A review of global farm animal welfare progress shows significant gains in some regions and species alongside persistent failures and new challenges from climate change and intensification.
Global farm animal welfare progress is real but profoundly uneven. High-income country progress in cage-free eggs, Better Chicken Commitment broilers and sow stall phase-outs represents genuine improvement for hundreds of millions of animals. But the majority of the world's farm animals live in low-income countries where welfare standards are minimal and improving slowly if at all. The risk is that welfare-positive regulatory change in Europe and North America is offset by welfare regression in expanding Asian and South American production. Global farm animal welfare requires international frameworks, technical support for low-income country welfare improvement and trade policy that does not advantage imported products from lower welfare systems over domestic higher-welfare production.