Population pressure, migration and urbanisation: impacts on crop–livestock systems development in West Africa
Population growth and urbanisation are driving a livestock revolution. Mixed farming systems are the present and the foreseeable future of West African livestock systems, with concurrent changes in livestock feeding systems and the role of grazing, fodder and penning. The livestock economy has to be seen as part of a national economy in which urban and rural facets interact. Effective policies need to be based on recognition of the capacity of rural people to invest in improving their livelihoods.