Socio-economic determinants of urban household livestock keeping in semi-arid Western Africa

Livestock keeping may have an important environmental impact. Therefore, there is a crucial need for understanding where and why livestock is kept in an urban context. In that frame, a survey was carried out in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 2002. The study documents the socio-economic determinants of urban livestock keeping in a semi-arid environment, its constraints and the underlying driving forces for keeping livestock in the city and the perception of the future by livestock keepers. The results show that 26.3% of the households in Ouagadougou are currently keeping livestock, including all major domestic animal species. The main motivation for keeping livestock in an urban setting is its’ generation of income. Main identified constraints are animal health problems, feed supply, theft, and manure management. A comparison with crop production highlights that the latter is practised by even poorer urban dwellers compared to pure livestock keepers. Technical, environmental and public health issues have to be resolved to secure sustainable urban development.