Livestock production and quality of societies' life in transition economies

Animals are beneficial to humans since they produce besides food, products for medical uses and energy. They are also used for transport, animal power, fertilizer, companion and sports. Intensification of animal agriculture has allowed reasonable economic growth in developing regions. This will continue more intensively with world globalization. As a consequence, traditional family farming is losing space to the enterprise organizations concerned with profit returns on investments. This circumstance together with the mechanization of agriculture is driving human populations to the cities and producing a trend to reduce growth on the rural areas of developing countries. Animal production will continue to increase both in volume and in productivity to meet the demand for high-value protein in these transition societies. However, official authorities of developing countries should consider the environmental problems and health issues raised by animal production in the most developed areas of the world. Improved livestock productivity to support economic development and sustainable resource management are not incompatible goals. Limits for the application of technologies should consider aspects of animal production in terms of food, animal welfare and protection of the environment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.