title: Issues and options in addressing the environmental consequences of livestock sector's growth.
abstract: The growth of the livestock sector is being achieved at substantial environmental costs. Today, livestock are a major stressor of the global environmental, occupying a quarter of emerged land (including a third of arable land), contributing close to a fifth of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, using eight percent of all water resources and threatening a wide range of endangered species. At the same time, livestock are also a crucial engine of rural growth and a tool for improving food security. Policies are required to guide the sector in achieving sometimes conflicting development objectives. Potential pathways include encouraging resource use efficiency, correcting for environmental externalities and accelerating technological change.
authors.affiliation: Livestock Information, Sector Analysis and Policy Branch of the Food and Agricultural, Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Livestock Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative, Rome, Italy. pierre.gerber@fao.org
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Vellinga
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steinfeld
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005523:Food Supply; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D006801:Humans; D011158:Population Growth; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D013045:Species Specificity