Globally, the dairy sector is probably one of the most distorted agricultural sectors: producer subsidies are in place in many developed countries, encouraging surplus production, export subsidies are paid by governments to place the excess production on the world markets, and tariff and...

Livestock play a crucial role in the livelihoods of a large number of the world's poor. Livestock-related policy decisions, however, are often based on sparse and generalized information. Better information and knowledge on livestock production patterns, and their relationships with structural...

This paper examines the role of livestock products as commodities of trade, responding to the demand and higher prices that many external markets offer, and at the same time providing important contributions to the development process in poorer countries. It highlights that this opportunity is...

Generally the vast majority of poor households in developing countries live in the rural areas and heavily rely on agriculture and agricultural assets for their livelihoods. Vietnam gives evidence of the same patterns whereby 90 percent of the poor live in rural areas and more than 80 percent of...

The objectives of the study were to obtain a better understanding of households' pathways into, and out of, poverty, with poverty defined from the communities' own perspective. The authors used a community-based methodology called the 'stages of progress' approach to assess household poverty...

The purpose of the study is to assess the economics of dairy farming in Bangladesh and the prospects for improving the dairy income for small-scale producers, which currently form the backbone of the dairy industry. The document begins with a general overview of milk production in the country,...

This paper presents a case study of how livestock policies are made and implemented in a national context, and how they can be improved to better serve the interests of the poor. It seems that good opportunities for improving rural livelihoods in Bolivia through livestock policy are to be found...

The purpose of the study is to assess the economics of dairy farming in the state of Orissa, one of the poorest states in India, and to evaluate the prospects for improving the dairy income for small-scale producers, which currently form the backbone of the dairy industry. The study applies a...

This paper analyzes the political economy of the livestock sector in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The aim is to identify politically feasible interventions that could have broad positive effects on poor rural livestock producers in these states. To that end, the paper assesses...

Agriculture and livestock are key components of the livelihoods of the poor. Livestock make a substantial contribution to household livelihood's and currently sustain the livelihoods of an estimated 700 million rural poor in developing countries. In Nepal, poverty levels are extremely high and...