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Introducing: The Expert Group on Urban Animals

The world is becoming a more urbanized place, currently about 50% of the worlds´ population lives in cities and the proportion is expected to increase to almost 70% in 2050. The increase is likely to be particularly prominent in Africa and Asia, where urban population is expected to double between 2000 and 2030. Urban population, who generally enjoys higher income than people in rural areas, demands in general a more varied diet with bigger proportion of livestock products. Thus there is a market opportunity for the urban poor to work with animal farming within the cities. Urban agriculture has a sizable potential to improve livelihoods, raise incomes, reduce food insecurity and increase the access to nutritious food among the urban poor. However, keeping livestock in the city concels considerable risks to public health and environment. The overall aim of the group is to develop and to provide knowledge about pros and cons of keeping livestock in urban and peri-urban settings in low income countries and to communicate this knowledge to decision makers at various levels and places.

The expert group consists of professionals from FAO, Rome; International Livestock Research Institute, (ILRI) Nairobi; Federation of Swedish Farmers, (LRF) Stockholm; We effect, Stockholm and is coordinated by Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, (SLU) Uppsala.

For further information please contact Ulf Magnusson.