Livestock Farming Systems in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

This book examines the potential of Livestock Farming Systems (LFS) research to assess and understand the diversity of livestock farming systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). LFS research based on systemic modelling has improved the understanding of livestock production realities at farm level and influenced agricultural development strategies in Western Europe. Researchers from both Western and Eastern Europe carried out this initial study, which was coordinated and sponsored under a collaborative agreement between EAAP and FAO, and was run in selected regions in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. The results and conclusions of the study are reported in the book, together with the other contributions of interest with respect to the sustainable development of livestock production in CEE presented and discussed during a workshop in Budapest in August 2001. The results of the study demonstrate the adaptability of LFS research to systems predominantly based on large-scale private, corporate and co-operative farms in the CEE countries.




The Livestock Sector in Eastern Europe


Book Description

Agriculture in Eastern Europe is undergoing dramatic change. Ownership of land and animals is transferred from the state to the private sector. Consumer and producer subsidies are being phased out, and formerly protected internal markets are being opened up. These changes have had profound effects on production and rural income and employment, as internal and export demand collapsed and prices plummeted. The whole sector now has to adapt to these open market conditions. The purpose of this paper is to analyze past and present development in the livestock sector, in order to prepare for a carefully formulated and executed adjustment. The authors try to explain the forces which shaped the sector in the past and, based on this analysis, suggest priorities for World Bank assistance in the modernization process.




Agriculture and the Environment


Book Description

Agriculture in developing countries has been remarkably productive during the last few decades; however, the production levels were achieved at the cost of placing more stress on natural resources and the environment. This volume brings together state-of-the-art applied, practical research related to agriculture, development, and the environment in the developing world. It attempts to distill current knowledge and to summarize it in readable form for development practitioners. Where possible, authors use specific examples to indicate which approaches have worked and which have not, under which conditions, and why.




Image of the cattle sector and its products


Book Description

"In 2001-2002, the EU Phare Business Support Programme funded an inter-country project dealing with strengthening of cattle breeders associations as business representative organisations in eight then EU candidate countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Breeders associations from Austria, Germany and Italy also participated in the project, while the European Association for Animal Production acted as the project leader. The project also known under its acronym as BABROC aimed at facilitating the integration of the cattle industries in the Central and Eastern European countries in the EU system and at improving quality of services provided by breeders associations to their members. The present publication contains invited papers for the international workshop on the image of cattle industry and its products, held in Verona, Italy 8 March 2002. Technical papers as well as statements made by Messrs. J. Fischler, EU Commissary, and G. Alemanno, Italian Minister of Agriculture, deal with expectations of consumers regarding the safety and quality of cattle products as the basic message for all involved in the cattle industry."







Towards Impact and Resilience


Book Description

This book, consisting of 17 chapters, focuses on clarifying the challenges, issues, and priorities of Agricultural Education and Training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa, and provides suggestions for practical solutions that can help guide organisations interested in furthering AET for agricultural development on the continent. It discusses the African context within which a transformed AET system needs to be located; analyses African and international experiences that are relevant to identified AET needs and challenges; dissects AET models that may hold important lessons; and addresses the main critical issues that will impact upon AET in sub-Saharan Africa. The concluding chapter synthesises the ideas, experiences, and evidence from the preceding chapters in order to highlight critical issues for success as well as possible solutions. The book is uniquely positioned to add to a call to action on AET, to pull together state-of-the-art knowledge from within and outside sub-Saharan Africa, and to advance “out of the box” thinking about the principles, values and character of AET for development, with an emphasis on the models that can help to cultivate leaders and change-makers at all levels of the agricultural sector.




Global Livestock Production Systems


Book Description

Informed livestock sector policy development and priority setting is heavily dependent on a good understanding of livestock production systems. In a collaborative effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Livestock Research Institute, stock has been taken of where we have come from in agricultural systems classification and mapping; the current state of the art; and the directions in which research and data collection efforts need to take in the future. The book also addresses issues relating to the intensity and scale of production, moving from what is done to how it is done. The intensification of production is an area of particular importance, for it is in the intensive systems that changes are occurring most rapidly and where most information is needed on the implications that intensification of production may have for livelihoods, poverty alleviation, animal diseases, public health and environmental outcomes. A series of case studies is provided, linking livestock production systems to rural livelihoods and poverty and examples of the application of livestock production system maps are drawn from livestock production, now and in the future; livestock's impact on the global environment; animal and public health; and livestock and livelihoods. This book provides a formal reference to Version 5 of the global livestock production systems map, and to revised estimates of the numbers of rural poor livestock keepers, by country and livestock production system.




Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock


Book Description

Greenhouse gas emissions by the livestock sector could be cut by as much as 30 percent through the wider use of existing best practices and technologies. FAO conducted a detailed analysis of GHG emissions at multiple stages of various livestock supply chains, including the production and transport of animal feed, on-farm energy use, emissions from animal digestion and manure decay, as well as the post-slaughter transport, refrigeration and packaging of animal products. This report represents the most comprehensive estimate made to-date of livestocks contribution to global warming as well as the sectors potential to help tackle the problem. This publication is aimed at professionals in food and agriculture as well as policy makers.




Structural Change in the Farming Sectors in Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

Farm structures in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) today cover a whole spectrum of forms, which include small subsistence-oriented household plots, medium-sized commercial family farms, and large corporations. The agricultural sector in CEE definitely has not embraced the family farm as the dominant farming structure, thus confounding the original expectations of Western experts. On the other hand, agriculture did not collapse because of fragmentation and privatization, as predicted by conservative doomsayers. To address the concerns of the farming sector in CEE with relation to EU accession, a workshop was held in Warsaw, Poland in June 1999. This volume represents a selection of papers presented at this workshop. It examines the reforms and policy changes necessary in the food and agriculture sectors of the ten countries that have started the accession process for eventual membership in the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). The papers are organized around the following three topics: • Evolving farm structures and competitiveness in agriculture; • Land laws and legal institutions for development of land markets and farm restructuring; and • Development of farm services for improved competitiveness. This volume will be of interest to agricultural policy makers and government officials in the candidate countries, EU officials, World Bank and FAO staff, development scholars, and all others interested in the process of agricultural reform in CEE.