Thanks for your research on this Aashish! Very relevant for our work at Animal Advocacy Africa. I’m getting the sense that policy work / lobbying could be a good idea (since your uncertainty around this has reduced as a result of your evidence review), but it should be targeted at something else than subsidies, since their path to impact is quite long and unclear? For example lobbying for better animal welfare standards might be more promising as it more directly addresses the problem (has a shorter ToC)? Do you have an opinion on this? Or any other interventions you think might be more promising than addressing subsidies?
Hey Moritz, thanks for your comment and question. I agree that the theory of change is long and the feedback loops are weak for a subsidy-focused policy intervention, and there are likely more promising as that are yet to be uncovered.
Lobbying for higher animal welfare standards seems promising at first glance, particularly for asks that may in practice limit the extent to which smallholder farms can intensify:
limiting the stocking density of broiler hens
limiting the use of certain “low welfare breeds” of broiler hens
implementing cage free asks
implementing pre-slaughter stunning requirements
Notably, this would require research to determine which welfare would be most tractable and have the biggest limiting effect upon industrialization. Furthermore, identifying “win-win-win” asks that benefit the farmer, the government and animal welfare would likely increase the tractability of this.
Another avenue may be exploring environmental and building regulation asks, to limit the ability to build large animal farming facilities, that may be required for high scale, intensive agriculture.
I would prioritise research into the key questions outlined in the report, to better understand the process and extent of industrialisation across major producing nations in Sub Saharan Africa, to identify other levers beyond subsidies to prevent or limit the extent of industrialisation, to reduce both the scale and intensity of animal farming.
I am curious to see what Animal Advocacy Africa uncover from further research into this!
Thanks for your research on this Aashish! Very relevant for our work at Animal Advocacy Africa.
I’m getting the sense that policy work / lobbying could be a good idea (since your uncertainty around this has reduced as a result of your evidence review), but it should be targeted at something else than subsidies, since their path to impact is quite long and unclear? For example lobbying for better animal welfare standards might be more promising as it more directly addresses the problem (has a shorter ToC)?
Do you have an opinion on this? Or any other interventions you think might be more promising than addressing subsidies?
Hey Moritz, thanks for your comment and question. I agree that the theory of change is long and the feedback loops are weak for a subsidy-focused policy intervention, and there are likely more promising as that are yet to be uncovered.
Lobbying for higher animal welfare standards seems promising at first glance, particularly for asks that may in practice limit the extent to which smallholder farms can intensify:
limiting the stocking density of broiler hens
limiting the use of certain “low welfare breeds” of broiler hens
implementing cage free asks
implementing pre-slaughter stunning requirements
Notably, this would require research to determine which welfare would be most tractable and have the biggest limiting effect upon industrialization. Furthermore, identifying “win-win-win” asks that benefit the farmer, the government and animal welfare would likely increase the tractability of this.
Another avenue may be exploring environmental and building regulation asks, to limit the ability to build large animal farming facilities, that may be required for high scale, intensive agriculture.
I would prioritise research into the key questions outlined in the report, to better understand the process and extent of industrialisation across major producing nations in Sub Saharan Africa, to identify other levers beyond subsidies to prevent or limit the extent of industrialisation, to reduce both the scale and intensity of animal farming.
I am curious to see what Animal Advocacy Africa uncover from further research into this!
Thanks for your perspective, I’ll definitely let you know about our further research :)