CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION - A PROPOSAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION

After discussing some general problems in measuring sustainability, an identification of measurable criteria for the major agroecological pr oblems is proposed, derived from explicit issues of unsustainability. The proposed criteria are briefly discussed. Factors which might influ ence the effect of inclusion of livestock in an agricultural system on each criterion are also discussed. It is argued that identification o f livestock-specific criteria is impossible because of the large heter ogeneity of livestock production systems and the non-linear relation b etween livestock-specific criteria and agroecological criteria. Theref ore, a system-specific analysis is needed to assess the overall effect of livestock inclusion in an agricultural system on each of the propo sed general criteria for sustainability. These are: demand and supply of consumable livestock products; potential human population supportin g capacity; land area utilized for agriculture; degree of equity in fo od distribution; variability of production; net annual soil losses; nu trient balances and losses; water availability and utilization; soil o rganic matter; fossil energy and drug utilization. Such a system-speci fic analysis will also allow formulation of measurable criteria for ot her objectives, and an assessment of trade-offs between the criteria. Recognition of such trade-offs, together with the reduced acceptabilit y of external effects (both in time and space), might appear to be the most important notion of the sustainability concept.