The livestock species play very important economic and socio-cultural roles for the wellbeing of rural households, such as food supply, source of income, asset saving, source of employment, soil fertility, livelihoods, transport, agricultural traction, agricultural diversification and sustainable agricultural production. The aim of this work was to identify and characterize the different roles that livestock and livestock species play in rural communities of Timor-Leste, highlighting the importance of animal production for the wellbeing and rural development, and relate the functions performed by livestock production with economic, social and cultural attributes of the communities. The data used in this study were collected in 2011 through a questionnaire survey in three rural communities in the district of Bobonaro, namely in a mountain area, an irrigation plain and a coastal zone, and were complemented with secondary data. Livestock production in Timor-Leste is predominantly familiar being chickens, pigs, goats, cattle, horses, buffaloes and sheep the main species. Beyond the economic function, each livestock species also performs social and cultural functions.

Abstract The crop-livestock farming system in paddy fields is integrated between rice crops and beef cattle (rice-beef cattle CLFS). Rice plants will produce straw and rice bran that can be used for animal feed, and livestock will produce compost/manure that can be used for rice nutrition. Some other benefits of implementing CLFS are increasing crop productivity, increasing the value of farmers' income, farming cost efficiency, and preserving the environment. The probability of the sustainability of CLFS application in paddy fields can be measured by calculating the system proximity index ratio using the SPIR formula. This research aims to demonstrate the accuracy of the SPIR formula in predicting the probability of CLFS sustainability in paddy fields. This study compares CLFS programs in several regions in Indonesia. It uses an independent sample t-test analysis tool with one-way rejection criteria to see the difference in SPIR scores on sustainable and unsustainable CLFS. The results showed that the SPIR formula could predict the sustainability of the CLFS program in Indonesia. However, further studies are needed to prove its ability to predict CLFS sustainability in other parts of the world.