In the past, many governments tried to slow down urbanization but it is now increasingly recognized as a rational pattern of development as economic activity at higher levels of development benefit from agglomeration. Table 1.2 Gross Domestic Product per capita and annual percentage change in different world regions. Ingco et al. , 1996. World Bank, 1996. The rapidly increasing demand for livestock products pushes against a traditional resource base for livestock production that cannot expand at the same pace.
Diversity is a main characteristic of traditional livestock production.
A wide array of feed resources is being used, most of which have no or only limited alternative value. The scope for increasing the traditional feed resource base is limited. Firstly, across the world the most productive pasture lands are being turned into cropland as the demand for high-potential arable land continues to increase. Likewise, degraded cropland is fallowed and reconverts into poor pastures. As a result, the overall pasture area may not change much but the land productivity is likely to be lower.