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The majority of China’s poorest women and men live in the Western Regions and still rely primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods. Continued and enhanced growth in the economy of the Western Regions is absolutely essential if China is to continue to fight poverty, prevent social instability and reduce the inequity between the poor western regions and the better off coastal areas.
China’s livestock sector has seen dramatic increases in the local consumption of animal products creating the opportunity for value-added livestock production to lift poor, subsistence western farmers out of poverty. However, smallholders remain particularly vulnerable to the continuing threat of animal disease, which could quickly destroy farmers’ livelihoods. Unsafe and unhealthy livestock farming practices that have accompanied the growth of this sector pose significant animal and human health risks that could undo many of the benefits that have been achieved to dates. An animal health extension system that responds to the needs of smallholders is essential not only to meet the growing demand for safe and healthy livestock products and fulfill WTO standards, but also to support sustainable economic and social development of the western regions. |
