The role of sustainable commercial pig and poultry breeding for food security

The increasing worldwide demand for animal products and the decreasing availability of resources such as land and water require livestock production to increase its productivity and to reduce its environmental impact. Animal breeding must support this. Livestock breeding goals should then broaden in a balanced way, focusing on productivity and efficiency, subject to constraints due to feed availability, environmental load, and animal welfare as well as to possible restrictions due to genotype by environment interaction, antagonisms between traits, and selection limits. Commercial poultry and pig breeding goals have been evolving in that direction since the 1950s. At the same time, selection technology is becoming more powerful. As a result of both these developments, animal breeding can make an increasing contribution to sustainable food security.