Informed livestock sector policy development and priority setting is heavily dependent on a good understanding of livestock production systems. In a collaborative effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Livestock Research Institute, stock has been taken of where we have come from in agricultural systems classification and mapping; the current state of the art; and the directions in which research and data collection efforts need to take in the future. The book also addresses issues relating to the intensity and scale of production, moving from what is done to how it is done. The intensification of production is an area of particular importance, for it is in the intensive systems that changes are occurring most rapidly and where most information is needed on the implications that intensification of production may have for livelihoods, poverty alleviation, animal diseases, public health and environmental outcomes. A series of case studies is provided, linking livestock production systems to rural livelihoods and poverty and examples of the application of livestock production system maps are drawn from livestock production, now and in the future; livestock's impact on the global environment; animal and public health; and livestock and livelihoods. This book provides a formal reference to Version 5 of the global livestock production systems map, and to revised estimates of the numbers of rural poor livestock keepers, by country and livestock production system.

The importance of livestock; Board of trustees; ILRI's donors in 1995; ILRI's addresses; A global livestock research institute; Moves towards a new institute; Major trends; Developing a medium-term plan; Broadening horizons; Collaboration and integration the names of the game; Live vaccine delivery systems for east coast fever; What is a live delivery system; Why live delivery systems; Progress to date; Attacking the schizont form; Where to now; Mice and cattle immune systems like chalk and cheese; Helper T cells in mice and cattle; Vital reminders; Interpreting the language of parasites; Starting from the parasite; Starting with the host; Promise for the future; GIS - a research tool and beyond; Controlling tick-borne diseases in Zimbabwe; Maximising human benefits, minimising environmental costs; GIS in production-system research; Tools for research and development; Women dairy farmers in Africa; Who should extension workers by talking to; Who does the work; What are the benefits of dairying; Implications for dairy development; Ploughing with cows feasible in East African highlands; Ploughing with cows technically feasible; Farmers test dairy-draft cows on farms; Farmers emphasise milk yields; Moving into new areas with new partners; Toxin-degrading microbe release multi-purpose tree feed potential; To much, too soon; Gradual adaptation; Another string to the farmers' bow; Biodiversity - the future of world food production; Knowing what to conserve; Knowing what has been collected; Knowing what it can do; Keeping it clean; The future of world food production; A library on a disc; A technology for today; ILRI's CD-ROMs; Early days; ILRI programme and project activities in 1995; ILRI senior staff in 1995; Post-doctoral associates and graduate fellows at ILRI in 1995; Publications by ILRI staff in 1995; Financial summary.