Dr. Victor Yamo (The Farming Campaigns Manager at World Animal protection) |
The 2nd Africa Protein Summit organized by World Animal
Protection in Nairobi, Kenya has called on the African Governments to promote
sustainable and humane animal production systems to promote climate restoration.
Dr. Victor Yamo, The Farming Campaigns Manager at World
Animal protection said; “The rapid growth of the human population particularly
in Africa, coupled with increasing affluence, has led to a surge in demand for
animal products.
“Consequently, intensification of livestock production is
gaining popularity to meet this demand.
“However, intensive livestock production is associated with
significant animal abuse, water and environmental pollution, deforestation,
biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions, making it an
unsustainable method of food production.”
The two-day Protein Summit highlighted the urgent need to
mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of intensive livestock production
systems and emphasised the importance of preserving traditional, resilient, and
humane production systems that support small-scale farmers in the region.
During the summit, presenters highlighted numerous negative
impacts associated with intensive livestock production systems, including
compromised animal welfare, public health concerns, and adverse effects on the
environment and climate such as increased greenhouse gas emissions through
deforestation for animal feed production and high fertiliser use.
The excessive nutrient excretion from overfed animals
further contributes to higher emissions. These negative externalities are often
overlooked, particularly in developing nations striving to combat poverty and
achieve food security.
The Summit recognised that Africa’s green house gas
emissions are mainly from the Agriculture, Forestry and other land-use change
estimated at 65% of the continent’s emissions.
It was further recognised that whilst there is room for the
lowest meat consumption countries in Africa to increase rates of meat
consumption to meet nutritional needs, embracing intensive livestock production
systems will not only endanger food and nutrition security but also the
livelihoods of small holder producers while worsening the superbug crisis and
the climate crisis.
The meeting agreed to call on African governments to:
*Acknowledge and regulate the green house gas emissions from
animal agriculture and hold agricultural companies with high emissions
accountable for their carbon footprint and low regard for animal welfare.
*Protect small holder livestock producers by empowering them
with animal husbandry knowledge and skills while providing them with timely
climate information and early warning systems to stay competitive in the
market.
*Redirect subsidies provided to large agribusinesses towards
smallholders, who are the backbone in feeding the growing population in Africa.
*Increase awareness on alternative protein sources that can
be used to meet nutrition requirements while directing resources towards
awareness creation to achieve attitude and behaviour change from intensive meat
consumption to alternative protein sources.
*Finally, African governments need to bring stakeholders together to create a policy statement on sustainable agricultural production. All food systems actors must be engaged in a dialogue towards a humane and sustainable food system.
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