Rising demand for animal products in India and China:\ud a comparative perspective

[Extract] Over the past two decades, India and China, the two most populous developing nations in the world, have both experienced rapid economic growth. In the meantime, changes in the levels and patterns of food consumption have also occurred (Fuller et al. 2000; Guo et al. 2000; Gould 2002; Ma et al. 2004,and 2006; Zhou et al. 2005; Rae 2008; Dong and Fuller 2009; Meng et al. 2009). Most noticeably, India and China's consumers have increased their consumption of animal products such as meat, eggs and dairy products and reduced cereal consumption. The strong demand for animal products in these two countries can have important impacts not only for their own food and feed demand and supply but for the whole world as well. It is thus imperative to examine what has happened to the levels and patterns of animal product consumption in India and China, what factors have contributed to such changes, and whether there are similarities and differences in their demand for animal products