For any metric to be credible, the way it is calculated should be freely available for critique. Therefore, to accompany our website metrics we have produced explanations of our calculations.

GBADs community believe that the current metrics in the animal health and production area provide a limited and partial picture of critical issues on animal health and welfare. They are insufficient for evidence based decision making. The figures we have calculated and presented in our webpage demonstrate the scale and scope of the challenge we are addressing and the community of experts that will work together to implement this programme.

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions to improve our metrics please get in touch by emailing gbads@liverpool.ac.uk

1) A Collaboration of X Experts

This is the number of registered collaborators in the GBADs community and includes those who lead our themes right through to people who have registered an interest through our website. In the future we will be creating a more formal collaborator structure that will enable us to make best use of the skills of the excellent people we are working with. But first things first, it’s great to have a growing community and this number tells you the sum of those involved to date.

2) From X Organisations Globally

These are the organisations at which our expert collaborators (see  metric 1) work.  At this  stage in our programme we are working through a mixture of formal agreements with a number of major partners and informal collaborative agreements with several other like-minded organisations.

3) Covering 98.3% of global livestock biomass

Using FAOSTAT 2017 data, the global population of our in scope livestock species was multiplied by an estimated average mass:

Cattle/buffalo (250kg), Pigs (50kg), Sheep/goats (25kg), Horses (200kg), Mules/asses (150kg), Turkeys (7kg), Ducks (2kg), Chickens (1kg)

This is presented as a percentage of the biomass of the total livestock population which also includes (with estimated mass): Unassigned (1kg), Beehives (1kg), Camelids, other (75kg), Camels (250kg), Geese and guinea fowl (3kg), Rabbits and Hares (1kg), Rodents, other (0.5kg)

The estimated mass of each species represents an average position taking into account the mix of young and adult animals in the population. An early aim of GBADs is to provide updates of animal populations and collate and assess actual mass data to  improve our estimate of global livestock biomass.

Reference: FAOSTAT

4) Covering 60% of annual aquaculture production by mass

The annual tonnes of production of our in scope species (catfish, salmons, carps, tilapias and shrimps) is presented as a percentage of total annual tonnes of production.

Reference: FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics

5) Supporting 1.25billion people working in agriculture

The global population is approximately 7.7bn people, of whom 58% (4.47bn) are in employment (over 15 years old only). Of these, 28% (1.25bn) are employed in agriculture. Through GBADs we aim to provide a deeper understanding of this number disaggregating by geography, livestock system, gender and socio-economic status.

References: World Bank and International Labour Organization data

6) Feeding a Growing Global Population including 821million people who go to bed on an empty stomach each night.

It is the case that almost 100% of the global population are consumers of livestock or livestock products. Even those who are not, are still indirectly affected by livestock through competition for land, air and water. While creating better information for the benefit of all, GBADs in particular aims to support those who would most benefit from improved animal health – those living in the Global South and those who do not have access to sufficient quantity or  quality of food to lead a healthy, active life.

Reference: World Food Program