At the same time, urban poor will benefit from reduced prices as the offer of livestock commodities expands. Monogastric animals have a better concentrate feed conversion than ruminant animals, and their production technology is more universal and thus more amenable to large-scale commercial operations. The primary biological capital for livestock development, food security and sustainable rural development, is the breeds of the few domesticated farm animal species important to food and agriculture production. The value of the vast majority of these animal genetic resources is poorly understood. The use and development by farmers globally of these livestock breeds, and the conservation of those unique breeds of little current interest to farmers must both be substantially upgraded if countries are to successfully respond to the food security and sustainable rural development imperatives.
Diseases also cause avoidable pain and suffering to many animals.
The rapidly expanding livestock production is exerting increased pressures on natural resources. Technologies are needed to increase the efficiency of feed conversion, thereby reducing inputs and nutrient losses, and to develop sustainable production systems and product use. The aim is to achieve positive impacts of ongoing intensification of animal production on the poor and women livestock farmers, and a framework for the safeguarding of food safety and protection of human health. The developing world is facing an unprecedented change to much more animal protein based human diets. The first decades of the 21st century will thus witness the next human food revolution.