Writing in Footsteps – a magazine of Tearfund, Nigel Poole argues there is ‘no simple answer’ to the question: are livestock a blessing or a burden?

He suggests that the ‘type of livestock production practised and the ecological context both matter. But think about one of the most common livestock problems, which is this: if someone else’s cow eats my crops, is it the fault of the cow? Maybe the problem is not with livestock but with people. Livestock were created to be a blessing, but we need to manage them well otherwise they can turn into a burden for our communities and our world.’

Read his article

Other articles in the issue include:

• A day in the life of a Community-Based Animal Health Worker [in Kenya]
• Animal loan schemes
• Dorothea the Dairy Cow: Livestock on the airwaves
• Livestock in emergencies
• Urban goat-keeping [in Nairobi]
• Zoonosis: how animal diseases can become human diseases