Livestock Researchers Warn Of "Meltdown" As Hardy, Rare Breeds Die Out In Africa, 3rd World

[hatrack]

GENEVA - Farm scientists warned on Monday that hardy breeds of livestock vital for world food supplies were dying out across developing countries, especially in Africa, and called for the creation of regional gene banks to save them. In a report to a conference in the Swiss town of Interlaken, the experts said tough and adaptable animals were being ousted by others from richer countries that were more productive in the short-term but posed a longer-term risk for farm output.

"There is a livestock meltdown under way across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Valuable breeds are disappearing at an alarming rate," Carlos Sere of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) told the week-long gathering. "In many cases we will not even know the true value of an existing breed until it has already gone," declared Sere, Director-General of the Nairobi-based body which focuses on livestock research for development.

The report, from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), found that smallholders in poorer nations were abandoning their traditional animals in favour of higher-yield stock imported from Europe and the United States.

This growing reliance on a handful of farm animal species is causing the loss on average of one livestock breed every month in developing economies, the report said.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/44106/story.htm

[bananas]

1. etymology of "meltdown"

"Meltdown is from 1965 in reference to a nuclear reactor; metaphoric extension since early 1980s."
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=meltdown&searchmode=none

[AlecBGreen]

2. why are humans so shortsighted these days?

we are where we are, here in the modern 20th century, because the previous thousand generations took the long-term approach. They didnt eat the biggest and best seeds ... they saved them and planted them the next spring. They didnt eat the biggest, meatiest livestock, they saved them for breeding (though a few went on the sacrificial altar). Now the world sees things in reverse - take the best, use it up til its sucked dry, then take the next best. And so on down the line... Soon all thats left will be weeds and rodents. Hope my kids can stomach the rat-n-dandelion pie.

[The2ndWheel]

3. You're not modern enough

"we are where we are, here in the modern 20th century"

I found that mistake funny.

"because the previous thousand generations took the long-term approach."

Some did. They were eventually run over though by those generations who didn't.

The issue is control. The issue is actively breeding any plant or animal for our narrow needs/wants/desires as a single species. Once you start that process, the only outcome, as far as I can see at least, is where we find ourselves today. The most efficient way to centralize is to subtract as many variables as possible. That then brings up the sustainability of centralization. That then brings up the sustainability of everything that we do.

[kestrel91316]

4. "Regional gene banks". Hmph. How about regional massive efforts

to decrease GHG emissions?