June 18, 2007

FAO appeals for sustainable breed diversity in livestock

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that large-scale industrial livestock production which centres on a limited range of breeds is a threat to global farm animal diversity.

According to a new report entitled "the state of the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture" presented to the FAO at a meeting of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, one breed of livestock has become extinct every month over the past seven years, and 20 percent of the world's cattle, goat, pig, horse and poultry breeds are in danger of extinction.

The skyrocketing global demand for meat, milk and leading to the heavy reliance on animals should resort farmers to intensified breeding.

FAO assistant director-general Alexander Muller characterized the report as a wake-up call to the world, and stressed the need to boost the global food supply by maintaining and deploying a wide array of genetic resources, which are vital and irreplaceable.

He said that the developing world will be the main area of breed diversity loss in this century.

The report called for improved conservation program to prevent the crowding out of local breeds and for investments in personnel and technical facilities to effectively manage the problem.