Food Production and Sustainable Agriculture Policies:

Reminding the role of Livestock

Purvi Mehta

UN’s Economic and social commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) High Level Policy Conference on Agriculture, 13 August 2013

Four out of the five highest value global commodities are livestock

2Source: FAOSTAT, 2010 data

Livestock’s Many VirtuesN

utriti

on • Provide 58

million tonnes of protein annually

• 17% of the global kilocalories Po

vert

y Al

levi

ation

• Livelihood to 1.3 Billion

• Important asset for women

• Risk mitigation

Hea

lth

• Zoonosis• Malnutrition• Obesity• Soil health:• 14% N, 9% P

and 40% K inputs to global crop production

Micronutrients Provided by ASFVitamin AIronZincCalciumRiboflavinVitamin B12

Livestock in South Asia livestock population- 600 million Employment/livelihood to over 150

million people Small holder led production system Demand driven Growing contribution to Ag. GDP

Livestock contribution to AgGDP

5

4.0%

5.6%

4.3% 2.9%

3.8%

2.8%

2.4%

2.8%

2.4%

Livestock GDP

(Figures in bars are annual growth rates)FAO, 2012

% growth in demand for livestock products2000 - 2030

6FAO, 2012

Leading Milk Producing Countries (1961-2009)

Source: FAO stat

SEA

Animal source foods and global diets

China SA SSA High IncomeCountries

% calories from ASF/Day

FAO 2012

0

10

5

15

20

25

ILRI Spearheading a New Way Forward

Yet, it is not just about livestock

Crop-Livestock Interactions

Mixed Farming Systems-

50% of the world’s cereals 41% of maize 86% of Rice 66% of sorghum 74% of millet

79% of the milk 60% of the meat

Where does theworld’s food come from?

9%

15%

19%

7%

50%

Beef

28%

18%21%

5%

28%

Lambagro-pastoral

mixed extensive

mixed intensive

other

developed countries

7%

13%

17%

4%

59%

Milk

Herrero et al. 2009

4%14%

35%2%

45%

Cereals

Resource Sharing- Land- LS use 30% of ice free land Labour- Competition for labour but also LS’s contribution to labour Water- LS use 30% fresh water

Complementarity in Providing Nutrition- LS, an Important food source for at least 830 million food insecure

people. Contribute 17 % to total kilocalorie consumption and 33 % to protein ‘Biofortified’

Risk Mitigation Crop-LS mixed farming, an important risk mitigation/reduction strategy

for farmers

Nutrition Dependence- Soil Fertility: LS provides 14% N, 9% P and 40% K inputs to global crop

production Feed

Crop-Livestock Interaction

Food

ICRISAT-ILRI Collaboration on ICGV91114 Variety: Dual Purpose Crop

Feed

• Early maturing, high yielding variety

• 15% higher pod yield

• 17% higher Haulm

• 11% increase in milk yield

48,000 INR increased income/season/hectare

• 60% of human diseases are shared with animals

• 75% of emerging diseases are zoonotic

• The top 13 zoonosis are responsible for 2.5

billion illnesses and 2.2 million human deaths

each year

• Agriculture trade implication

One Health

Livestock Sector in South Asia Unique Features for Policy Considerations

Coexistence of a range of production systems 80-90% production from smallholders Mixed farming system Serge in export and domestic demand Vulnerability to diseases Feed Issues Nutrition, health and economic contributions

Key Policy Needs Livestock on agriculture policy agenda Systems approach : Need for cross sectorial

collaboration: Health, Agriculture, Environment, Trade, Education

Regional cooperation Focus on productivity led growth rather than number led

growth Leverage on existing models, such as the cooperative

model

Thank You