Video Farmers, their animals and the environment

TLF ID M017167

This is a video about the valuable genetic diversity of Asia's indigenous domesticated animals; the contribution the animals' genes make to local people's food security; and the results of the use of genetic technologies. The video identifies ever-present links between farmers, their animals and the environment by describing numerous crossbreeding projects in the 1990s. These involved Mong Cai Vietnamese pigs, eastern Javanese chickens, Bhutanese mountain horses and other indigenous animals. The 17-minute video concludes with a discussion of the value of regional initiatives to save indigenous animals, preserve their genetic diversity and manage crossbreeding programs.





Educational details

Educational value
  • This resource is of considerable value for the science curriculum in year 10. It is relevant to content descriptions about how the transmission of heritable characteristics from one generation to the next involves DNA and genes, and how advances in science and emerging sciences and technologies can significantly affect people's lives. The commentary reveals how people in the early 2000s were coming to grips with the implications of gene technology for livestock breeding, in particular the need to identify, classify and preserve not only the genetic diversity of indigenous animals but also the local people's knowledge of their animals' heritable characteristics.
  • The resource is also of use for the Science as a Human Endeavour strand in years 7 and 8, especially the content description about how science understanding influences the development of practices in areas of human activity such as agriculture. The video shows that this can be a two-way process, with long-established traditional knowledge influencing the science understanding of desirable heritable characteristics.
  • The video is also of value for the year 9 geography unit of study Biomes and food security, especially for the content description about the capacity of the world's environments to sustainably feed the projected future population to achieve food security for the world. The video's underlying message is that the genetic diversity developed in domesticated animals indigenous to local environments is a rich endowment that can help feed the world.
Year level

7; 8; 9; 10

Learning area
  • Geography
  • Science
  • Humanities and Social Sciences

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
  • Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
  • URL: http://www.fao.org/home/en/
  • Publisher
  • Name: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
  • Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
  • Description: Publisher
  • URL: http://www.fao.org/home/en/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Video
Rights
  • © FAO, 2014. This material may be used in accordance with the Standard YouTube License at http://www.youtube.com/t/terms