The livestock sector constitutes 30 percent of the agricultural gross domestic product in the developing world and is one of the fastest-growing sub-sectors in agriculture. Furthermore, a total of 1.2 billion people rely upon livestock for their livelihoods, which includes 600 million livestock-keeping smallholder farmers, the majority of whom are women. Improvements in livestock production contribute positively to food security through increased nutrient availability from animal-source foods and to environmental sustainability through decreased emissions intensity. 

Livestock and animal-source foods market systems development contributes to all of the top line goals of Feed the Future, including the advancement of agriculture-led economic growth, the increase in the resilience of people and systems and the improvement of nutritional outcomes, particularly for women and children. The development of livestock systems in Asia, Latin America and Africa also supports youth development, women’s empowerment and the response to the climate crisis. 

Of the approximately 30 countries that carry out Feed the Future programming (including the 20 Feed the Future target countries), 18 reported on programming that included activities related to livestock in the USAID Development Information Solution system. While some of the activities focused exclusively on livestock production, others had broader scopes that were inclusive of livestock but multi-sectorial in nature.

This report summarizes the successes and challenges faced by approximately 50 Feed the Future activities that sought to improve livestock and animal source food market systems in fiscal year 2021. The data for this report were sourced primarily from a qualitative analysis conducted by the Feed the Future Knowledge, Data, Learning, and Training activity.