Potential of animal leather as a strategic commodity for the livestock industry: A review

Indonesia is one of the countries rich in germplasm in the form of livestock. Livestock products can be in the form of meat, milk and eggs as well as by-products such as leather. Animal leathers are one of the by-products of livestock produced from a livestock slaughtering industry. Animal leathers have the potential as raw material for non-oil and gas export products. Until now, livestock by-product in the form of leather has been processed and utilized by many people in Indonesia. Utilization is carried out in the form of food and non food products. The use of food and non-food products has been developed commercially by the community, both in the form of small, micro, medium and large scale industries. Animal leathers are one of the livestock by products that have the highest economic value compared to the others. This is because animal leather is one of the export products. Until now, the exported animal leathers are still in the form of non-food products, while some derivatives of leather products in the form of food products are still imported. The potential of livestock leathers as one of the strategic commodities of the livestock industry needs to be maximally developed. Improving the quality of animal leathers needs to be done in an effort to increase the source of foreign exchange.