Presentation d by Rebecca E. Doyle, Cecile Godde, Barbara Wieland, Cathy M. Dwyer, Kristina Roesel, Johanna F. Lindahl, Silvia Alonso and Delia Grace at the International Tropical Agriculture Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 11−13 November 2019
Raman spectroscopy.pptx M Pharm, M Sc, Advanced Spectral Analysis
Productivity – intensification – animal welfare: Synergies or trade-offs?
1. Productivity – intensification – animal welfare
Synergies or trade-offs?
International Tropical Agriculture Conference, Brisbane, Australia,
11-13 November 2019
Rebecca E Doyle, Cecile Godde, Barbara Wieland, Cathy M Dwyer,
Kristina Rosel, Johanna F Lindahl, Silvia Alonso and Delia Grace
2. “completely replacing the use of animals as a food
production technology”
Impossible Foods mission statement
3. Growing, growing and
growing
Reducing animal agriculture
Demand for animal products is increasing
Animal welfare is growing in importance
Having high animal welfare standards can be a major contributor to improved
animal production and contribute to the ongoing acceptability of meat
consumption Photo Credit: Vera&Jean-Christophe
5. Welfare sensitive
approach
• Build the evidence base: scientific welfare
assessment
• Connect with farmers: foster positive attitudes
• Understand and invest in positive welfare
systems
6. Scientific focus: Welfare assessment
• Identify losses/target areas
• Measure improvements
• Increase opportunities for product
differentiation, meeting expectations
• Common indicators
• Promote transparency
ETH – on
farm
ETH –
slaughterhouse
AUS – on
farm
UK – on
farm
Thin BCS 1.2% 15.8% 10.6% 18%
Dirty
wool/hair
15.8% 54.9% 9% poor
fleece
condition
18%
Lame 2.9% 4% 4.7% 14.8%
Ullman et al. 2019; Bekele et al. 2019; Munoz et al. 2019; AWIN project
Welfare assessment of sheep and goats
7. Foster positive attitudes
• Attitudes towards animal care is more
important than many other factors when
determining welfare
• Farmers with a more active management
style had fewer lame ewes and fewer ewes
needing further care
• Positive attitudes to actions and belief in
perceived control over the outcome
Photo Credit: Elsa GlanvilleMunoz et al 2019
8. ‘Humans are the God for animals’
‘If it is not for not speaking, animals have similar needs and feelings like
humans’
Photo credit: ILRI/ Camille Hanotte
9. Invest in positive welfare
systems
• Empirical knowledge
• Agro-forestry & agro-pastoral systems
• Potential to be animal welfare, livelihoods and
climate friendly
Photo Credit: Neil Palmer (CIAT)
10. Taking a welfare sensitive approach to animal production will help meet
the demands of this changing sector and foster good opportunities for
producers and their animals Rebecca Doyle
rebecca.doyle@unimelb.edu.au
Photo Credit: ILRI Livestock CRP/ Kabir Dhanji
Notas do Editor
Who’s heard of the impossible burger? Who’s tried an impossible burger?
Impossible burgers: multibillion dollar company; with that and ‘beyond meat’ alone being valued at >6 billion dollars
Meat alternatives/substitutes: people eat meat in spite of the connection to animals, not because of the connection to animals. Now that there’s a credible alternative, will/how will it change animal consumption?
In this talk I want to describe how in the face of this type of competition, and the growing global demand for meat, focusing on animal welfare will be important.
FROM THE SYMPOSIUM
Indeed, planetary, environmental and human health could all benefit if there were a reduction in consumption of milk, meat and eggs by the over 30% of the global population who consume too much. But for the most vulnerable 35% of the population, most of whom live in tropical environments, a healthy diet can only be achieved by increasing their intake of such foods – and that means increasing sustainable livestock productivity across much of the world.
Smart application of tomorrow’s livestock science can deliver healthy, equitable, sustainable diets that include sensible amounts of safe livestock-derived foods for every citizen
Three areas of growth I am describing here are: anti animal ag, global demand for meat, and animal welfare concerns.
Globally, demand for meat is increasing dramatically. With the general thought that much of this demand cannot be met without intensification of production.
At the same time, animal welfare is growing in importance:
The FAO’s vision for sustainable livestock production treats animal welfare as a priority
All continents now have regional strategies for animal welfare
Consumer behaviour, governmental processes and international expectations include animal welfare
Conscious/conscientious omnivore, a flexitarian is building in awareness too.
Intensification = Moving towards confinement and production on fewer units - Fraser 2005, FAO
[The EAT Lancet report does not specifically mention sustainable intensification of livestock, but by default, the recommendations it makes are promoting the more intensive animal industries and those are accompanied with greater production pressures and welfare risks to animals. Considering animal welfare in the proposed reformation of global diets is critical, but has been poorly integrated to date [2]. Including animal welfare in the formation of sustainable agricultural practices will enable the reduction of wastage, a shift away from feed-food competition, and the exploitation of animals. -- global consumption of poultry & dairy to increase]
Intensification can deliver important welfare improvements: this can be the case for extensive management systems where providing health interventions/monitoring anials can be difficult, or in resource poor settings [LHS of diagram]; however this reaches a tipping point, where welfare is compromised. Left side = inefficient; right side = bad welfare, socially unacceptable. Green zone is the sweet spot.
Getting to this optimal level requires smart application of tomorrow’s livestock science, and to foster good management. strong potential for smallscale/producers in LMICs to enter
From EAT lancet: Furthermore, we acknowledge that food systems also affect society, culture, economy, and animal welfare. However, given the breadth and depth of the
topics discussed, many important issues could not be discussed. These and other issues should be considered to achieve healthy diets from sustainable food systems.
Talk about some approaches that we – as people in a position to connected with farmers, research and industry – can connect with that will contribute to welfare improvements
ADD REFERENCES TO TABLE: Ullman, Bekele, Munoz, missing! [transparency point]
Including animal welfare indicators as both a tool for and evidence of improvement can have wide ranging benefits
To make welfare and/or intensification improvements, we need to have evidence.
Insight into past & current welfare, and risk for future challenge
Baseline and benchmarking
Target interventions
Change over time
Common indicators that are reliable, feasible and meaningful – embedded into projects/outcomes/reports
We’re not talking about operating successfully without resources, but that resources are alone are not enough for good welfare/productivity
Farmers with a more active management style had fewer lame ewes (mid-pregnancy: r = -0.38 P = 0.04),
Fewer ewes needing further care at mid-pregnancy and weaning respectively (mid pregnancy: r = -0.47, P = 0.01; weaning: r = -0.50, P = 0.01)
Driver of these more active management styles were more positive attitudes to their actions and belief in perceived control over the outcome
Start the conversation on animal welfare and bridge the intention-action gap with applying science
Results and plans from the community conversations on animal welfare we’re doing in ETH at the moment.
All participants, including children, described welfare to include- Affective states- Biological functioning- Natural behaviour
All participants, including children, readily described situations when animals were happy or sad, reflecting a belief that animals could experience affective states. Interviewees recognised that providing adequate feed and water and good health were critical for happy animals, which matches a definition of welfare based on biological functioning, and a number also described behavioural requirements too.
Farmers described feed as their greatest production limitationFree access to water was not common practiceInjuries and castration are common practice, but wound caring is not
‘humans are the God for animals’ demonstrating understanding and moral value to give care for animals in their capacity ‘If it is not for not speaking, animals have similar needs and feelings like humans’ (Menz Gera, Ethiopia. Lemma et al. community conversation report)
Farmers described feed as their greatest production limitationFree access to water was not common practiceInjuries and castration are common practice, but wound caring is not
Opportunities for higher value social entrepreunreship pro
mixed farming systems that dominate smallholder landscapes in many tropical regions may also offer the greatest opportunity for transformational – rather than incremental – changes that simultaneously promote livestock’s important societal and nutritional contributions, whilst mitigating some of the negative impacts of intensification described elsewhere in the world
More intensive grazing systems and feeding novel forages while providing opportunities for shade and shelter
Including animal welfare indicators as both a tool for and evidence of improvement can have wide ranging benefits. Positive attitudes = positive outcomes, so encouraging farmers to focus on animal welfare is key. Systems showing promise, that would benefit from addition of tomorrow’s livestock science.
Having high animal welfare standards can be a major contributor to improved animal production and contribute to the ongoing acceptability of meat consumption