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In 2012, the World Health Assembly recognised that child stunting was ‘one of the most significant impediments to human development’ and resolved to decrease the number of children under five who are stunted by 40% by 2025. Indonesia is a country with the fifth largest stunting prevalence and Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) showed that 37.2% in 2013 and 30.8% in 2018 were stunted (Riskesdas 2018).
Stunting is not simply a failure of linear growth; stunted individuals suffer significant cognitive effects with lifelong impacts on economic and social wellbeing (Walker, Chang et al. 2007, Hoddinott, Behrman et al. 2013, Williams and Suchdev 2017). Decades of research has delivered extensively on the range of unique and discreet drivers of stunting: from poor diets and nutrition, to poor sanitation and hygiene, exposure to enteric pathogens, to inadequate levels of psychosocial stimulation etc.
The lack of dietary diversity along with low consumption levels of animal source foods (ASF) are recognized as critical gaps for vulnerable children, especially in the Low-Middle Income Countries (LMICs). World Health Organization (2014) described ASF as the best source of high-quality nutrient-dense food for 6–23 months of age children. A linear programming study by Fahmida et al. (2015) found that consumption of ASF, like anchovy and chicken liver, can increase the intake of calcium, iron, niacin, and zinc of 9-16 mo children in East Lombok. ASF have a positive effect on cognitive ability, growth outcomes and the level of social confidence/interactions of school age children (Neumann, Harris et al. 2002).
Increasing human population, income, and education level causes increasing global demand for ASF in LMIC (Turk, 2016). On the other hand, livestock production contributes to environmental pollution in different ways, for instance the green-house gas emission, extensive usage of land, and antimicrobial resistance (Adesogan et al., 2019).
Sustainable livestock production system becomes a necessity to be able to provide nutritious food with minimum negative environmental impact. This will require multidisciplinary collaborations among stakeholders, e.g. livestock and human nutrition, as well as policymakers and environmentalists to improve the accessibility and affordability of ASF in low income countries while minimizing the negative environmental impact of ASF production.