Microlivestock Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future (1991) / Chapter Skim
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Introduction
Introduction
Pages 1-14
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It is one of mankind's most serious imbalances and most pressing problems. Rural families in the Third World usually subsist mainly on the products from their homes or farms.
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The "miniBrahman" cow of Mexico is only 60 cm tall and weighs 140 kg; the southern Sudan dwarf sheep of eastern Africa can weigh as little as 11 kg; the Terai goat of Nepal weighs less than 12 kg; and the cuing pig of Mexico weighs merely 10 kg. Poultry The widespread use of poultry in Third World villages demonstrates the importance of small, easily managed, household livestock.
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Mouse deer and musk deer (which, strictly speaking, are not true deer at all) are of microlivestock size and are also possible future livestock.
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Bees Honey bees are present almost everywhere, and honey and wax are high-value products that demand little processing and can be stored and transported easily. Innovations in equipment and technique have made beekeeping successful in the tropics without requiring sophisticated hives or elaborate training.
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· Livestock, particularly ruminants, can process forage and waste crop materials inedible by man into nutritionally desirablefooUproducts, many ofbighprotein, mineraland vitamin content and including some of high caloric value. · Approximately 40 percent of total land available in developing countries can be used only for some form of forage production and a further 30 percent is classified as forest with some potential for the production offorage.
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· Increased Productivity. Small animals tend to fit well into existing farming systems, thereby expanding the resource base and recycling nutrients.
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For example, chickens and pigeons gather scattered seeds, turkeys gobble up insects, geese graze water weeds, iguanas feed in the tops of trees, and bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers that may be miles away. Even some grazing microlivestock prefer different forages from those preferred by cattle.
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Some microlivestock can produce under conditions where conventional species die. The capybara, for instance, is at home in the Latin American lowlands, where the climate is hot and humid and Hoods cause seasonal inundations.
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Increased Labor Requirements The advantages of low investment, fast return on capital, flexibility, and efficient resource utilization are offset by higher demands for labor. Keeping small animals often requires considerable effort, and its economic viability may depend on the availability of cheap and willing labor.
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Complex Logistics It is complicated and expensive to reach millions of widely scattered peasants, each having only a handful of small animals. Even though total production may far exceed that of commercial farms raising large animals, the smallholdings are often dispersed, their animals are often used for subsistence rather than commerce, and their managers are often ill-trained and illiterate.
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But some commercial programs, including some with rabbits and guinea pigs, have failed because no public demand was developed. Resistance to New Species People have close associations with livestock, and in most cultures they do not easily accept animals or animal foods that are radically different from their traditional ones.
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Teaching manuals and materials are needed, and classes in microlivestock husbandry should be included in rural school curricula. Raising personal livestock on weeds and table scraps in cages beside the house or boxes under the bed will, in many instances, get quality protein to the most poverty stricken more effectively than raising large livestock on pastures.
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Hugh Popenoe Breeds and varieties were created from mutant genes and thus have become living reservoirs of these genes, holding them for use in future generations of mankind. Anonymous
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