Senior Officer
Livestock Development Planning
FAO Animal Production and Health Division
Opter pour une production animale compatible avec la protection de l'environnement est techniquement possible. La production de prot�ines animales ne comporte aucun �l�ment susceptible de porter atteinte aux ressources qui ne puisse �tre surmont�. Les technologies existantes sont applicables � toute une s�rie de conditions, mais la possibilit� de les mettre en application sur le plan pratique est directement proportionnelle � l'intensit� du processus de production et � l'apport d'intrants que celui-ci suppose. Ce ne sont pas tant les contraintes � caract�re technologique qui risquent de compromettre la r�ussite de l'entreprise, mais plut�t les difficult�s que comporte la mise en pratique de syst�mes de production animale compatibles avec l'environnement, lorsque la volont� politique et le stade de d�veloppement �conomique n'y sont pas propices.
La producci�n pecuaria inofensiva para el medio ambiente es una opci�n t�cnicamente viable. No hay ning�n aspecto de la producci�n de prote�nas animales que comprometa recursos que no pueda solucionarse. Existen tecnolog�as para diversos tipos de circunstancias, pero la viabilidad de la introducci�n pr�ctica aumenta con la intensidad del proceso de producci�n y el volumen de insumos correspondiente. El �xito de la adopci�n no se ve impedido tanto por obst�culos tecnol�gicos cuanto por las dificultades para conseguir una producci�n animal inofensiva para el medio ambiente en situaciones en las que la voluntad pol�tica, y con ella la fase de desarrollo econ�mico, induzca a hacerlo.
In contrast with the situation in the developed countries, the livestock sector in the developing world is growing at an unprecedented rate. The driving force behind the surge in demand for livestock products is a combination of population growth, rising incomes and urbanization. Both the population size and the real incomes of consumers in the developing countries have doubled since the early 1960s. There is a strong positive relationship between level of income and consumption of animal protein. As people become more affluent, the consumption of meat, milk and eggs increases. This rise in animal protein production translates into commensurate pressures on natural resources. Among the livestock-associated environmental problems, some hot spots stand out:
In these hot spots, livestock interact mostly with the environment within
the confines of a production system. In addition, livestock affect some global commons which
are an essential part of our support system. Biodiversity is affected indirectly through
concentrate feed requirements and the resulting intensification and expansion of crop
agriculture. Related environmental effects may be disguised because livestock production
and feed production are geographically separated and only linked through international
trade. Furthermore, livestock and livestock waste emit important quantities of greenhouse
gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.
Livestock can also have beneficial effects on the environment.
Grazing livestock can improve species wealth. Their integration into mixed farming systems
can improve water infiltration and recharge groundwater reserves. Their biggest
contribution, however, is in providing the main avenue for sustained intensification of
mixed farming systems. This is bound to continue even when crop and livestock activities
specialize into separate activities as they often do under developed market conditions.
This resource-enhancement and resource-sparing effect continues to be underestimated
because it is indirect. Without this environmental function, the intensification of
agriculture could not have taken place and current populations could not be sustained.
Finding the balance between increased food production and preservation of
the world's natural resources remains a major challenge. It is clear that food will have
to be produced at less cost to the natural resource base than is the case at present.
Arguably, the environmental problems associated with livestock production would best be
resolved by reducing consumption of their products. The fact is, however, that millions of
poor people still have a right to improve their diet. On the other hand, the consumption
of meat and other livestock products is excessive in some countries and social classes,
causing medical problems such as cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure.
Therefore, within the limited resources available, all options must be
explored to accommodate this expected and increased demand for livestock products. It is
clear that the resource base for livestock production cannot expand at the same pace as
that for other agricultural activities. First, across the world the most productive
pasture lands are being turned into crop land, while degraded crop land is left fallow and
reconverts into poor pastures. Second, through the application of research, the
availability of crop residues for animal feed does not increase with rising yields. The
same applies to the use of animal genetic resources. Traditional genotypes have provided
the main mechanism for exploiting harsh environments. Now that the means exist to modify
the biophysical environment, increasingly so in the tropics, exotic genotypes are being
introduced, enabling higher returns for external inputs. Consequently, the contribution by
indigenous breeds diminishes.
We are observing a radical change which does away with the conventional
perception of livestock symbolized by cows on pastures. Grazing systems offer only limited
potential for intensification, and livestock production is becoming increasingly
crop-based. Thus, the importance of roughages as a feed resource is decreasing at the
expense of cereals and agro-industrial by-products. There is an important shift towards
monogastric species, mainly poultry and pigs. While ruminant meat accounted for 54 percent
of total meat production in the developing countries in 1970, it fell to 38 percent in
1990 and is projected to decrease further to 29 percent by 2010.
Livestock production has become urbanized and separated from its land
base and is steadily assuming more of an industrial scale. In recent years, industrial
livestock production grew at twice the rate (4.3 percent) of that in mixed farming systems
(2.2 percent) and more than six times that of the grazing system (0.7 percent). This trend
has accelerated in the past five years.
With the so-called land-detached livestock production on the increase,
land husbandry itself is becoming more and more important. We are forced to consider the
livestock-environment issue in a broader perspective. No longer are we primarily concerned
with the direct damage that livestock production may cause to the natural resource base.
The management of the entire land resource and the generation of food and feed should be
our real concern. Accepting this challenge presents a broad and formidable task for
area-wide crop and livestock integration and related resource management, in order to
satisfy human needs today and in the future.