This volume contains an executive summary of papers and the discussions on them as well as the reports of working groups and the recommendations of the Roundtable on Livestock Development strategies for Low Income Countries. In addition to the executive summary there is a Keynote paper and two other background papers, two papers on issues, constraints and opportunities for livestock development and five papers on options for increasing livestock's contribution from the major production systems.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the increasing competition for water between various sectors is aggravated by growing demands for water, climate change and environmental degradation. One of the major consumers of water is livestock keeping, which is an important livelihood strategy for smallholder farmers in Africa. The water consumption for livestock production is currently increasing with the growing demands for livestock products. On the other hand, current low returns from livestock, limit its contribution to livelihoods, threaten environmental health and aggravate local conflicts.

Raising and selling farm animals allows more than 1 billion people to make a daily subsistence living. But as essential as they are for food, income and health, these tropical livestock systems can damage as well as enhance land and water resources, and, like all livestock systems, they generate greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Research is helping poor livestock communities adapt to climate change, find sustainable ways to intensify their production, and, where possible, adopt methods to mitigate livestock-induced climate change.

In August 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) sub-Regional Emergency Office for Eastern and Central Africa (REOA) contracted the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to develop a proto-type “Livestock Drought Management” (LDM) decision support tool for use by a range of emergency and relief planners and practitioners throughout the region.

Although Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices are expected to boost adaptive capacity, food security and climate change mitigation in resource poor, smallholder farming systems, the barriers that can restrict its uptake are diverse. This study investigated the barriers hindering CSA practice adoption in the Santander department of Colombia as well as farmer perceptions of practice benefits and disadvantages.