Tag Archives: Livestock’s Long Shadow

Animal Production / Books and chapters / Consumption / Food Security / Human Health / Livelihoods / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Zoonotic Diseases

New FAO book spells out rationale, priorities for investing in livestock development to reduce poverty

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A new FAO study reports that more than 85 per cent of poor livestock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa live in extreme poverty; here, at a Toureg encampment near Fakara, in Niger, a boy herds a prized animal, and asset, of his family (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). A new book on the intersection of poverty reduction … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Climate Change / Environment

‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’ rebutted: On the dangers of comparing apples and oranges – and lumping production practices of rich and poor

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The 2006 publication of Livestock’s Long Shadow by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has stirred considerable controversy. Here is the latest rebuttal, showing the fallacy of treating all the world’s animal production as the same kind of ‘beast’. ‘How long is your shadow? The answer, of course, depends, and differs whether you are standing … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Consumption / Environment / Livestock Systems

Is eating meat actually good for the planet?

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A young girl carries a slab of beef amongst traders in Goro town, Ethiopia, on market day. (Photo credit: ILRI/Mann) ‘The modest proposal may sound heretical to many eco-conscious eaters, but eating meat may actually be good for the planet after all.  In his new book, Meat: A Benign Extravagance, Simon Fairlie aims to debunk … Continue reading →