Farmed Animal Welfare in Developing Countries: Standards and Equity

As global food production shifts toward developing countries, welfare standards must advance alongside production growth to prevent a welfare race to the bottom.

Key Facts

Southeast Asia, China, and South Asia now account for the majority of global farmed animal production
Welfare legislation in major producing countries including China and India is limited and inconsistently enforced
Export-oriented production in developing countries is increasingly subject to welfare standards of importing markets
Smallholder farmers in developing countries often have better animal-human relationships but lack veterinary access
The OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) provides international welfare guidelines but they are non-binding

Welfare Considerations

The global welfare picture is shaped by where production is concentrated. As intensive farming expands rapidly in countries with limited welfare regulation, the aggregate global welfare situation is likely worsening despite improvements in some high-income markets. Applying welfare standards only to imports while relaxing them for domestic production creates unfair competitive dynamics that disadvantage welfare-conscious producers. Supporting welfare capacity building in producing countries — through training, legislation development, and certification infrastructure — is more effective than exclusionary trade policy alone. International coordination through OIE and regional bodies is improving but moving slower than production growth.

What You Can Do

Support international animal welfare organizations working on capacity building in developing country agriculture
Advocate for trade policies that support rather than undermine welfare standard development in producing countries
Choose certified products that apply consistent welfare standards regardless of production country
Support Global Animal Partnership and similar certification bodies expanding to developing country supply chains