Smallholder Milk Producers

This focus group includes owners/keepers of 1-2 milking cows or buffaloes (plus followers) or 3-6 milking goats across several production systems (semi-arid, forest/agriculture, high potential and peri-urban). This is often the system that resource-poor farmers aspire to (because of the obvious advantage of daily cash incomes from the sale of milk); however, because of its focused nature, it is a high-risk system that is dependent on inputs and capital and a continued demand for milk and its products.

Crop/Livestock (Mixed) Farmers

This is the largest grouping of livestock keepers in the developing world. In areas with communal grazing, farmers may get their main income from livestock while in other areas, where soils allow, crop production will be the main source of income. Economics and markets affect the decisions to focus on crop or animal products. The type of livestock varies widely while the production system can be extensive or intensive. The important point is the synergy between crop production and livestock. The crops benefit from the manure and the draught power (cultivation, planting, weeding, threshing, transport) while the livestock use feed resources such as cereal stovers which would otherwise go unutilized. This synergy suggests that mixed farming is the most efficient way to use available resources. Cattle and buffalo are the most important species as they can provide draught power and manure. Non-ruminants like pigs and poultry are useful in that they can scavenge around the homestead.

Smallstock Keepers

This is somewhat of an artificial group as they are normally (but not exclusively) a sub-set of crop/livestock farmers. Small ruminants, pigs, poultry and other animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, bees etc are normally the preserve of women. They are found under both intensive and extensive conditions. They are used for a myriad of purposes: religious, ethnic, social, and are readily slaughtered for local consumption or sold to meet a cash need. Smallstock represent the basic tools to enable resource poor farmers (particularly women) to quickly source funds for food, school fees, etc. Smallstock keepers are normally among the poorest of rural people and are normally risk averse.

Landless Livestock Keepers/Owners

Landless owners/keepers of livestock are to be found almost everywhere in the developing world. On the outskirts of cities and in the cities themselves, cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and pigs scavenge household waste and residues from feed processing plants. The ruminant species also rely on forage cut and carried from roadsides and common land/forests. The meat, milk, eggs so produced are a considerable source of income for livestock owners as they can readily be sold for cash. Landless owners/keepers also occur in rural areas; these tend to keep larger cattle and buffalo and let them out for draught power purposes. Women are also normally included under the landless subtitle. Whereas most work on the land, they are effectively landless under most developing country cultures as land ownership and inheritance is normally vested in men. In Africa, the AIDS crisis has changed this situation somewhat and women are now, 'by default', becoming landowners. Landless livestock keepers are among the poorest of the poor and are normally risk averse.

Pastoralists and Transhumant Livestock Keepers

Traditional pastoralists, nomads and transhumant groups are predominantly found in the arid and semi-arid zones. Their livestock include cattle, camels, sheep, goats and donkeys. Although these animals are normally maintained for subsistence purposes (meat, milk and milk products, blood, urine etc for food, and hair and hides sometimes for sale), products are often exchanged/bartered for other products such as grain and other necessities. The living standards of people tend to be at or just above subsistence levels and a major goal of the community is food security and survival of a way of life.