The global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, requiring an increase in global food production by 70%. As a result, massive investment in the livestock industry is witnessed on an extensive scale, with governments the world over coming up with favorable policies.
Most notably in Kenya, De Heus Animal Nutrition recently broke ground for the construction of a livestock feed milling plant, an investment worth 3 billion shillings, with a target to increase livestock feed production and prop up the livestock farming industry. However, it is important to acknowledge the environmental harm the production of animal products causes to make sustainable choices that are less damaging to our environment.
Reducing large-scale animal-based food production generates environmental benefits as the entire livestock agriculture chain plays an outsized role in greenhouse gas emissions, land change and degradation, and scarcity-weighted water use.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global meat production is expected to double from 229 million tons in 1999 to 465 million tons by 2050, and milk production is expected to increase from 580 to 1043 million tons. The report titled, “The Long Shadow of the Animal Industry”, explains that the meat industry has a marked impact on a general global scale on water, soils, extinction of plants and animals, and consumption of natural resources, and it has a strong impact on global warming.
According to a publication by Goodland and Anhang investigating the key factors of climate change, their calculations estimate that the global livestock industry is responsible for at least 51% of the greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere making it second to the electricity industry and more polluting than the transportation industry.
Researchers warn that we will probably exceed the 565 gigaton carbon dioxide limit by the year 2030 due to livestock rearing. In addition, the livestock industry is responsible for 68% of entheogenic nitrous oxide emissions, a gas that remains in the atmosphere for up to 150 years and has a 296-fold greater potential for global warming and deterioration of the ozone layer than carbon dioxide.
Livestock emit almost 64% of total ammonia emissions, contributing significantly to acid rain, and acidification of ecosystems. Livestock are also a highly significant source of methane emissions, contributing 35-40% of methane emissions worldwide. Methane has a 23-fold greater potential for global warming than carbon dioxide.
Moreover, farms for raring livestock already cover one-third of the world’s total land and more than two-thirds of its agricultural land. The increasing demand for animal products and lack of land has caused the livestock industry to become the main cause for clearing forests and turning them into pasture. In South America, forests are purposely set on fire by farmers to clear space for cattle ranching and grow industrial feed, like soya.
Despite taking up such a large, and ever-increasing percentage of land, livestock only produces 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of total protein, according to FAO. In other words, if crops like soya were grown to directly feed people, as opposed to being used to mass feed cattle, the world would be more abundant in food. Additionally, approximately 40% of harvested crops in the world are used as food for animals—massive forest clearing leads, among other things, to animal extinction. Up to 137 species of plants, animals, and unique insects are lost every day due to forest clearing.
The trend of increasing consumption of animal products harms water sources, in particular in developing countries. Water pollution is caused by animal excrement, antibiotics and hormones, fertilizers and pesticides used in forage production, and rainfall runoff from pasture. Resource wastage is also associated with the livestock industry.
According to a study in the United States, the amount of water consumed by private residences is approximately 5% of the total consumption, while the amount of water consumed by animal agriculture is approximately 55%. Further, the livestock industry produces massive amounts of waste. Thus, we must ask whether the general population is aware of the damages caused by the livestock industry to the environment.
While it is well documented that the livestock industry and livestock production cause a host of environmental problems, livestock production in certain ecosystems, like arid and semi-arid lands, are the most well-adapted food production systems. It is a more efficient and rational land use system than cultivation, which has a poorer track record at feeding people and being sustainable, especially under conditions of increasing climatic variability.
Environmental problems, particularly climate change resulting from human activities, continue to hold a prominent place on the international agenda. While the general population is aware of environmental problems such as air or water pollution, it is barely aware of the environmental damage caused by the food industry. To increase concern, consumer knowledge on these issues is critical and needs to be from reliable sources.
