Poultry welfare has seen significant advances in some regions while remaining severely compromised globally, with the Better Chicken Commitment and cage-free egg campaigns driving measurable improvement.
Global poultry welfare progress reflects a geographic and economic inequality - welfare improvements driven by consumer and corporate pressure in wealthy markets coexist with unchanged or worsening conditions in expanding markets elsewhere. The Better Chicken Commitment represents genuine progress for the billions of birds covered by corporate commitments in Europe and North America, but the majority of the world's chickens remain in welfare conditions that would be illegal in EU member states. As demand growth shifts to Asia and Africa, the trajectory of global poultry welfare depends on whether welfare standards in these markets develop alongside production scale. International organizations including WAP and the global animal welfare community must engage with these expanding markets before poor welfare becomes further entrenched.