Why is livestock an expensive source of food

Livestock stocks or assets can be mobilized at any time, satisfying planned expenditures such as children school fees and bride wealth or unplanned expenses such as the illness and death of family members. This livestock asset could be seen as "bank account" and it is also an important source of family savings that can be used in years of low crop production, reducing income insecurity and household vulnerability, being an important source of risk reduction and security increase.

Livestock production is closely interrelated with crop production. The use of livestock and its sub product manure are important in crop production. Livestock is a source of energy providing draught animal power while manure improves soil structure and fertility as well as water retention. Both uses are environmentally friendly improving energy and nutrient cycling. Livestock is also used to transport agricultural inputs and outputs and people.

Livestock production is an important mean of exchange between rural households and, when sold, contributes to boost and strengthen rural markets. Rural markets are an important piece in the operation mode of rural communities and a significant contribution for rural families' wellbeing and wealth.

The livestock social functions correspond to the symbolic values associated to each species and the use of animals for the fulfillment of a set of rituals and social obligations of families and communities. Livestock gives social status to its owners once it is considered a common mean of demonstrating wealth and provides economic status as it facilitates the access to informal credits and loans to the households.

Livestock is also used in traditional rituals, ceremonies and festivities and is given as a gift in worships e. In some cultures, animals can be considered sacred cattle in India and in others cultures pigs in Muslim countries animals are impure. For both these cultures, those species are not consumed by the population. In other countries or cultures, animals play an important leisure role, being used for betting, like horse racing and cock fighting, for sports, like horses in polo and bullfighting and for hunting, like dogs, falcons and horses.

Concerning the direct effect on productivity, it can be due not only to the mortality and reduction of livestock herds, but also, due to the decrease on productive parameters, namely weight gain or milk production, or even through the decrease of quality of animal products. The existence of a great number of parasitary, infectious or metabolic diseases that affect fertility cannot be underestimated, despite the difficulty to quantify the associated costs.

Besides the positive effects of livestock to human welfare, livestock production and consumption can also be associated to some risks, namely the transmission of important diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans zoonosis.

The absence of rigorous animal health control programs represents a high risk to the human health. Moreover the rigorous control and restrictions to animal movement and to exportation of animal products, associated with the existence of animal disease, makes the existence of national animal health programs indispensable in order to allow international trade.

The social and cultural functions of livestock are often ignored when estimating the total contribution of livestock to the development and well-being of rural communities. Since those functions are difficult to value in monetary terms, emphasis is mainly placed on the physical marketed livestock production.

One key to smallholder competitiveness is its ability to capture non market benefits, however not well measured to date OUMA et al. It is relevant to know the present functions of the livestock sector, and to understand that expanding the output of one function may diminish the output of another.

So, in order to evaluate its importance, from different points of views, and to ensure correct policies and practices, all of them have to be taken in consideration. Livestock production in Timor-Leste is predominantly familiar, the main species including chickens, pigs, goats, horses, cattle, buffaloes and sheep, and each one performing several functions for rural communities and families.

The aim of this work is, for three rural communities in the district of Bobonaro -mountain area, irrigation plain and coastal zone -, to identify and characterize the different roles that livestock and livestock species play in rural communities, highlighting the importance of animal production for the wellbeing and rural development, and relate the functions performed by livestock production with economic, social and cultural attributes of the communities.

The primary data used in this study was collected in through a questionnaire survey and complemented with secondary data from different consulted sources. The farmers survey was conducted in three sucos, Tapo-Tas, Tapo-Memo and Aidabaleten, of the district of Bobonaro, where households were selected by convenience sampling.

The 13 districts of East Timor are subdived in 67 subdistricts and those are subdivided into villages-sucos - and 2, communities or hamlets - aldeias. The questionnaire characterized the economic and the sociocultural functions that livestock production plays in the life, wellbeing and development of rural households and communities.

The secondary data used included the studies made during Portuguese colonial period and after the referendum and the data collected in the different livestock census, in special the and census. The analysis performed was essentially descriptive and qualitative, highlighting the functions that livestock still performs in the rural communities of Timor-Leste. After this introduction, in the second part livestock production in Timor-Leste is characterized, in the third section the functions of livestock production and species in Timor-Leste are explained and in the final part the main conclusions are drawn.

Regarding livestock production in Timor-Leste, it is important to remember that sheep and cows were introduced sometime in the past, after the arrival of the Portuguese and Europeans in the territory and that at the beginning of the XXth century the number of cattle was very small, in was , and only in reached more than 10, heads.

The evolution of the number of livestock heads during the last century shows three moments in which the livestock stocks were severely reduced: second world war, beginning of the war for independence or beginning of Indonesian occupation and referendum for independence, as can be seen in Figure 1 , where the number of livestock heads is expressed in terms of livestock standard units LSU.

The LSU at the end of Portuguese colonization is very similar to the one observed nowadays. However, LSU per capita is lower nowadays due to the population growth that was observed during the last 40 years. At the end of Portuguese colonization, LSU per capita were around 0.

Figure 1. A comparative static analysis can be made between the different historical periods Table 1. For instance, between the end of Portuguese colonization and nowadays , cattle increased 2. The majority of rural households and a significant number of urban households own some sort of livestock, Livestock species, per order of importance in head numbers, are chicken, pigs, goats, cattle, horses, buffalos and sheep DNE DNE.

Between and , the number of heads increased for all species reported, excepted for horses. From the household point of view, the most important livestock species are chickens and pigs. In the same period, the households with horses decreased In overall terms, between and , only in cattle and goat production, there was an increase in the number of households involved in those livestock activities. The average number of heads of livestock per household is low, but some large producers are found throughout the country.

In , the average number of heads is 6 for sheep, 5. Between and , the average number of livestock heads per household increased. The reduction in the number of households involved in livestock production and the increase in livestock density per family is a phenomenon that often happens simultaneously Table 2. As expected, the percentage of urban households with livestock is much lower than those of rural households. Around The more relevant livestock species for urban households are chickens and pigs, Regarding the average number of livestock heads per household, urban areas show higher stock rates for all the species, except for pigs Table 3.

The comparison between and of urban and rural households that rear livestock shows that the number and proportion of urban households with chicken and pigs decreased, while the number and proportion of urban households with sheep increased.

Regarding livestock heads, the urban number and proportion of heads increased for chicken and sheep and decreased for pigs. Covalima, Bobonaro and Oecussi are the more representative districts concerning cattle production, with almost half of households owning cattle Covalima Household engagement in buffalo production is higher in Viqueque Horse distribution is higher in the mountainous districts, Ainaro Regarding the distribution of livestock species per district, in overall terms, the districts of Baucau, Viqueque and Bobonaro are the ones that show higher proportion of livestock heads.

Crossing livestock heads with households involved in production, Table 5 shows animal densities per household and district. In overall terms, animal producers of Viqueque and Lautem are the ones with higher animal herds. Livestock feeding is done using native pastures, crop and fallow land, agricultural products and waste materials around houses and villages. No grazing management rules of natural pastures leads many times to overgrazing and unsustainable animal production due to loss of the cover vegetation and enhanced soil erosion.

The average number of cows and buffalos per ha of native pasture is around 1. In overall terms, animal production is performed without any special concerns regarding feeding, reproduction or even health management.

Animals are kept all together around the year, eating what is available, reproducing around all the seasons and fighting most of the diseases based only in their natural resistance. Vaccination is performed only for a few diseases, namely haemorrhagic septicaemia in cattle and buffalos; classic swine fever in pigs and Newcastle disease in chicken. However, as there is no consistent official animal identification, is difficult to evaluate the overall efficacy of its application.

Pigs and goats are mostly free ranging, some being housed near human houses and sometimes feeding with domestic feed debris. Chicken are almost raised as scavenging birds. Some times are housed at night and feed with domestic feed debris. Buffalos, cattle and sheep are raised free in native pastures. Changes in feed quality are seasonal and associated with changes in rainfall, which results sometimes in inadequate feed supply.

Problems of inadequate feeding are more frequently associated with inadequate quality, namely low protein content, than with complete absence of aliment and sometimes are due to poor feed resources utilization SMITH, SMITH, O. Small-ruminant feeding systems for small-scale farmers in humid West Africa. East Timor Agriculture Network. Dili, Timor Leste, In many situations, livestock underfeeding is observed but no feed supplements are supplied. Actually, in some areas, cattle and buffalos are supplemented with leguminous trees, namely Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala.

However, and as referred in the past, at the present time frequently the nutrition of livestock species and working horses is often neglected and many still suffer from hunger CRUZ, CRUZ, C.

Despite the lack of reliable information on reproductive data, there is consensus that livestock fertility rate is low. The absence of a defined reproductive season and the associated nutritional constrains described above, as well as the possible existence of diseases affecting fertility can be responsible for this situation. The low fertility will affect animal selection and genetic progress. Moreover, the use of male animals in some rituals may have important consequences on fertility, mainly if the younger and better animals are the selected ones, staying in the farms only the older males to be used in reproduction.

More research is needed in order to understand the real impact on fertility of this disease. Local livestock species, such as chicken and pigs, are more valuable than the imported ones.

Estudos, ensaios e documentos, n. The parasites identified with higher prevalence in cattle and buffalos were Anaplasma sp. In pigs the more frequent parasites included Coccidia sp. Nowadays, Timor-Leste official veterinary services developed and applied veterinary programs concerning the control of some animal diseases, namely, as referred, hemorrhagic septicemia in cattle and buffalo, classic swine fever in pigs and Newcastle disease in chicken. The serological survey conducted by MAF, referred earlier in this text, also included the serological evaluation concerning the agents of these diseases.

In a sustainable farming system, the needs of one element are met by the wastes of another: for example, animal manure builds the soil, replenishing nutrients used by crops that are fed to animals. Pasture-based livestock farming reintegrates the cycle, putting livestock on grass or in another natural environment hogs are often raised in the woods and beef cattle can graze on marginal rangelands , where they can roam freely, eat the plants or insects they naturally digest and improve the fertility of the soil with their manure.

The meat, eggs and dairy products from pasture-raised animals have been shown to be healthier and more nutritious than from those raised in confinement operations. Producers may use a variety of techniques to raise their animals, and a variety of terminology to describe those practices for marketing and sales.

Grassfed, grass finished, pastured and free range are words often used to distinguish sustainably raised livestock from their industrially-raised counterparts.

Unfortunately, none of these terms are defined or regulated by the US Department of Agriculture or any other governmental body. Until January , the USDA maintained a designated grassfed standard , but it was withdrawn due to poor definition and poor enforcement. Several independent third-party labels such as Animal Welfare Approved and NOFA Certified Grassfed have rigorous standards to certify how animals are raised; these are the best bet to look for at the supermarket.

Learn more about labels here. At the heart of a healthy pastured livestock operation is well-managed land. At the very least, farmers match the pasture area they have to the number of animals, so that the animals do not overgraze the land; and generally farmers rotate animals from one parcel of land to another. Farmers who raise multiple species may keep track of complicated rotation systems, beginning with cattle for several days, for example, then goats, then chickens for a week before allowing the field to lie fallow and starting all over again.

Different animals prefer different kinds of plants and have different kinds of impact on the land; by grazing them in succession, farmers give pastures the greatest benefit. Unlike at confinement operations, a closed loop pasture system takes advantage of animal waste as a beneficial fertilizer, because it is at a scale that the land is able to absorb without the runoff common to the spread of large amounts of manure. Pastured systems are also climate friendly, in addition to being more energy efficient.

There is some debate as to whether grassfed cattle produce more methane a potent greenhouse gas than grainfed cattle, but the carbon sequestration ability of healthy grasslands makes it a net win either way.

Animals raised on pasture are generally healthier and under less stress than those raised in confinement. They have widely varied diets that depend on the grasses and other forage available in the area; they roam freely and express natural behaviors like rooting and scratching. Pasture-based farmers ensure their animals always have access to fresh water, and supplement their diets with vitamins or minerals as appropriate.

Farmers also make sure that there is adequate shelter, whether trees or a formal structure, to protect livestock from the elements. Grazing on pasture is appropriate for cattle and other ruminants, whose multi-stomach digestive systems naturally extract nutrients from grass and plants. Consuming roughage is essential for these animals to produce saliva, which neutralizes their natural stomach acids.

When ruminants are fed a grain-based diet, however, much less saliva is produced and has the opposite effect of acidifying the digestive tract: intestinal damage, dehydration, liver abscesses and death can result. There are many choices to make when it comes to buying pastured meat. Mixed systems have varying levels of integration of livestock and crop farming with varying degrees of nutrient recycling between systems.

Sole livestock systems in developing countries are generally associated with nomadism, which has gradually declined over the years likely due to urbanization, land availability, human population increase, and climate change challenges. The productivity of livestock will depend on the production system involved. Although the systems prevailing in rural communities of most developing countries are distinct, they generally tend to be low input—low output systems.

As such, benefits derived from these animals are largely based on the population sizes of the livestock than individual animal productivity. The communities do not necessarily focus primarily on the quantity of products such as milk, meat, and eggs produced but other benefits as perceived by communities.

Hence, the systems tend to be less efficient and are associated with high mortality and low productivity. However, the breeds that thrive in these production systems have adapted to the systems and tend to be more disease tolerant or resistant. The animals are generally adapted to low feed and water availability as well as harsh environmental conditions. The various roles and benefits of livestock discussed below vary depending on the production system in association with specific species and prevailing environmental factors.

The actual value of livestock varies from community to community depending on cultural practices. For instance, on the one hand, large stock such as cattle, donkeys, mules, and camels are important for draft power in addition to being a source of income, meat, milk, and other byproducts. They are also a form of savings and provide prestige and other social values. On the other hand, small stocks such as poultry, goats, and sheep may easily be slaughtered for consumption besides other roles they play.

There are also other species that may not be consumed or are valued differently by some societies because of religious beliefs and such species include pigs and sheep. Hence, their utilization and benefits also vary based on their religious value. There also tend to be variations in terms of benefits linked with gender depending on cultural norms regarding ownership and management responsibilities. Kristjanson et al. Njuki et al. Men on the other hand have a high likelihood to control high revenue-generating commodities that are generally sold in formal markets.

This is further evidenced by Yisehak who reported that in smallholder systems of Ethiopia, men owned most of the livestock species and were responsible for sales of live animals and meat, whereas women owned chickens, and, if involved with large stocks, they were primarily involved with milk management Figure 1.

Women involved in management of small stock from left to right: restraining a goat and feeding poultry with one dairy cow in the background. Livestock in rural communities are mainly kept under low input and low output production systems, where feeding, housing, health, and breeding management is minimal.

As such, their productivity tends to be low. Furthermore, the breeds kept are those that are adapted to the often, harsh tropical environments that characterize most developing countries. This presents an unexploited potential in these animals, and many government and nongovernmental organizations recognize this potential and tend to include livestock in rural development programs.

Livestock have also been described as having distinct pathways that could facilitate poverty reduction. Many NGOs use livestock as a development tool and attempt to do this along with the promotion of appropriate livestock management practices. Such interventions have contributed to the increase of populations of livestock over time in different regions Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows that the population trends of major livestock species where the distribution of the populations and their changes between and vary with region. More species seem to thrive in Africa and South Asia compared with other regions. In South America, the major species dominating seem to be cattle and chickens, whereas, in South East Asia, it is chickens.

Populations of different livestock species in different regions with developing countries. Animal protein is a high-quality, easily digested protein that possesses a high biological value Alonso et al. According to Dror and Allen , livestock-derived foods have a specific nutrient composition that satisfies well the needs of the human body and reduces stunting and some key micronutrient deficiencies in humans Alonso et al.

Compared with plants and their derived products, meat and meat products provide essential nutrients that are important to the human diet Byers et al. It is well established that meat is an integral part of a balanced diet that contributes valuable nutrients that are beneficial to the human health. Milk and milk products are useful foods throughout all human life periods because they adequately supply nutrients for the promotion of skeletal, muscular, and neurologic development.

Poultry provides meat, eggs, and other products. For instance, chickens provide a cheap source of animal protein and readily available meat Yared et al. Observations show that there tend to be more edible animal parts in developing countries than in developed countries. Parts such as chicken heads, intestines, and legs, which are often dressed off in developed countries, are readily consumed and considered delicacies in developing countries.

Various animal products and how they are processed in Africa have been described by Mattiello et al. After an animal is slaughtered, it provides a wide range of byproducts that can further be processed and used in other industries Alao et al.

These byproducts can further be utilized by humans as food or reprocessed as secondary byproducts for both agricultural and industrial uses Liu, The nonedible animal byproducts are the ones that provide some of the nonfood roles directly, and these include products used as a raw material in the fabric, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and animal feed industry.

On the other hand, the condemned parts gastrointestinal tract contents, trimmings, and fetus may be used in biogas and fertilizer production industries Figure 3. Classification of food and nonfood roles of livestock. Source: Adapted from Alao et al. Apart from food, livestock provide byproducts and nonfood roles that are often ignored, difficult to quantify, and are easily left out in evaluating the importance of livestock Figure 2.

Apart from meat, pigs provide byproducts water filters, rubber, antifreeze, certain plastics, floor waxes, crayons, chalk, adhesives, etc. Cattle and other bovine animals provide tallow fat , which is used in wax paper, crayons, margarines, paints, rubber, lubricants, candles, soaps, lipsticks, shaving creams, and other cosmetics.

Poultry provide feathers that can be used as stuffing down in jackets and pillows. Furthermore, bees provide honey and wax that are used to make candles, lipstick, lotions, shoe polish, crayons, chewing gum, and floor polish. Livestock play multiple roles in supporting household income Herrero et al. For instance, the poultry industry contributes significantly in providing employment and supplementary income to the people and is an important instrument for socioeconomic improvement among the rural farmers.

Mutami reported that, in Zimbabwe, backyard poultry production stimulates local economic development of urban centers and villages through the development of related micro-enterprises wholly or partly Figure 4.

Dairy production is another source of income in many developing countries. It is one of the enterprises that ensures a steady flow of income once animals start calving.

The income is directly from product sales milk, manure, and meat [after culling] or indirectly as a source of employment for herdsmen or fodder suppliers. Other sources of income include hiring out animals for draft power and breeding services. Farmers generate income from livestock sales in various forms from left to right: live chickens, live goats, and fried goat meat and tripe.

Various livestock species play important sociocultural functions for rural households in developing countries Bettencourt et al. The social roles of livestock include a set of rituals and social obligations, such as funerals, ritual slaughter, and bridewealth, which are provided formally or informally Bettencourt et al.

However, the sociocultural functions of livestock are underestimated in most of the communities. Poultry, compared with other livestock species, are socioculturally important with few religious taboos attached Upton, For instance, some phenotypes of indigenous chickens such as frizzled, black, or white plumage in African countries are associated with customs such as being demanded to be used as fines or ritual slaughters.

Similar beliefs extend to species such as goats and sheep in some cultures. Livestock are used as coping strategies to shocks in food security and emergency response, such as worsening economic conditions, droughts, floods, and crop or livestock disease epidemics.

These disasters affect rural livelihoods through loss of assets including livestock. Comparatively, complete loss of livestock as assets generally is not as acute as that of crops. Livestock tend to be more resilient than crops when disasters such as drought and floods strike.

In Malawi, there is evidence that farmers owning animals such as goats are better able to cope with drought than those that rely on producing crops only as they can sell goats and buy food long after crops have wilted.

However, most of the relief services do not consider livestock replacement in recovery programs as it is generally expensive. Relief items are usually in the form of processed food items or easy to grow food crops, thereby not replenishing livestock populations in communities affected by the disaster such as floods and droughts.

Studies have shown that animal dung can be used as an insect repellant Mandavgane et al. In the ancient world, people used to burn animal dung as an insect repellant and even mixed with mud when building mud houses to control insects.

But the modern world has ignored this indigenous knowledge and uses modern insect repellants, some of which are harmful to the environment as well as to human health. Researchers proved that pyrethroids used in repellents lead to hyperexcitation of the nervous system and prolong uses result in corneal damage, liver damage, and asthma.

In another study, the use of elephant dung as one of the main ingredients in the production of mosquito repellant proved to be eco-friendly organic herbal repellent with long-lasting protection and safe for human life, animal skin, and humans with no side effect and could be an alternative to commercially available synthetic chemical repellents Ramya et al. Weed control is another nonfood role of livestock, which remains untapped.

It is established that livestock can be used in weed control such that the cost of weeding using human labor or herbicides is offset. They may be used to directly graze weeds or consume weeds that have been cut.

Goats being browsers are useful in controlling shrubs and thistles. Sheep are considered as best for weed control as they graze close to the ground and easily control leafy plants, which in turn are nutritious to the animals.

Sheep and geese are known to control grassy weeds in fields for legumes and other crops. There are recommended stocking densities of animals such as pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats in controlling perennial weeds between cropping seasons.

Livestock can also be used in early grazing to prevent weed growth. They can also be used in clearing crop residues after harvest. In large plantations of trees such as rubber, livestock are used to control the overgrowth of cover crops.

When they graze on mature weeds, they help destroy many weed seeds although not completely all. Ducks have also been used in integrated farming systems whereby their role is to control weeds and pests while supplying manure in the form of droppings Figure 5. However, in many communities, grazing animals are used primarily for food or fiber, and their use for weed control is of secondary concern.

Livestock play a vital role in nutrient recycling in the soil through the provision of manure. In most developing countries whose economies are agro-based, poverty has often been associated with poor soil fertility Sanchez, , and sensible use of organic resources Chivenge et al. In this regard, livestock play a major role in land use system and facilitate soil fertility management and reduce costs associated with inorganic fertilizers. For instance, in Malawi, the use of manure from cattle feedlots have been attributed to increased sugarcane yield in sugar plantations while largely offsetting the use of inorganic fertilizers.

Non-livestock owners are known to purchase manure to apply in their gardens. Manure has recently become an additional source of income to many livestock farmers, while, in the past, it used to be given out for free or sold at greatly reduced prices.

Some farmers in Malawi further incorporate manure with inorganic fertilizers creating a mixture capable of achieving similar maize yields to fields with only inorganic fertilizer applied. Livestock provide nonhuman energy animal power to poor farmers for ploughing, drawing water, and transporting sick people and goods.

Draught animal power provides an intermediate level of mechanization between human power and engine power Figure 6. As such, it is attractive to smallholder farmers, who wish to improve their productivity within the availability of their limited livelihood assets, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Draught power is also used as a service in the community or hired out as an additional source of income. The species that are key in draught power are cattle, donkeys, mules, camels, and buffaloes.

Livestock are used in various ways for animal traction from left to right: ploughing, transporting goods, and transportation of water. Biomedical research is another nonfood role of livestock.

Often, when there are new techniques, products, or drugs to be developed for humans, researchers use animals including livestock to test for safety and efficacy prior to making them available to human subjects Beena, Though laboratory rodents have been used extensively, they have limitations in organ size, life span, breeding, physiology, metabolic, and behavior patterns Polejaeva et al.

For instance, cattle are the best model for studies on reproductive immunology and placental biology since their reproductive cycles are similar to humans Beena, , whereas goats and sheep are the best models for studying cardiac and respiratory systems, respectively Dosdall et al. Goats have also been developed as a model in orthopedic studies because their anatomy is similar to humans Pearce et al.

Using farm animals has advantages over smaller animals because livestock are larger in size, thereby easing the collection of larger volumes and more frequent samples for research Hamernik, Many animals are bred and bought because people like to spend part of their free time with them companion animals.

Bettencourt et al. For instance, in Timor-Leste, cockfighting is one of the older leisure activities preferred by many people whereby men take cocks as their precious animals ready for fighting. However, there might be concerns with animal welfare with such sport.