Sustainable Development research organisation Worldwatch Institute has produced a report which calls for regulation and re-evaluation within the global livestock industry to avoid public health risks and food shortages.  

Between 1980 and 2010 the global population of farm animals increased 23 percent, growing from 3.5 to 4.3 billion. The Worldwatch Institute claims in its latest report that the growth in livestock populations is causing strain on the environment, public health, and global development.

The increases in production and consumption of animal products are largely concentrated in developing countries, as, with the exception of poultry, meat’s popularity has stagnated or decreased in the developed world. The latest EU figures forecast a one per cent decline in meat production in 2012, with further declines over coming years, due to reductions in demand.

Danielle Nierenberg, director of Worldwatch's Nourishing the Planet project, commented on her organisation’s report, "The demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products in developing countries has increased at a staggering rate in recent decades. While industrialized countries still consume the most animal products, urbanization and rising incomes in developing countries are spurring shifts to more meat-heavy diets."

"Farm-animal production provides a safety net for millions of the world's most vulnerable people, but given the industry's rapid and often poorly regulated growth, the biggest challenge in the coming decades will be to produce meat and other animal products in environmentally and socially sustainable ways."

Shift production away from industrialisation

The organisation claims that increasingly industrial means of production – rapid growth largely results in the creation of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) – which can be poorly regulated, is risking spreading disease, despite moves in Europe and the United States to combat resistant bacteria and reduce antimicrobial use. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 80 per cent of growth in the livestock sector now comes from these industrial production systems.

The Wolrdwatch Institute has called for a shift in production systems, arguing that CAFOs have a history of producing high levels of waste, overusing scarce water resources and increasing demand for grain, as well as increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Although the CAFO model originated in North America, they are becoming increasingly prevalent in developing regions like East and Southeast Asia, where environmental, animal-welfare, public health, and labour standards are often not as well-established as in industrialized regions. The report stresses that to prevent serious human and environmental costs, policymakers will need to strengthen production regulations around the world.

In its annual State of the World report, the Institute also links the industrialisation of animal agriculture with disease; it argues that approximately 75 percent of the new diseases that affected humans from 1999 to 2009 originated in animals or animal products.

Furthermore, because CAFOs rely on a narrow range of commercial breeds selected for their high productivity and low input needs, less-popular indigenous livestock breeds are rapidly falling out of use, which has implications for future resilience. Studies into climate change suggest that regionally adapted varieties of plants and animals will perform better as the effects of climate change are felt and oil becomes scarcer.  In 2010, the FAO reported that at least 21 percent of the world's livestock breeds are at risk of extinction.

Worldwide, livestock production is a major driver of deforestation; cattle enterprises have been responsible for 65-80 percent of the deforestation of the Amazon, and countries in South America are clearing large swathes of forest and other land to grow animal feed crops like maize and soybean. Although the REDD project, amongst other conservation measures, is currently ensuring many countries maintain their forests, these vital resources remain under serious threat.  

Food policy expert opines on the need for meaningful change

The UK government has suggested British producers capitalise on increasing demand by exporting knowledge, genetics and specialist produce to growing economies, though food policy experts have suggested that, if global governments are serious about tackling issues of food security, sustainability and facing up to climate change, then radical changes must be implemented.

Professor Tim Lang, former hill farmer and food policy expert, has questioned the “naïve” drive for competition and growth; he recently called on the government to introduce a ‘serious’ food policy, which focuses on social benefits and research as well as economic returns for a handful of enterprises.

Professor Lang said earlier this month that, if the government and farming sector are serious about food security, and not merely using the label as an excuse to deregulate and ramp up unsustainable production, generating money for a number of large businesses, then instead of focusing their efforts on alcohol, meat and dairy, the UK’s current major food exports, research and policy bodies should turn their attention to horticulture.

If, as the Rio +20 summit looms ever closer, and governments around the world continue to claim their end aim is to create low-carbon, equitable economies where people have enough food, enough money and future opportunities, there may be a pressing need for deeper changes.

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