1. Mark Tapper
Agron 342
July 6, 2009
Animal Agriculture in Developing Countries
Animal agriculture, or livestock production provides much more than meat and fertilizer.
The following is a small list of the many benefits and direct contributions that livestock
production gives to developing nations around the world. Moving down the list you can
see many obvious benefits including fiber fertilizer and food, as well as more not as
obvious including savings and cash. Livestock production allows farmers to have more
control over their assets. Cows, for example, can reproduce multiple times, whereas more
vegetative crops are annuals. This allows for larger ‘reproducible assets’ for multiple
years. Selling livestock above break-even costs gives farmers buying power in their
community; money to pay for another crop season, money to buy food, and more
importantly, power and control over their assets and livelihoods. Livestock production
also provides developing farmers with transportation, and employment opportunities.
Farming shapes communities and cultures. Livestock are also adaptable creatures, which
is extremely important in lower-input sustainable farming cycles.
There are two main types of livestock production; solely livestock, and mixed or
diversified farming. For this definition, the size of the farm does not matter, only the
amount of farm value directly related to livestock production. Organic agriculture is an
all-natural form of livestock production which can have lower variable costs, and when
marketed as ‘organic,’ can provide premium prices. Any livestock systems can be
‘organic’ or ‘naturally’ produced without use of chemical or other un-organic production
practices.
Biotechnology is defined by International Livestock Centre for Africa as “any technique
that uses living organisms or substances from such organisms to make or modify a
product, to improve plants or animals or to develop micro-organisms for specific
purposes.“ Biotechnology in the developing world has helped to increase agricultural
productivity, protect the environment, and improve health, all while considering and
maximizing production constraints. While the developing world has the highest
improvement potential, there are also many possible hindrances that have slowed the
technological advancements in the developing world.
The developing world has many challenges associated with livestock production. One of
the most obvious is the increasing population, which increases the demand. This issue has
a domino effect, with small developing farmers paying the highest price. More demand
for livestock products causes more competition for current products in the global market,
which will be talked about in more detail later on in the presentation. Sustainability is
another issues for livestock producers, as well as environmental issues and climate
change. Production issues are most definitely at the top of the list of pressing issues and
challenges for developing livestock producers. Knowledge about production, feed

2. availability, marketing, health, and overall efficiency are some of the many production
issues that plague developing farmers.
Industrialized Agriculture, according to the German NGO Forum of Environment &
Development, is defined as the “mass production of genetically uniform, high-yielding
breeds.” The negative implications on the developing livestock production include:
decreasing biodiversity, a shift of focus to money instead of sustainability, flooding of
markets, leading to lower prices, and developed countries undermining developing
nations’ local production. The “Livestock Revolution” has increased the consumption of
meat and milk which has led to increased production of livestock, as well as increased the
vitality of efficient production. Some of the potential negative effects on developing
countries include: increased dependence on imported grain, industrialized agricultural
production may squeeze out subsistence farmers, drop in rural incomes and employment,
increased rural migration to cities, decreased livestock biodiversity, and increased
environmental issues.
So, what are the ethical implications of livestock production in the developing world?
When looked at as the developed nations versus developing nations, you can compare it
to a monster truck versus an ant. According to the natural law, the strong will dominate
the weak. Industrialized agriculture will dominate the ‘weak’ sustainable livestock
practices. Industrial agriculture can also be viewed in the categorical imperative manner;
developed countries have has major success with their mass production, therefore
everyone should do the same and will have the same successes. Livestock production
could also be viewed from a utilitarian perspective. The overall goal of livestock
production is to produce the most, fastest, and ‘most’ efficiently without regard to what
some consider more efficient smaller-scale subsistence agriculture. Another ethical view
of animal agriculture would be autonomy versus paternalism. The ‘wiser’ parent, aka
developed countries should make the decisions for the naïve child, aka developing
nations, versus all countries should make their own decisions.
Whether or not livestock production is causing or eradicating hunger, there are things that
can be done to help sustainable farmers in developing nations become more self-reliant
and overall more efficient and knowledgeable. Most importantly, we should help people
help themselves! This can be done through politics, economics, and most efficiently by
teaching farmers, and supporting them. Allowing these farmers to take control of their
own lives and local economies will have lasting effects on livestock production globally.

3. References
German NGO Forum Environment & Development. “Livestock Production in the
South (leaflet).” 2001. http://www.forum-ue.de/58.0.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news
%5D=208&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=43&cHash=9805659135. Accessed on 5
July 2009.
Kruska, R.L., R.S. Reid, P.K. Thornton, N. Henninger. P.M. Kristjanson. “Mapping
livestock-oriented agricultural production systems for the developing world.”
Agricultural Systems 77: 39-63. 2003. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.120.343&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Assessed on 5 July 2009.
Rege, J.E.O., “Biotechnology options for improving livestock production in
developing countries, with special reference to sub-Saharan Africa.” International
Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA).
http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/ilri/x5473b/x5473b05.htm. Assessed on 3 July 2009.
Stockdale, E.A., N.H. Lampkin, M. Hovi, R. Keatinge, E.K.M. Lennartsson, D.W.
MacDonald, S. Padel, F.H. Tattersall, M.S. Wolfe, C.A. Watson. “Agronomic and
environmental implications of organic farming systems.” Advances in Agronomy. 70:
261-262. 2001. http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?
requester=gs&collection=TRD&recid=200807350063737CE&q=&uid=787414183&
setcookie=yes. Assessed on 3 July 2009.
Tilman, D., K. G. Cassman, P. A. Matson, R. Maylor, S. Polasky. “Agricultural
Sustainability and Intensive Production Practices.” Nature. 418: 671-677. 8 August
2002. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v418/n6898/full/nature01014.html.
Assessed on 5 July 2009.