India, Sept. 23 -- According to a new study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), livestock production systems provide one-third of the world's total protein supply - most of it from mixed crop-livestock and poultry production systems - and are undergoing profound changes.

Feedlots and intensive production systems have important economic foundations, while the bulk of livestock's role in food security is based on national and local marketing, with only 15 per cent of meat, 12 per cent of milk and dairy products and just three percent of eggs traded across international borders.

At the same time, the livestock sector is experiencing a dynamic transformation process that is expected to last for the next dec...