Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective

Biotechnology has only limited potential to alleviate poverty in rural Africa because it does not address the main reasons for poverty such as weak infrastructure, bad governance and unfavourable terms of trade. Looking at the main characteristics of the predominantly small-scale animal farming in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bayer, W., Wanyama, J.
Format: Conference Paper
Language:Inglés
Published: TSAP and ILRI 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4771
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author Bayer, W.
Wanyama, J.
author_browse Bayer, W.
Wanyama, J.
author_facet Bayer, W.
Wanyama, J.
author_sort Bayer, W.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Biotechnology has only limited potential to alleviate poverty in rural Africa because it does not address the main reasons for poverty such as weak infrastructure, bad governance and unfavourable terms of trade. Looking at the main characteristics of the predominantly small-scale animal farming in Africa, the potentials and limitations for biotechnological applications in food processing, forage improvement, animal breeding and animal health are discussed. Indigenous biotechnology under the control of livestock farmers can be beneficial, whereas—with the exception of some animal health technologies—large-scale and ‘high-tech’ applications of biotechnology have shown little potential to alleviate poverty. Indeed, these applications can have the opposite effect. Rather than pouring an undue amount of human and financial resources into further refinement of advanced biotechnology, African livestock researchers should develop their own research agenda that addresses the real problems of small-scale livestock keepers and poverty alleviation.
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spelling CGSpace47712022-02-18T12:43:48Z Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective Bayer, W. Wanyama, J. biotechnology animal breeding Biotechnology has only limited potential to alleviate poverty in rural Africa because it does not address the main reasons for poverty such as weak infrastructure, bad governance and unfavourable terms of trade. Looking at the main characteristics of the predominantly small-scale animal farming in Africa, the potentials and limitations for biotechnological applications in food processing, forage improvement, animal breeding and animal health are discussed. Indigenous biotechnology under the control of livestock farmers can be beneficial, whereas—with the exception of some animal health technologies—large-scale and ‘high-tech’ applications of biotechnology have shown little potential to alleviate poverty. Indeed, these applications can have the opposite effect. Rather than pouring an undue amount of human and financial resources into further refinement of advanced biotechnology, African livestock researchers should develop their own research agenda that addresses the real problems of small-scale livestock keepers and poverty alleviation. 2006 2011-08-14T12:04:33Z 2011-08-14T12:04:33Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4771 en Open Access TSAP and ILRI Bayer, W. and Wanyama, J. 2006. Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective. In: Rege, J.E.O.; Nyamu, A.M.; Sendalo, D. (eds.). 2006. The role of biotechnology in animal agriculture to address poverty in Africa: Opportunities and challenges. Proceedings of the 4th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture and the 31st annual meeting of Tanzania Society for Animal Production, Arusha, Tanzania, 20–24 September 2005. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: TSAP and Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
spellingShingle biotechnology
animal breeding
Bayer, W.
Wanyama, J.
Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title_full Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title_fullStr Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title_full_unstemmed Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title_short Biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation: An NGO perspective
title_sort biotechnology in animal agriculture and poverty alleviation an ngo perspective
topic biotechnology
animal breeding
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/4771
work_keys_str_mv AT bayerw biotechnologyinanimalagricultureandpovertyalleviationanngoperspective
AT wanyamaj biotechnologyinanimalagricultureandpovertyalleviationanngoperspective