Consequences of Animal Production Systems (CAPS)

Chair: Harold Mooney (USA), Coordinator: Laurie Neville (USA)

Livestock in a Changing Landscape - UNESCO-SCOPE-UNEP Policy Brief No. 6

The Consequences of Animal Production Systems (CAPS) project was launched by SCOPE in 2003 to evaluate the consequences of the rapid transition in animal production systems, viewing the issues in both a regional and a global context.

It is co-sponsored by the LEAD (Livestock, Environment, and Development Initiative), an inter-institutional effort coordinated within the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). CIAP is also affiliated with the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) a joint effort of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and SCOPE.

Background

There has been a tremendous increase in meat consumption globally. To meet the growing demand, total meat production is projected to double by 2020. In response to this increase, industrialized animal production systems (IAPS) are proliferating, and consequently result in complex issues concerning the environmental sustainability of livestock production.

Even though per capita consumption is levelling off in developed countries, per capita demand in many developing countries is rapidly climbing as a result of population and income growth. At present, one-half of all pork and poultry production is industrialized in the global markets, as is about three-fourths of the global egg supply. These industrialized systems are large, confined animal feeding operations that depend heavily on cereal grains and fishmeal processed from ocean stocks. Currently, one-third of all cereal grains harvested globally, and two-thirds of the grains harvested in the United States are now devoted to animal feed production.

The trends and structural changes in industrial systems have enormous consequences for society and the Earth system. Industrialized animal production systems have considerable impacts on the quality of the atmosphere, water and soil due to nutrient overloads; they impact terrestrial ecosystems directly and indirectly; in addition, disruption of marine fisheries occurs locally with pollution and runoff from production facilities and globally in terms of depletion of fish stocks where fishmeal has become a large commodity in the production of livestock feeds.

Growing intensities and increasing scales of production accompanied by geographic shifts and geographic concentration leads to vertical integration of production and longer food chains. This trend is becoming very evident on a global scale. Socially, many advanced technologies are not scale-neutral; smallholders cannot access these technologies, resulting in inequities in competition with businesses and livelihoods lost. In terms of public health, food safety has improved, but growing intensities have also given rise to new disease problems, such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) and Avian flu. Other serious residue problems, including organic waste, heavy metals and antibiotics, are also increasing. The growing demand for concentrate feed impacts land use and results in intensified cropping. The production of feed grains, in particular, adds additional stress on biodiversity through habitat loss and damage to ecosystem functioning (de Haan, et al 2003)

The resulting concentrated waste production from these systems and its effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is a serious matter. In addition, the massive global trade in grains for animal feed has greatly altered regional biogeochemical cycles. In some cases, IAPs may be a solution to resolving particular food supply issues. A greater understanding of the industry and inter-related problems is necessary to encourage more sustainable production systems that minimize impacts on society and environmental services.

The project mandate

Workshops in 2004/2005

“Consequences of Increased Meat, Eggs and Milk Consumption on the Global Environment - Trade in Virtual Water and Nutrients”

A series of workshops in late 2004 and early 2005 explored an interesting aspect of the effects of industrialized animal production systems on nutrient loads, resource availability and exchange. These workshops and subsequent publications were sponsored by the Stanford Institute for the Environment and were held at Stanford University in California, USA in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Science and Policy.

Innovative concepts explored in the virtual workshop series

A workshop focusing on nitrogen issues in industrialized livestock production was held in collaboration with the International Nitrogen Initiative (SCOPE/ IGBP) in 2005. Two ouputs were developed: a Policy Forum piece entitled "Losing the Link Between Livestock and Land", byt Rosamund Naylor et al. in Science, Vol. 310, 2007, and "International Trade in Meat: the Tip of the Pork Chop", an article by James N. Galloway et al. was published in Ambio, Vol. 36, No. 7, 2007

Livestock in a Changing Landscape Global Consultation and Integrated Analysis

This effort within CAPS addresses the social, economic, environmental and health issues related to intensive, mixed and extensive livestock production . It is developed as a collaborative effort that, in addtion to SCOPE and LEAD, involves the Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the FAO Pro-poor Livestock Policy Initiative, (PPLPI) the International Livestock Research Institute, (ILRI-CGIAR) and the System-wide Livestock Programme (SLP-CGIAR).

The integrated analysis and global consultation, held in Bangkok in late 2006 included a broad range of expertise among the 120 participants hailing from 40 countries who engaged in discussions on livestock production issues and brought additional perspectives on health, social, community and economic considerations into the discussion, This cross-sectoral group addressed structural change and emerging issues in livestock production systems, with a focus on the drivers of change, and the various positive and negative consequences of this expanding industry on health, economic, social and ecological systems.

It aimed to incorporate an analysis of best practices for mitigating adverse effects and propose new sustainable approaches to addressing the challenges that lie ahead in meeting the demands resulting from the dynamic transitional changes in livestock production that are occurring in many parts of the world.

Additional activities

The Annual AAAS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, USA-February 2007
An opportunity to present a symposium at the AAAS Annual Meeting in mid February 2007 provided additional outreach and awareness of the issues as the development of the work continues. The theme for the Annual Meeting was Science and Technology for a Sustainable Well Being. This AAAS symposium brought together authors of recently released reports on the drivers of change of the livestock industry and the consequences of these changes on the environment, health and social welfare of society.

The Outputs of the Global Consultation

The project outputs and the outreach activities will serve a broad audience of stakeholders. In addition to the policy brief published in April 2008, a Scientific and Technical volume accompanied by a companion volume on Case Studies, illustrating key issues and actual practices on a regional/ scale in various countries will be published in 2008-2009. A Summary for Decision Makers that will also serve business and industry issues for industry stakeholders will also be developed.

Last up-dated May 2008