Contribution, prospects and trends of livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa: a review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to deliver summarized information on livestock production, trends and prospects to the stakeholders/beneficiaries, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is always suggested that around 70–80% of agricultural land is required to produce both pasture and feeds. The African livestock sector contributes about 30–80% to its Agricultural Gross Domestic Products. From the world's total, around 85% of livestock keepers are found in SSA countries. Although it produces only 2.8% of the world's meat and milk outputs, SSA contributes more than 14% of the world's livestock resources. By 2050, a projected demand for poultry meat, in the selected countries of SSA, will increase by 214%, followed by pork (161%). Consequently, by 2050 projected rates of the annual consumption of both pork and poultry meat will gain the highest growth rate, followed by the egg in Africa. After 27 years, the worldwide consumption rate of animal-based food is expected to rise by 80%. As urbanization increases, both livestock-based and processed foods are favoured. Additionally, increasing demand for the animal-derived products presents an opportunity for livestock keepers. However, the local production and demand for livestock products, mainly in SSA, have not been matched. Therefore, countries in the region are either consuming inadequate protein-source foods or remain net importers. To improve production, intervention needs to focus on the integrated elements of animal husbandry. Intensification is also another option to produce more animal products while efficiently using natural resources. Feed-resource might be efficiently used when combining some extensive and intensive livestock production systems. Moreover, feed efficiency might be improved when matching the livestock species with that of a compatible feed resource and the types. In converting caloris and proteins of the feeds into edible food, beef production is less efficient than that of poultry and pigs. It is concluded that livestock production plays a great role in SSA's socio-economy and it has also a bright future to be improved.