A perspective on animal protein production in sub-Saharan Africa

A large survey of animal protein production in sub-Saharan Africa was performed. The objective was to identify specific production needed to ensure sustainable development. Starting from data collection and analysis to gain control of this information, the study proposes possible paths of evolution for supply and demand for animal production. Africa will be the continent where the demand will grow the most (together with Asia), because of demography and urbanization. Urbanization will represent an extraordinary opportunity for the development of animal production. In 2020, the global demand will be 20 million tons per year (7.3 in 1994) for meat, 45 million tons for milk (18.6 in 1994) and 2.9 million tons for eggs (1.1 in 1994). Red meat, which now provides 55.6% of present meat consumption will satisfy only 36.5% in 2020. This underlines the immense effort needed to intensify ruminant production and/or to develop monogastric production. Consequently, there is a need in tropical animal health and research for better knowledge and control of monogastric diseases and particularly those linked to intensification. The development of peri-urban milk production will require particular attention to hemoparasitic diseases. Globally, there is an urgent need to set up projects for the development of animal production.