Minding the Stock : Bringing Public Policy to Bear on Livestock Sector Development

Abstract

Driven by population growth,
 urbanization, and increased income, the demand for
 animal-source food products in developing countries is
 rapidly increasing. Livestock, which already constitutes 30
 percent of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
 the developing world, and about 40 percent of the global
 agricultural GDP, is one of the fastest-growing subsectors
 in agriculture. Growing demand presents real opportunities
 for economic growth and poverty reduction in rural areas. It
 could directly benefit the one billion poor people who
 depend on livestock as a source of income and subsistence.
 Livestock also provides traction for about 50 percent of the
 world's farmers and is a source of organic fertilizer
 for most of the world's croplands, converting waste
 products into inputs in the production of high-value food.
 For these reasons, the sector has a critical role to play in
 making agriculture sustainable, in reducing poverty, and in
 contributing to economic growth. This report presents an
 analysis of the issues related to market failures in the
 livestock sector, and an examination of policy and
 investment options that can be used to overcome them. Its
 principal intended audience includes policy makers and
 development practitioners. Much of the analysis will focus
 on identifying the needs of the public sector as it sets out
 to redress the imbalance between public and private
 investment and to begin establishing an enabling environment
 in which private sector livestock development can take place
 in a way that is consistent with public health, poverty
 reduction, and environmental sustainability. While the
 report focuses on developing countries, much of its
 treatment pertains to industrialized countries as well,
 particularly with respect to issues of crosscutting global
 significance, such as greenhouse gas emissions and emerging
 highly infectious diseases.