They are the major capital asset of small farmers. They reproduce themselves under even the harshest conditions. They are highly specialised eaters of grasses and similar vegetation that grow not only on rangelands, which make up two-thirds of the earth s agricultural lands, but also on and near croplands. They convert these organic materials indigestible by people into human food of the highest quality. Livestock are not the most important factor for agricultural development in developing countries.
People are the most important factor.
But most people in poor countries are farmers and pastoralists whose livelihoods and sometimes survival depend on their stock. The views from the feedlots of Chicago and the smallholder highlands of eastern Africa or South Asia, of those who eat too much protein and fat and those who eat too little, are very different. We should accommodate those differences when advocating policies that affect developing countries. We should exploit and build on the enduring relationship of people and their livestock that has benefited both species for thousands of years. Animals feed people Increases in milk production reduce hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity in both rural and urban areas and at both household and national levels.