Welfare Science

Food Security and Animal Welfare Trade-offs

Food security for human populations sometimes creates apparent conflicts with animal welfare, requiring careful analysis of how to improve both human and animal welfare simultaneously.

Key Facts

Smallholder livestock keeping provides critical nutrition and income for 1 billion people
Higher welfare systems often have higher production costs potentially excluding poor consumers
Efficiency of intensive systems may provide more affordable protein but at welfare cost
Investment in alternative proteins could improve both food security and animal welfare long-term
Food system transformation requires explicit attention to welfare and equity simultaneously

Welfare Considerations

Food security and animal welfare are frequently presented as in conflict but longer-term analysis shows they are largely complementary. Investment in sustainable, welfare-conscious food systems benefits both objectives. Policy must explicitly address equity implications of welfare reform.

What You Can Do

Support food policy organisations that integrate welfare and food security objectives
Engage with the evidence on how food system transformation affects both welfare and equity
Advocate for animal welfare considerations to be built into food security programmes