Resources in Central America: W, Strategies for Sustainability
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ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES IN CENTRAL AMERICA: W, STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY Proceedings of a Symposium/Workshop held in San Jose", Costa Rica o042 111CO.. ... DE....... ,KIA. ItoP CAL INVISTIO. ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOUR, IN CENTRAL AMERICA: STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY Proceedings of a Symposium/Workshop held in San Jose, Costa Rica, October 7-12, 1991 Coordinators: DaniloPezo (CATIE) E. JaneHoman (UGIAAG) Thomas M. Yuill (UGIAAG) Compiled by: E. JaneHoman (UGIAAG) Organized by TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION (CATIE) UNIVERSITY GROUP FOR INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL AGRICULTURE (UGIAAG) Sponsored by AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT REGIONAL OFFICE FOR CENTRAL AMERICAN PROGRAMS (AID-ROCAP) March, 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS PRESENTATION 5 PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE SYMPOSIUM Current Status and Trends in Animal Agriculture in Central America. James B. French 9 Current Status and Trends in the Utilization of Natural Resources in Central America. Jos6 Flores 23 People, Cattle and Natural Resources in the Landscape of the Central American Isthmus. FranciscoLeon 41 Driving Forces: Economics of Animal Agriculture in Rel;-ion to Natural Resources. James R. Simpson 67 Policies relating to Livestock and Natural Resources: Institutional Factors. Alberto Amador 83 Aspects of Meat Marketing. Alberto Amador 87 Role of Animals in Resource Conversion and Conservation. Robert E. McDowell 91 The Roles of Animals in Cultural, Social and Agroeconomic Systems. ConstanceM. McCorckle 105 Too Much of a Good Thing: Alternatives for Sustainable Animal Agriculture. Joshua Dickinson and Amanda Jorgenson 125 Livestock Production on Pasture: Parameters for Sustainability. Jos6 M. Toledo 137 Recycling of Nutrients in Tropical Pastures and Acid Soils. Miguel Ayarza, I.M. Rao and R. Thomas 161 Conserving Biodiversity: Interfaces with Animal Production. ChristopherVaughan and ClaudetteMo 173 Characteristics of Tropical Plants that Determine Nutritive Value. Jess D. Reed 193 Utilization of Trees and Bushes in Rminant Production Systems. FranciscoRomero, Jorge Benavides, MariaKass ard DaniloPezo 205 3 The Efficiency of Jnteractions Between Animals and Natural Resources with Particular Reference to Central America. FglixI. Rosenberg 219 Efficiency of Processing Animal Products. JoseA. Zaglul 237 The Relation Between Land Tenure and Deforestation in Latin America. William C. Thiesenhusen 243 The Macroeconomic Environment and the Sustainability of Livestock Production. Carlos PomaredaBenel 257 The National and International Legal Framework for the Conservation of Natural Resources. PatriciaMadrigalCordero 271 PLENARY SESSION 277 POSITION PAPER 291 ANNEX List of Participants 311 Symposium/Workshop Agenda 327 4 PRFACE During the last decades, animal production ha; been Ifr-quently questioned as a an incompatible activity with natural resources conservation, mainly in fragile ecosystems in 'he tropics. The Tropical Agronomir I ".e'sarcn and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and the Secretariat at the University Group IFr a',aiational Agriculture (UGIAAG, at Wisconsin University) carried out an expert activity to ana lyze 'he relationships between animal production and natural resources management. For this purpose, a Symposium/Workshop was organize to: a) promote communication between researchers, decision mak ers, technicians and producers to find alternatives for increasing animal production while protecting the S;ural resource base; b) identify key interrelationships between the mtural resource base and animal pro duction sy,:;temc inCentral America; and c) to make available, to key people who may have an impact on agricultural sustainabiiity in the region, information on alternate production systems involving farming activities. The Symposium/Workshop was carried out thanks to funding from the Convenio de Alcance Limitado (Limited Scope Agreement, Ref. 569-0159-023) between the Agency for International Development (USAID) and CATIE, through the Regional Office for Central American Programs (ROCAP, today G- CAP). The Symposium/Workshop was held in San Josd, Costa Rica, October 07 to 12, 1991 as "Ganaderfa y Recursos Naturales en Am6rica Central: Estrategias para la Sostenibilidad" (Livestock and Natural Resources: Strategies for Sustainability"). Besides CATIE, the UGIAAF and the Local Support Committee, this activity was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Costa Rica, the Cooperativa Matadero Nacional de Montecillos (COOPEMONTECILLOS), and the Escuela de la Regi6n del Tr6pico Hfimedo (EARTH, Costa Rica). Experts participation in the Symposium/Workshop wa:; as numerous as allowed by the available resources; thus, high quality papers were presented by regional and non-regional specialists based on experiences and previous analysis, such as USAID report on strategies "Pnvironment Management and Natural Reaources in Central America" publisbed in 1989 and the documents on ti USAID supported symposium "Livestock: Development Priorities towards the Yfear 2000" held in Washington, D.C. in 1989. This publication, addressed to scientists interested on thl-topic and to readers in general, inclodes papers presented by symposium participants and the panelists comments on the workshop final discussion. It also includes the "Principles Declaration" prepared by a commission of expert participants in the Symposium/Workshop, coordinated by Dr. Thomas Yuill (University of Wisconsin) and Dr. Danilo Pezo (CATIE). CATIE thanks those who made publication of these proceedings possible, and carticularly to Dr. Thomas 5 Yuill from Wis':onsin who providef his personal support to this task. I am sure that they will be an important contribution for the future of production systems sustainability, including the animal compo nent, in fragile ecosystems in the American Tropics. Rubdn Guevara Moncada DIRECTOR GENERAL CATIE, Turrialba July, 1994 6 PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE SYMPOSIUM CURRENT STATUS AND TRENDS IN ANIMAL AGRICULTURE IN CENTRAL AMERICA James B. French Escuela de Agricultura de la Reyi6n Tropical Htimeda (EARTH) GuAcimo, Limon, Costa Rica. 1. INTRODUCTION In Central America, human pressure on the use of land for animal agriculture activities has increased during the last decade. The growth of Oie population in the region, the economic difficulties and problems, the international financial situation, and the decrease in the per capita production of food have contributed to a great demand across all agricultural fields. The impact has been greater deforestation, greater use of agrochemicals, marginal production on the hillsides, greater erosion on the soil, deterioration of watersheds and water sources. Cattle pro duction has been one of the most criticized activities associated with this destruction. Cortes (1990) argued that "the majority of the studies agree that the main cause for the deforestation in Latin America has been the establishment of cattle ranches. The purpose of this symposium is to promote the discussion among scientists, agricultur ists, and representatives of the industry abeit this problem, and the confrontation between the livestock production and natural resources in a search for working relations and collaboration between these groups. It is important to find solutions to this problem so that Central America can meet its productive and economic needs and, at the same time, maintain and protect its nat ural resources, since these are indeed the most important resources for productivity. To begin this discussion, it is important to establish a common point of reference in dis cussing the trends in use and production of livestock products in the region. This information will give us a good understanding on the influences that currently affect the land use and oper ational practices. This is the departure point for any future improvement. The central focus of my discussion will be the natural resources-livestock relationship which is the focus of the sym posium. That is not to say that the impacts of agricultural crop production are not important. On the contrary, banana plantations and other non-traitiona 1crops in Costa Rica have now replaced livestock as the sacrificial goat of natural resource destruction. 2. DEMAND AND CONSUMPTION OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS Let us start by discussing the demand and consumption of livestock products given that, at heart, this form of production is merely a business which responds to market influences. 2.1 Trends in Domestic Demand Demand for livestock products is determined by consumer taste, income level, and pop ulation numbers. Any change in these factors over time would cause changes in the level of demnd. If we assume that the domestic taste for a product does not change drastically over time 1, then only two factors will determine the trends in the domestic demand: the population growth and the changes in the national income level. Let us consider the trends of these factors during the last decade and the future expectations. 9 2.2 Population In 1985, the Central American population was increasing at an 2.8%, compared average annual rate of with 2.3% for the rest of Latin America (Leonard, 1987). With this rate of growth, the Central American population will duplicate in 25 years, from 25.25 to 50.5 million million in 1986 in 2011. If income per individual is maintained at the same level, then the demand for agriculture and livestock products will also duplicate during this time. 2.3 Income What are the expectations for income, and what impact would it