Aregheore, Martin and Hunter, David (2007) The role of local feed resources in the economic empowerment of smallholder livestock farmers in Pacific Island countries. Pacific Economic Bulletin, 22 (3). pp. 145-151. ISSN 0817-8038
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Agriculture in the Pacific island countries is subsistence and crop-oriented, while rearing livestock is a sideline providing insurance against crop failure. Therefore, the livestock sector is an integral part of agriculture, but it is not as developed as it could be. With increases in the local demand for animal products, livestock production is now being embraced by smallholder farmers. The relatively underdeveloped status of livestock production is due to
• shortages of adequate, nutritional feed
• social attitudes
• lack of appropriate technologies
• poor disease control
• marketing deficiencies
• poor extension services.
Sustainable livestock production requires good technical knowhow of feed technologies. However, the smallholder farmers who own the majority of the livestock do not fully understand the potential benefits of local feed resources (Aregheore 2000). Feed resources in the Pacific region can be divided into ‘conventional feeds’ and ‘non-conventional feeds’ (Aregheore 2000). Well-processed, non-conventional feeds play an important role in meeting the feed needs of smallholder ruminant livestock farmers. The high and fluctuating costs of imported feeds and ingredients from overseas, coupled with transportation difficulties, result in periodic shortages and quality deterioration during transit. The use of local feed resources would greatly reduce the cost of feed and the total cost of production of livestock (Aregheore 2000, 2005).
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Agriculture and Food Technology |
| Depositing User: | Ms Mereoni Camailakeba |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Jan 2007 00:08 |
| Last Modified: | 23 May 2012 07:11 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/45 |
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