Future research needs to meet livestock development challenges, September 2008, by ILRI Director General Carlos Seré

1. Future research needs to meet
livestock development challenges
Carlos Seré and Iain Wright
Keynote Address, Asian Assoc. Animal Production, Hanoi, September 2008

2. Changing needs New approaches
In livestock sector to research and
knowledge management
Science based
solutions
to emerging
issues

3. Scope of presentation
1. Livestock in a changing world
2. Livestock and the poor
3. New approaches for livestock research and
researchers
4. Research challenges
5. Dairy development in Asia
6. Conclusions

4. 1. Livestock in a changing world
 Drivers of change from within and beyond
the livestock sector
 Challenges forcing change in production
systems and markets
 Hence research needs also changing

5. Livestock in a changing world
Drivers of change
 Growing demand for livestock products due to
population, economic growth and urbanization
 Demand in Asia for milk, meat, eggs, and animal
feeds e.g milk consumption in Asia/Pacific doubled
since 1980
 Changes in way food sourced, processed & sold
 - Processed/packaged food eg 30% food sold in
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand
 - Supermarket revolution growing in India

6. Livestock in a changing world=
Opportunities and threats
 Opportunities
- growing domestic markets
- trade liberalization opening new markets
 Threats
– small scale producers
squeezed out of supply chain
- endemic and (re) emerging
diseases threaten access new
and existing markets

7. Opportunities and threats (2)
 Production systems changing
- “Industrial systems” for pig and poultry in Asia
- But, most livestock in Asia produced in mixed
crop/livestock systems
- Competition of biomass for food, feed, biofuels
- Pressure to intensify crop/livestock systems for
higher outputs per unit land/water/labour

8. Future of livestock systems
Uncertainty and instability will increase:
Climate change – erratic rainfall, droughts,
floods
Volatility in prices (links to world food/feed
prices)
New diseases or remerging existing diseases
Increasing environmental concerns

9. 2. Livestock and the poor
 600 m poor people rely on livestock for
livelihoods
 Half of these 600m livestock keepers live in
Asia
 Also, many millions off-farm jobs created
along the supply chain (trading,
processing, retailing)
 Between 4-17 off-farm jobs created for
every 100 litres milk collected, processed,
sold each day.

10. Livestock and the poor (2)
 Livestock’s critical role in
nutrition
 Milk is important source
protein and calcium in India,
for largely vegetarian
population
 Milk and /or meat important
for school children to
improve learning ability

11. Livestock and the poor (3) -
research for poverty reduction
 Public research – multiple purposes
- e.g increase production and productivity; food
security; economic growth; secure export
markets; reduce environmental impact
 Private research for new products and services
 Livestock research for poor people – special
attributes for vulnerable, risk adverse families with
small asserts base

12. 3. New approaches for
livestock research

13. New approaches for
livestock research
 Innovation systems approach essential if
research to lead to action and impact
 Research only one but critical part of livestock and
market development
 Need non linear approach to research, involving
multiple stakeholders from outset
 Requires mindset change by researchers and new
“soft” skills to develop new partnerships
 New partnerships address new problems to deliver
research outcomes to lead to development impact

14. New approaches for
livestock research
 Value chain approach also essential
 Future research needs to address all points along
the value chain, not only production
 Includes research on input supplies and services,
production and product marketing
 Examples of lack of success in technology adoption
due to failure address all elements in value chain
E.g failure of innovation in fodder supply and use
in Asia and Africa

15. 4. Research challenges
1. Intensify crop/livestock systems
2. Livestock based adaptation to climate change
3. Control emerging and zoonotic diseases
4. Improve food safety and market access
5. Conserve tropical livestock breeds and genetic
resources

16. 5. Dairy development in Asia
 Challenge is to increase milk production in Asia over
next 10-20 years
 Milk consumption increased from 102 million tones in
1986 to 260 million tonnes in 2007
 Net imports milk into Asia grew from 9 to 19 mt from
1986 to 2007;
 Milk imports predicted grow 30% in next 10 years
 New CFC, FAO, AHPCA program aims boost
smallholder dairy production in Asia 20% in next 10
years

17. Dairy development in Asia
Research needs
1. Feed availability
2. Genetics, breeding and animal genetic resources
3. Dairy development systems
4. Animal diseases
5. Environmental impact

18. Dairy development in Asia
Research needs - Feed availability
 Feed is key constraint as limited land in mixed crop/
livestock systems; need to intensify systems
2. Focus on dual purpose food/ feed crops
3. Select for nutritive value crop residues as well as
grain yield
4. Optimize use of locally grown feed and forages
5. Strategic use of cost effective nutrient supplements

19. Dairy development in Asia
Research needs – Genetics
• Upgrading local breeds by cross breeding for higher
producing animals
-Successful in favourable conditions (good feed,
climate, no disease), but failures elsewhere
• Better use indigenous animal genetic resources
• -Losing breeds with valuable genetic material
• -Characterise breeds with useful traits
• Assess species for milk production
(buffalo, goats in S.E. Asia)

20. Dairy development in Asia
Research needs –
Dairy development systems
1. Improve efficiency of traditional small holder
dairying sector
2. Innovative approaches to improve support services
for smallholders (working civil society and private
sector)
3. Develop risk-based approaches to food
safety, rather than rule based
4. Develop risk based food safety
regulatory systems with training

21. Dairy development in Asia
Research needs – Animal diseases
1. Reduce direct losses by developing better disease
control practices (e.g India, 10% livestock output by
value lost to diseases)
2. Research on zoonotic and other diseases that limit
market access, threaten human health
- Develop cost effective disease
surveillance, monitoring and
control methods
- Integrate international, national,
provincial and local efforts
(eg bird flu)

22. Environmental impact of
livestock production

24. Distribution of global methane production – 2005
All sources
South and S. E. Asia = 19.6%
Total = 6405.75 MtCO2 eq
Africa
China/CPA
Latin America
Middle East
Non-EU Eastern Europe
Non-EU FSU
OECD90 and EU
S and SE Asia
data from EPA 2006

25. South and South East Asia – Sources of methane
production 2005
rice cultivation
enteric fermentation
industrial non-agric sources
biomass combustion
stationery and mobile combustion
coal mining
natural gas and oil systems
manure management
other ag. Sources
landfills
waste water
Livestock account for 29% of methane emissions data from EPA 2006

26. Global methane production from enteric
fermentation and poor livestock keepers
Latin America
Latin America
OECD90 and EU
South and South East Asia
South and South East Asia
China/CPA
Africa
China / CPA
Non-EU FSU
Middle East
Africa
Non-EU Eastern Europe
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
number of poor livestock keepers (millions)
methane (Mt CO2 eq)
data from EPA 2006 data from Thornton et al 2002

27. Environmental impact research
1. Diagnose causes of environmental impact of
livestock production in different regions and
systems
2. Assess consequences of increased demand for
livestock products on greenhouse gas emissions
from livestock systems in Asia
3. Find ways to intensify livestock production while
minimising impact on people, land, water, air
4. Identify alternative livelihoods options for poor
livestock keepers in marginal areas

28. 6. Conclusions
• Changing needs: Livestock sector changing rapidly;
Demand increasing but new problems emerging
(zoonotic diseases, environmental ‘bads’)
• New science based solutions to emerging
livestock issues required. Evidenced based choices
and trade offs needed.
• New research and knowledge management
approaches available to develop creative solutions.

29. Changing needs New approaches
In livestock sector to research and
knowledge management
Science based
solutions
to emerging
issues

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