**3. Alternative animal feeding for intensive livestock farming**

One of the major constraints to livestock farming is the scarcity and fluctuation of the quantity and quality of the feed supply. However, it has been estimated that about one-third of the food produced globally for human consumption is wasted, representing a significant loss of the resources spent making and processing food and a threat to food security. The reduction of food waste is, therefore, a potential strategy for closing the gap between the supply and demand for food [19]. Moreover, competition between humans and animals for grains such as corn, wheat, bean, soybean, and others is increasing. Thus, it has become imperative to consider the use of food waste rich in protein, lipids, and some essential nutrients for animal health as feedstock in the animal feed industry [20].

Food waste is also referred to as a nonconventional feed resource, which is defined as feeds that have not been traditionally used in animal feeding and/or are not normally used in commercially produced rations for livestock. Some of such nonconventional feeds are agro-industrial by-products, which contain little economical value as foods for human consumption. In recent years, agro-industrial by-products have become major sources of dietary nutrients and energy in support of beef and milk production because they are available for use as livestock feeds at competitive prices relative to other commodities [21, 22]. Thus, the use of food waste for livestock feeding can help farmers reduce feed costs and help food waste generators reduce disposal costs while minimizing the environmental impacts of this waste [20].

In developing countries, the productivity of ruminant livestock has been constrained by the low quality of feed supply, since the basal diet of most cattle, sheep, and goats almost totally consists of roughage. Farmers often use high amounts of cereal grain-based concentrates for meat and milk production; however, this practice has introduced competition since grain is used for human consumption [23, 24]. Thus, providing adequate good quality feed to livestock to raise and maintain their productivity may be a major challenge to farmers all over the world. Future hopes of feeding millions of people worldwide and safeguarding their food security will directly depend on a high level of productivity, animal performance, and efficiency of the livestock farming, which may be reached through intensive animal farming that includes supplementary feeding plans based on by-products feeds [1].

In some developing countries in Africa, the farmers can neither spare land for feed production nor can they afford to buy expensive concentrates to feed animals. Therefore, efficient utilization of nonconventional feed for ruminants is a priority. For goats and sheep, supplementary feeding could be performed using crop residues, hay or silage for energy, protein concentrates, and agro-industrial by-products for additional protein [18]. So, it is important to support farmers with knowledge and technologies related to alternative feed resources that are easy to adopt and economically viable. To that end, studies were performed in Brazil to assess the nutritional composition of coconut meals and their impact on the reproductive performance of goats under the grazing system, and the results are discussed in the next section.
