Article (in German) in the July 2009 issue of the nature magazine Natur+Kosmos describes the work of LPP’s Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and Hanwant Singh Rathore, director of LPP’s partner organization in Rajasthan, Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan.
In South Asia, and throughout the developing world, the predominant official approach to livestock development has been improvement of production by means of upgrading local breeds via cross-breeding with exotic animals. This strategy has led to the replacement and dilution of locally adapted breeds with non-native ones. This has resulted in an alarming loss that has been estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to amount to one breed every two weeks.
Based on selected case studies this paper argues that development strategies using locally adapted breeds and species are much more likely to benefit livestock keepers whilst also maintaining domestic animal diversity and bearing a smaller ecological footprint.
It also analyses the rationale for “Livestock Keepers’ Rights”, a principle that grew out of the struggle of traditional livestock keepers to retain control over their production resources, such as grazing areas and breeding stock, in the face of unfavourable policy environments.
Outlines the LIFE approach to documenting indigenous breeds, lobbying and advocacy for Livestock Keepers’ Rights, and exploring value addition and marketing for livestock products.
In: Mainstreaming biodiversity issues into forestry and agriculture: Abstracts of poster presentations at the 13th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 18-22 Feb 2008, Rome.
