Livestock production systems adapting to the global cri-ses in tropical developing countries - a review

Abstract

Food crisis has caused recently severe problems in many countries of the world due to an increasing human population and worsening economic development, and global climate change has made these problems even more serious. Large-scale animal production systems have been established in tropical developing countries to satisfy the animal protein demands of human nutrition (e.g., industrial chicken and pork, feedlot beef cattle, concentrate feeding of dairy cattle), but have caused unacceptable harm to the environment (e.g., high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus entering rivers, and greenhouse gas emissions). As the human population increases, there is a greater risk of protein malnutrition, as well as the risk of environmental pollution resulting from natural disasters. Consequently, the reorientation of animal production systems has become a pressing and high-priority issue in tropical developing countries. In many parts of the world, there are currently constraints on livestock production; however, promising and sustainable models of animal production exist that are based on the utilization of renewable plant biomass as feed for livestock production, while saving grains for human consumption. In addition, diversification of the animal species farmed aids in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, while adapting to climate change. Utilization of animal production models based on appropriately sustainable farming systems ensures the better use of locally available feeds, while increasing renewable energy production. The sensible selection of livestock production models for sustainable development in tropical developing countries could be beneficial for many producers and for our planet in term of socio-economics and the environment.