| dc.description.abstract | Livestock make a significant contribution to the economic development process in West
and Central Africa. The livestock sub-sector contributes 30-50% to the agricultural
Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and about 15-20% of the national GDPs. It is estimated
that until the year 2025 the demand for animal products will annually increase by 4% in
sub-Saharan Africa. Much of that projected demand could be met by the subhumid and
humid zones of West Africa which offer a significant potential for an increase in animal
production. However, diseases, notably tsetse-transmitted Trypanosomiasis, are seriously
Impairing a profitable livestock production in these zones. Tsetse-transmitted Human
African Trypanosomiasis adds to the constraints. Estimates of the annual losses due to
animal Trypanosomiasis amount to about US$ 4 billion, whereas annual control costs
range from US$ 0.6 to 1.2 billion (FAO, 1994).
Livestock development encompasses an entire range of aspects, from the rural poor to
accelerated economic use of animals by intensified production. Livestock are central to
the livelihood of the rural poor in developing countries in multiple ways (Delgado et al.,
1999 Livestock to 2020, The next food revolution). First, they are an important source of
cash income. Second, they are one of the assets available to the poor, especially poor
women. Third, livestock manure and draft power are vital to the preservation of soil
fertility and the sustainable intensification of farming systems in many developing areas
facing increasing population density. Fourth, livestock allow the poor to exploit common
property resources, such as open grazing areas, in order to earn income. Fifth, livestock
products enable farmers to diversify incomes, helping to reduce income variability.
Sixth, livestock provide a vital and often the only source of income for the poorest and
most marginal of the rural poor, such as pastoralists, sharecroppers and widows. The
specialisation of production lads to more diversified production systems, directly
responding to demand. These new systems are emerging in increasing numbers as a
result of market forces. | |
