fao.org/es/ess/rmlive.aspAccessed 11 June 2009
- Garnett, T. (2009). Livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions:
impacts and options for policy makers.Environmental Science &
Policy12 (4): 491-503.
- ILRI. (2008). People moves.http://
www.ilri.org/ILRIPubAware/ShowDetail.asp?CategoryID =
TS&ProductReferenceNo =TS_080130_001 . Accessed 11 June
2009
- ILRI. (2009).http:// www.ilri.org/home.asp?CCID
=52&SID=1
- Kristjanson, P., Krishna, A., Radeny, M., Kuan, J., Quilca, G.,
Sanchez-Urrelo, A. and Leon-Velarde, C. (2007). Poverty dynamics
and the role of livestock in the Peruvian Andes.Agricultural
Systems94 (2): 294-308
- Khler-Rollefson, I. and Brunig, J. (1998). Anthropological
veterinary medicine: the need for indigenizing the curriculum.
Paper presented at the 9th AITVM Conference in Harare, 14th-18th
September. Accessed from http://www.vetwork.org.uk/ilse2.htm.
Accessed 11 June 2009
- Neumann, C., Harris, D.M. and Rogers, L.M. (2002). Contribution
of animal source foods in improving diet quality and function in
children in the developing world.Nutrition Research22 (1):
193-220
- Olmstead, A.L. and Rhodes, P.W. (2001). Reshaping the
landscape: the impact and diffusion of the tractor in American
Agriculture, 1910-60. Journal of Economic History 61(3):
663-698
- Samson, C. and Pretty, J. (2006). Environmental and health
benefits of hunting lifestyles and diets for the Innu of Labrador.
Food Policy 31(6): 528-553
- Smith, L.E.D., Khoa, S.N. and Lorenzen, K. (2005). Livelihood
functions of inland fisheries: policy implications in developing
countries. Water Policy 7: 359-383.
- Starkey, P. (1990). Animal traction for agricultural
development in West Africa: production, impact, profitability and
constraints. Third Workshop of the West Africa Animal Traction
Network, 7-12 July 1988 Saly, Senegal, Technical Centre for
Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Ede-Wageningen, The
Netherlands
- Time Magazine, 2008, Monday 2
June.http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1811203,00.html
. Accessed 11 June 2009
- World Bank (2008).World Development Report 2008: Agriculture
for Development . Washington.