The consumption of meat and dairy products is increasing worldwide, but especially so in the so-called developing nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Consequently, the genetic diversity of the world's livestock is decreasing at an alarming rate in those regions. For example, according to a recent report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled "The State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources," the composition of local breeds in the Vietnamese sow population dropped from 72 percent in the mid 1990s to only 28 percent in 2006. And of those 14 local breeds, five are classified as vulnerable, two are in a critical state, and three are facing extinction....
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