Subsistence

Most of the world's poor people, (about 70 %) living in rural areas depend on livestock for, at least part of, their incomes and livelihoods. Although the very poorest or landless people may have to rely on hiring out their labour to survive and most smallholders also grow crops, they are all likely to keep some livestock. Poor farmers are more likely to keep poultry and pigs, sheep and goats, or other small stock rather than the larger ruminants.

Smallstock Contribute to Rural Livelihoods Smallstock Keeping and Human Nutrition Mixed Farming, Manure and Draught Power Non-food Products: Wool, Hides and Skins Livestock as Capital Assets Semi-subsistence Smallstock Production References and Further Reading

Small animals have several advantages over larger cattle, buffaloes or camels and llamas. They are less costly to acquire and maintain, they are more convenient for consumption within the household while accidental death of a single animal is less damaging, they grow and breed faster and can often thrive on harsher terrain.

In many cases they survive solely on scavenging, possibly being fed some kitchen scraps in addition. Very little attention is given to health care or management and little or no labour is devoted to their husbandry. Hence the costs of production are often negligible. All the production from the livestock is then pure gain.

However, productivity and yields from small livestock, kept under low cost, scavenging systems, are very low. Improvements are possible. Provision of housing will reduce losses due to predators, accidents and theft. Effort devoted to supplementary feeding, management and health care will generally raise productivity sufficiently to justify the extra costs (see Ayalew et al 2003). Approaches to raising productivity are discussed elsewhere, in this tool box.

Small livestock can contribute to household subsistence needs in many ways. When slaughtered they provide meat for home consumption, while sheep and goats may yield milk and poultry produce eggs during their lifetimes. In addition animal or poultry manure may be used as an organic fertilizer, to both improve soil fertility and raise crop yields. Other possible non-food products include hides and skins, and wool, which may be used to make clothing or shelter. Livestock also serve as a form of saving or reserve against emergencies when they may be slaughtered or sold to provide essential food or cash. In many societies livestock have ceremonial uses, for example rams slaughtered at the Id al-Fitr festival and ownership enhances the status of a household.

The contribution of small-stock products to human nutrition, is generally the most important benefit. The poor suffer from low levels of nutrition and poor quality diets with very limited supplies of animal protein. Any improvement in the supply of calories and of animal protein in the diet, resulting from small livestock production, is likely to be highly beneficial.

An indication of poor diets in the developing world, and hence the necessity for improvement, is given by the average daily calorie supplies per head. Average intakes, per head over the whole population, which the major regions of the developing world are given in the first row of Table 1. They are all lower than the average for the developed world, given in the last column. The average for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is the lowest is only two thirds of that for the developed countries. There are undoubtedly large differences between countries , within regions, and the dietary intakes of the rural poor are likely to be lower than the national averages. Nonetheless these figures provide a rough indication.

The poor quality of diets in the developing countries is reflected in the low average levels of supply (and consumption per head) of meat and dairy products. In all regions but Latin America, the average intake per head of meat and dairy products is a small fraction of that in the developed countries (Rows 2 and 3 of Table 1).

Table 1. Supplies of calories and livestock products per capita (2002 )

Low levels and poor quality of nutrition have a serious impact on human health and productivity. Those suffering from under-nourishment, lack sufficient energy for productive work, they are more susceptible to disease and the children are less able to benefit from education. As a result, economic development may be hampered. (see Bruinsma 2003, Chapter 8, pages 222 to 225). Hence major long-term benefits should result from improvements in human nutrition derived from the keeping of smallstock.

Women often independently own small livestock, such as goats in West Africa (Okali & Sumberg 1986) and 'backyard' poultry in many developing countries. Such livestock scavenge or are fed on household waste, at negligible cost. Though subject to disease and other losses, they provide a valuable supplementary income source. It is estimated that 70 percent of the world's rural poor are women, for whom livestock represent one of the most important assets and sources of income (DFID 2000). Products such as milk and eggs, controlled by women, are more likely to be fed to children to improve their nutrition and physical development.

Within the household, livestock production contributes to improved nutrition, in any of three ways. Diets may be improved:

• by direct consumption of milk or eggs and meat occasionally,
• by the use of the income earned from sales of livestock products to buy food (see sections on Rural Markets and Urban Markets).or
• from increases in crop production resulting from mixed farming (Tangka et al 2000, Neumann 2000, Shapiro et al 2000).
  

The majority of the world's rural poor depend on mixed crop-livestock systems. Crop-livestock interactions are beneficial, with animals feeding on crop residues and returning manure to the soil. Not only is additional income earned from livestock products but also benefits may be derived from increases in crop yields. Where livestock are largely supported on crop residues and by-products or waste-land, little or no cultivated land is devoted to fodder production. Research devoted to improving the quality of crop residues, such as the treatment of straw, and the better utilization of crop residues may extend the livestock carrying capacity without reducing production of crops for sale or human consumption. The application of animal manure to the crop-land contributes to increased crop yields. As a result production from both crops and livestock is increased.

Wool production, in the developing countries, is restricted to temperate regions, or high altitude tropical regions as in Bolivia, Peru or Nepal, where wool sheep thrive. Washing, carding and spinning or felt-making may be carried out within the farm household, and the products used to make clothing or other household goods.

Hides and skins are a by-product of meat production. Hides and skins from home slaughtered animals are rarely processed. The necessary salt may not be available and returns may be insufficient to justify the cost. Small ruminants, pigs and poultry are often cooked with the skin attached. However, sheep and goat skins are sometimes removed, cured and made into bags and other products, as a form of cottage industry.

Livestock are valuable capital assets that not only produce future income but also increase numerically by reproduction. Once a foundation flock or herd is established, expansion is possible by rearing increasing numbers of replacements. Of course there is a trade-off between consuming the young or rearing them to join the breeding herd. However, this special characteristic of livestock, as self-generating capital, makes livestock production a particularly valuable form of investment for the poor.

Livestock embody saving and may provide a reserve against emergencies. If an urgent need for funding arises, for a special occasion or a disaster such as a drought, animals may be sold to raise the needed money or slaughtered and consumed to meet household food energy and protein requirements.

In practice, nearly all farmers and other rural people are involved in market trade. Smallstock are rarely, if ever, kept solely for subsistence purposes, but are frequently sold. In fact they are often seen mainly as a source of cash income, while the staple diet is based on home-grown cereals or root crops. Among pastoral people, who do not grow crops, cash income earned from the sale of livestock products is used to buy crop products, that are key components of household diets.

Cash income, from sales of livestock products, is important for poor households not only to allow the purchase of essential food items, clothing and other items needed within the home, but also to provide cash savings for emergencies and the means for investing in new productive activities (see Waters-Bayer & Bayer 1992).

Although livestock products are frequently sold, they are rarely purchased by the poor, most of the produce sold being purchased by the richer members of society. It is therefore argued that improvement in the levels of dietary intake of livestock products by poor people can only be achieved through increased home production of small ruminants (Fresco & Steinfeld 1998, LID 1999).