I have recently done a bit of research on the intensification of animal agriculture in Africa. I have a few comments to make in response to yours.
I am very confident that people in poor countries like Uganda eat way less animal products than the global average. But I am not sure that they all don’t eat factory farmed animal products. I think I have quite a high level of belief that your claim about the meat consumption patterns of the people in the areas in Uganda you work in. But I don’t think we should generalise to: “All people in very poor countries don’t eat factory farmed meat”.
I think a very important fact we should recognize is that factory farming clearly exist and is booming and intensifying quickly in Africa, including Uganda, or even poorer countries such as Burundi and South Sudan. This means that the meat-eating problem (convinced by JWS’s comment that we should change the wording, even though I don’t agree about all the things said in the comment), if it is a problem at all, is going to get worse in Africa and other parts in the world with many people in extreme poverty.
A very important note needs to be introduced here: I think we one species of farmed animals we should focus a lot on is the chicken (and also fish farming, maybe in 3-5 years time). Some facts about chicken farming in Africa:
It’s one of the cheapest type of meats poor people can afford, in a lot of regions.
Many aid providing foundations/agencies/charities are interested in, if not executing, using chicken farming as a poverty aid intervention. (1, 2, 3, 4)
While it’s hard to find a single broiler chicken farm in North America and Europe raising broiler chickesn in cages (with the exception of Russia and Ukraine—no intention to create drama), there seems to be currently a large wave of new broiler farms emerging in Africa that are going for caged broiler systems
For instance, chicken farming equipment producers in China are very actively trying to sell broiler cages to Africa, and according to my research, 10 broiler cage producers from China (out of 18 I found) are trying to do that.
(Sorry, I can’t share the links or details of my research on this topic here, as I worry about potential info hazards.)
The emergence of new technologies (such as modern caged broiler systems, digital gadgets, and eventually AI) and the popularization of both newer and older technologies (such as vaccines, drugs, feed formulas, and caged layer systems) will drive costs down further.
I think the rise of intensified, caged system raised chickens (both layers and broilers) in Africa (also some countries in Asia and Latin America) should alert and worry us that the “meat eating problem”, if it does not pose a huge problem now, could become much more severe in the future because of the rising per capita consumption of animal products coming from horrific systems. While there might be a lot of strategic/signalling/philosophical issues thinking and calling life-saving or poverty alleviating interventions as “saving meaters/people who harm animals”. I think we should definitely oppose to making things worse for animals in order to lift people out of poverty.
A less important response to your another point: I think it’s very unclear whether farmed animals raised in free range condittions in poor countries live net-positive lives. Firstly, many deadly diseases are very common among free-range (and intensive) chicken farming, such as Newcastle Disease. And awareness to use vaccines to reduce such diseases is nowhere near widespread. Secondly, debeaking of chickens is very common (including in Uganda), and presumably mostly without anesthesia/pain relieve. Thirdly, it seems very common to transport chickens like this (and in some cases kept tied like this even after arriving at the market, until they are sold) in Africa and poorer parts of Asia. Fourthly, I saw some nasty slaughters—let’s say they are at least as nasty as most chicken slaughters in the world. Finally, we have to consider that chickens raised for meat don’t live for many days in their life to compensate for these pretty intense suffering. IMO it’s more likely than not that most chickens raised in free range conditions in poor countries live net-negative lives.
(I weak upvoted your comment and chose “disagree”, even though I don’t 100% disagree with you.)
Thanks Fai—I was just making a small comment, to point out that most rural Ugandans, and probably Sub-saharan Africans eat either little or non factory farmed meat.
To your comment “But I am not sure that they all don’t eat factory farmed animal products.” For sure, plenty of people here eat a LOT of barn/factory farmed meat (mainly chickens see below), those in cities—but not the 70% of people who live in the village and barely ever buy “meat” at all.
I agree its unclear whether free range farm animals live net positive lives—I’m maybe 70% sure they do. There’s no de-beaking in the village here—that starts happening when animal farming is commercial. For sure transport is often nasty, Slaughter is often especially horrible but in my wee opinion that’s not nearly enough to negate the rest of their lives doing what animals do without huge constraint. We can probably agree to disagree on the whole-life positivity vs. negativity thing. Yes chicken lives are short, and many die early to disease (which can but doesn’t always involve a lot of suffering). Most village chickens here though live between 4 and 9 months—it takes 6 months-ish before they reach sexual maturity.
I agree the factory farming revolution has come to Africa—and its horrible, and it shouldn’t be acccepted for development. The church organisation I work with is currently teaching people to intensively farm pigs and chickens which I think is horrible, but haven’t spoken up against yet because I think I would be dismissed out of hand. In towns and even rural centers factory farmed chickens that are bought as meat are becoming the norm which is super sad, a. Even in Northern Uganda here, most roadside chicken is factory/intensive-barn farmed and that’s a new development − 10 years ago fried street chicken was not common and mostly local chickens. Pigs are often farmed in stalls (which are net-negative IMO but aren’t as bad as western pig stalls). I struggle to find Beef and Dairy farming in Uganda which I personally think isn’t probably net positive for the animals—but I have a more rosy view of truly free-range animal’s lives than many.
Yes there’s a huge amount of work to be done to at the very least slow down the factory farming revolution here. Its going to be tough though, when almost no-one I’ve met here cares an Iota about the wellbeing of a chicken. The few times I’ve even tried to raise it get met with bemused looks at best.
Thank you for your detailed reply! I admire your courage to raise this issue in front of your colleagues/the locals there—I am not sure I would find the courage to do so.
I have some hope that there might at least be ways to reduce the % of factory farming there will be in poor countries in the world in the future. Some EAs are working on it and I am trying to see what I can help there too.
I have recently done a bit of research on the intensification of animal agriculture in Africa. I have a few comments to make in response to yours.
I am very confident that people in poor countries like Uganda eat way less animal products than the global average. But I am not sure that they all don’t eat factory farmed animal products. I think I have quite a high level of belief that your claim about the meat consumption patterns of the people in the areas in Uganda you work in. But I don’t think we should generalise to: “All people in very poor countries don’t eat factory farmed meat”.
I think a very important fact we should recognize is that factory farming clearly exist and is booming and intensifying quickly in Africa, including Uganda, or even poorer countries such as Burundi and South Sudan. This means that the meat-eating problem (convinced by JWS’s comment that we should change the wording, even though I don’t agree about all the things said in the comment), if it is a problem at all, is going to get worse in Africa and other parts in the world with many people in extreme poverty.
A very important note needs to be introduced here: I think we one species of farmed animals we should focus a lot on is the chicken (and also fish farming, maybe in 3-5 years time). Some facts about chicken farming in Africa:
It’s one of the cheapest type of meats poor people can afford, in a lot of regions.
Many aid providing foundations/agencies/charities are interested in, if not executing, using chicken farming as a poverty aid intervention. (1, 2, 3, 4)
While it’s hard to find a single broiler chicken farm in North America and Europe raising broiler chickesn in cages (with the exception of Russia and Ukraine—no intention to create drama), there seems to be currently a large wave of new broiler farms emerging in Africa that are going for caged broiler systems
For instance, chicken farming equipment producers in China are very actively trying to sell broiler cages to Africa, and according to my research, 10 broiler cage producers from China (out of 18 I found) are trying to do that.
(Sorry, I can’t share the links or details of my research on this topic here, as I worry about potential info hazards.)
The emergence of new technologies (such as modern caged broiler systems, digital gadgets, and eventually AI) and the popularization of both newer and older technologies (such as vaccines, drugs, feed formulas, and caged layer systems) will drive costs down further.
I think the rise of intensified, caged system raised chickens (both layers and broilers) in Africa (also some countries in Asia and Latin America) should alert and worry us that the “meat eating problem”, if it does not pose a huge problem now, could become much more severe in the future because of the rising per capita consumption of animal products coming from horrific systems. While there might be a lot of strategic/signalling/philosophical issues thinking and calling life-saving or poverty alleviating interventions as “saving meaters/people who harm animals”. I think we should definitely oppose to making things worse for animals in order to lift people out of poverty.
A less important response to your another point: I think it’s very unclear whether farmed animals raised in free range condittions in poor countries live net-positive lives. Firstly, many deadly diseases are very common among free-range (and intensive) chicken farming, such as Newcastle Disease. And awareness to use vaccines to reduce such diseases is nowhere near widespread. Secondly, debeaking of chickens is very common (including in Uganda), and presumably mostly without anesthesia/pain relieve. Thirdly, it seems very common to transport chickens like this (and in some cases kept tied like this even after arriving at the market, until they are sold) in Africa and poorer parts of Asia. Fourthly, I saw some nasty slaughters—let’s say they are at least as nasty as most chicken slaughters in the world. Finally, we have to consider that chickens raised for meat don’t live for many days in their life to compensate for these pretty intense suffering. IMO it’s more likely than not that most chickens raised in free range conditions in poor countries live net-negative lives.
(I weak upvoted your comment and chose “disagree”, even though I don’t 100% disagree with you.)
Thanks Fai—I was just making a small comment, to point out that most rural Ugandans, and probably Sub-saharan Africans eat either little or non factory farmed meat.
To your comment “But I am not sure that they all don’t eat factory farmed animal products.” For sure, plenty of people here eat a LOT of barn/factory farmed meat (mainly chickens see below), those in cities—but not the 70% of people who live in the village and barely ever buy “meat” at all.
I agree its unclear whether free range farm animals live net positive lives—I’m maybe 70% sure they do. There’s no de-beaking in the village here—that starts happening when animal farming is commercial. For sure transport is often nasty, Slaughter is often especially horrible but in my wee opinion that’s not nearly enough to negate the rest of their lives doing what animals do without huge constraint. We can probably agree to disagree on the whole-life positivity vs. negativity thing. Yes chicken lives are short, and many die early to disease (which can but doesn’t always involve a lot of suffering). Most village chickens here though live between 4 and 9 months—it takes 6 months-ish before they reach sexual maturity.
I agree the factory farming revolution has come to Africa—and its horrible, and it shouldn’t be acccepted for development. The church organisation I work with is currently teaching people to intensively farm pigs and chickens which I think is horrible, but haven’t spoken up against yet because I think I would be dismissed out of hand. In towns and even rural centers factory farmed chickens that are bought as meat are becoming the norm which is super sad, a. Even in Northern Uganda here, most roadside chicken is factory/intensive-barn farmed and that’s a new development − 10 years ago fried street chicken was not common and mostly local chickens. Pigs are often farmed in stalls (which are net-negative IMO but aren’t as bad as western pig stalls). I struggle to find Beef and Dairy farming in Uganda which I personally think isn’t probably net positive for the animals—but I have a more rosy view of truly free-range animal’s lives than many.
Yes there’s a huge amount of work to be done to at the very least slow down the factory farming revolution here. Its going to be tough though, when almost no-one I’ve met here cares an Iota about the wellbeing of a chicken. The few times I’ve even tried to raise it get met with bemused looks at best.
Thank you for your detailed reply! I admire your courage to raise this issue in front of your colleagues/the locals there—I am not sure I would find the courage to do so.
I have some hope that there might at least be ways to reduce the % of factory farming there will be in poor countries in the world in the future. Some EAs are working on it and I am trying to see what I can help there too.