Livestock and Poultry to Assure Sustainability in the Food System

Livestock and poultry are two integral parts in the food production systems in many countries in the globe, including Sri Lanka. Hence, assuring the sustainable utilization of resources and systems associated with those animal components are critically important. The important role that livestock and poultry perform in the production environment, the evolution of diverse farming systems that have helped sustainable utilization of the available resources by the animal industry, trends experienced in resources with especial reference to genetic resources, and changes in animal populations and production have been described in this chapter focusing on the Sri Lankan context, in comparison with dynamics experienced in regional and global scenarios. Institutional setup and related changes have been presented in the context of diverse production environment in supporting the understanding of the governing environment of the diverse systems. Influence of the trends and dynamics of the industry in bringing in sustainability to food systems of the country has been discussed with emphasis on resource diversity, genetic richness and mixed production environment. The approaches in managing the livestock systems for sustainability and associated challenges and strategies with some suggestions for research orientations are presented.