The World Animal Protection lobby has urged African governments to temporarily ban factory farming for 10 years.
Factory farming according to the WAP is a system where livestock such as poultry, pigs and cattle are confined indoors under strictly controlled conditions.
Dr Victor Yamo, farming campaign manager at WAP said factory farming is expected to collapse, as demand for meat is expected to increase.
He said the demand is projected to increase at a rate of 30 per cent in Africa, 18 per cent in Asia Pacific, 12 per cent in Latin America and nine per cent in North America by 2030.
“When people think of the major causes of climate change, they often think about burning fossil fuels for industrial purposes, energy and transport," he said on Friday during an interview with the Star.
"But there’s a hidden climate culprit and one that could be on your plate – factory-farmed meat.”
Yamo said factory farming either directly or indirectly through the feed chain, is to blame for the destruction of vital habitats, displacement of wildlife and is the largest cause of animal suffering on the planet.
“Sentient animals are deprived of any quality of life and instead suffer their entire lives – many never see sunlight, roam freely in a field, or even have a life free of pain. This is cruelty at its very worst and it must end,” he said.
He said governments need to step up to meet commitments to address deforestation and emissions by ending factory farming.
“They need to recognise the damage it does to animals, people and planet. We are running out of time to save our planet and they are out of excuses not to address it,” Yamo said.
The lobby called on governments to stop approving new factory farms by imposing a moratorium for a 10-year period.
He said governments are the key player in subsidising factory farming because they have the power to shift policy and funding decisions away from factory farming in support of humane and sustainable food systems.
Yamo said to emphasise on this call, WAP will be collecting signatures from Africans and presenting them at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - COP 27 meeting to be held in Egypt in November this year.
“WAP is leading an initiative and working with like-minded partners and organisations and calling on governments to have a temporal ban of 10 years to relook at how we grow animals," he said.
"This will enable us to grow animals in a holistic way that has no negative impact on our health and the environment. We will be collecting signatures across African countries through a caravan that will start in Nairobi to Egypt ahead of the COP27."
In February 2022 during the UNEA Assembly meeting in Nairobi, participants noted the need to have farming production systems that are sustainable and safe for human health.
“This is why we are now talking about a one health approach where what you do at production has an impact on other critical facets," Yamo said.
"Through the leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, we now have a one health strategy for engaging as a country and the new leadership coming in, especially at the county level.
"We need to drive that process and form County One Health Units to look at how we manage the diseases, our animals and ensure that human health is critically looked at."
He said an animal that is handled humanely gives better production and good quality products.
This, he said, is tied to livelihoods because the global market is now trying to have animal welfare policies and standards that people need to adhere to.
Yamo said globally, the average person is eating 86 kilos of meat per year and in Africa, the average is 14 kilos per person per year including beef, chicken and pork.
“We need to eat more meat but the meat should be from a high welfare production system so that it is sustainable and is not destroying the environment,” he said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
