Animal welfare standards in low- and middle-income countries face unique challenges including limited veterinary infrastructure, resource constraints and cultural practices, requiring context-sensitive approaches to improvement.
Animal welfare improvement in low- and middle-income countries requires approaches that respect the centrality of animals to rural livelihoods while advocating for reduced suffering. Approaches that engage farmers as partners — showing how welfare improvements increase productivity and reduce losses — are more effective than those that impose external standards without economic support. International development programmes that include animal health and welfare components have better welfare outcomes than those that focus exclusively on productivity. Building local veterinary and animal welfare capacity, rather than relying on external expertise, creates sustainable improvement that persists after project funding ends.