Contribution to Food Supply from Livestock and Aquaculture

Abstract

Food supply for humankind becomes an ultimate concerned issue since global population trends to increase gradually in mid-20th and 21st century. Due to domestic or international wars, political crises, global climate change, increasing food prices (Bourne, 2009) and recent global economic crises, street protests from hungry people have been reported in more than 30 countries. The current global population is more than 6.5 billion, which include more than one billion people of hunger or malnutrition. The highly populated Asia-Pacific region, an area of moderately high-productivity, has the highest hungry population totaling to 642 million people (Figure 1). Unfavorable conditions such as El Nino and La Nina phenomena, drought, typhoon, land-sliding, up-leveling of sea surface, diminishing bee population, worse air pollution, shortage of freshwater jointly become stress in developing both livestock and aquaculture. However, governors have to ensure adequate food for its peoples. This paper summarizes the key elements of contribution from livestock and aquaculture sectors in terms of importance, constraints, strategies and prospects in Asia-Pacific region and Taiwan.