Improving the husbandry of animals kept by resource-poor people in developing countries
Edited by Emyr Owen, Aichi Kitalyi, Noble Jayasuriya and Tim Smith
"This book is an invaluable resource and an essential reference to all animal scientists. . . It should be on the desk of all those concerned with, and engaged in, subsistence livestock production and poverty alleviation in developing countries"
Dr C Devendra
Livesetock Science, August 2006
Livestock and Wealth Creation is about the role of livestock in developing countries and portrays how improved husbandry practices can benefit livestock-keepers. It emphasises ways of improving small-scale enterprises and subsistence livestock keeping.
The burgeoning 'Livestock Revolution', which is already occurring in some developing countries and foreseen to become a wider phenomenon over the next 20 years, is considered. A gigantic increase in demand for meat and milk is predicted, with consequent opportunities for resourcepoor livestock-keepers to contribute and move from subsistence to market-oriented production.
Part 1 of the book sets the agenda on key issues and principles in livestock development and poverty alleviation, and on cross-cutting issues which need to be understood before embarking on improving output from a given species. As well as answering the key question 'Why keep livestock if you are poor?', Part 1 includes chapters on livestock systems, poverty assessment methods, livestock development and poverty, knowledge - key to empowerment, livestock products and improvement, marketing to promote development, livestock and the environment, response to nutrient supply, feeds and feeding to improve productivity, sustainable breeding strategies and improving livestock health.
Part 2 considers species individually, with emphasis on how to improve productivity (with examples) to achieve sustainable livelihoods for livestock keepers. There are chapters on bees, giant African snails, poultry, small mammals (grasscutters, guinea pigs and rabbits), pigs, goats, sheep, camels, cattle, buffalo, yak, equines and wildlife.
A unique feature of the book is the cameos preceding most chapters. Each cameo relates how the livelihoods of people were changed for the better by adopting a given improvement in animal husbandry.
The book concludes with a chapter considering the lessons learned and the way ahead. Improving the survival and production of livestock kept by the resource-poor is vital for security of livelihoods and transformation from poverty to relative prosperity. Providing appropriate information and an enabling environment are key elements in facilitating this process.
The information in this textbook is relevant to smallholder livestock keepers in all developing countries. Livestock and Wealth Creation is an output from the Livestock Production Programme (LPP) of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID.