70% of world’s 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty
EMERGENCY DIGEST- Seventy per cent of the world’s 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty depend on livestock for a living, scientists have said.
According to them, improving productivity through smarter feeding, farmer training and rangeland management can allow herders to get more from their animals, leading to higher incomes, more nutritious diets and better health prospects.
Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are presenting 18 ways that governments, investors and experts can protect human health by addressing interactions with livestock and their environment across seven key areas.
It was part of a new One Health playbook that offers governments around the world 18 practical ways to improve livestock systems in developing countries that will unlock benefits for global health and development.
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A ‘livestock-inclusive’ One Health agenda focused on seven key areas in the Global South would help protect the whole world against pandemic diseases, according to the brief from ILRI.
Scientists at ILRI highlighted how investments into healthier and sustainable livestock systems in developing countries would benefit the three interconnected areas of ‘One Health’-animal, human and environment-and reduce the risk of disease spillovers.
The recommendations include increasing the availability and uptake of livestock vaccines to reduce the threat of cross-species disease outbreaks, raising public awareness of the precautions needed to limit disease spread, and improving food hygiene and safety standards at informal markets.
The Director-General, ILRI, Jimmy Smith, said: “It’s impossible to overstate the importance and ubiquity of livestock in countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Everything from food and nutrition to gender equality, livelihoods and trade depend on farm animals.
“Healthy livestock means healthy people and environments, which not only enables low-income countries to sustainably grow their economies but also improves global health security, minimizing the risk of disease outbreaks that spread worldwide.”
