Food security in the arid and semi-arid lands – livestock vs agriculture, where is the balance?

Session: Pastoralist livestock convert low quality feed into high quality proteins with essential amino acids that cannot be sourced from plants. Large parts of the world are not arable as they are too dry or steep or too cold or too hot for successful cultivation. However, they can still used for food production by means of herding livestock. Statistically these areas more than double the size of arable land and cause livestock to be found over a much larger part of the world than crops. Best practices to improve nutrition in these areas should consider livestock-based approaches.

Biographical information: Dr. Beppe DiGiullio and his wife, Dr. Lieve Lynen, over the past two decades have pioneered the development of ECF vaccine delivery and privatization of ECF Immunization services in East Africa which has impacted favorably pastoralists and dairy farmers alike through a network of private and public veterinarians.