What is driving livestock total factor productivity change? A persistent and transient efficiency analysis

Production and consumption of livestock products have increased substantially over the past decades, and a continuing growth is expected. These market trends could bring opportunities for economic and social development, however at the same time it can pose unintended food security, public health and environmental risks. Rising livestock productivity will be fundamental if the sector is to deliver on expectations. Increasing productivity through factor substitution is a feasible goal, however rising land, capital, and labour productivity simultaneously will be a major challenge. A better understanding of the level and drivers of livestock total factor productivity (TFP) has become a major topic in the sustainable development policy debate. Using a stochastic distance function approach, this paper aims to shed light on this issue by estimating TFP indicators of livestock production systems, and assessing the associated levels of persistent and transient efficiency. The results show that the level of livestock TFP continues to growth in most regions, however developing countries are not catching up in terms of efficiency change with developed countries.