Factory Farming in Africa is a Growing Problem

Plus: an exclusive look at a write-up on research gaps in the African farmed animal protection movement .

Africa has the lowest rate of meat consumption of any continent in the world except Antarctica, despite the best efforts of orcas. However, that’s soon set to change due to the rapid rise in meat consumption and production in Africa, especially south of the Sahara. Factory farming is taking root, fast.

To work on this issue, I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to lead a workshop at the AVA Summit, where nearly 300 advocates working in Africa gathered in person to hash out solutions related to animal welfare and climate change. My goal? To identify the most significant research gaps that animal advocates in Africa are facing. Here’s a write-up of my findings, alongside some context about why thinking about the African continent is critical.

This is the first exclusive report from More Than Meats the Eye, so I hope you enjoy!

Africans Don’t Eat Much Meat… For Now

Most Africans don’t eat a lot of meat. To show just how little, I pulled meat consumption data from African countries, the United States, and the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet (a recommended diet that’s good for the planet). I’ll let the data speak for itself:

Rich white countries are eating nearly twenty times more meat¹ than African nations. But here’s the thing: in most places, as people start earning more money, they spend more of that money on meat and animal products (in fact, there’s a strong correlation between national GDP and meat consumption worldwide). Many Africans are rising out of poverty (which, to be absolutely clear, is a good thing!), which is expected to increase the amount of meat people buy in the future.

There’s another problem: the factory farming industry. International farming groups are starting to set up shop on the continent, which is going to fuel meat production and consumption even more. Factory farming is not an aspect of African cultures — in fact, many of them find the idea abhorrent. Still, JBS is pumping billions of dollars into creating new factory farms, especially in large economies like Nigeria.

Given these factors, it’s no surprise that Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world expected to grow animal production the most over the next few decades.

To me, this strongly indicates that we need to be thinking about how to grow the African economy without creating massive industrial factory farms that abuse human rights, animal welfare, and the environment.

I also want to make something clear here: I’m not advocating we waltz into Sub-Saharan communities and try to change everyone’s diet. Firstly, there isn’t really a need to (their diets are far less harmful than those in the Global North). Secondly, despite Big Meat’s marketing claims, factory farming is not the only way to alleviate hunger and poverty. I believe the best path forward is to work on reshaping food production in Africa to be more sustainable, ethical, and plant-based, to mitigate the harms of future meat consumption. I’m intrigued by alternative protein companies in Africa, which currently number more than 100 and could be worth around 2 billion USD in ten years. Long-term, these start-ups could tackle food security and factory farming in one fell swoop.

The African Movement is Under-Supported

Preventing the growth of factory farming won’t be easy. Farmed animal protection operations typically operate on a shoestring budget, but the numbers become even starker when we break down the money by region. The vast majority of philanthropic spending for farmed animals goes towards North America (especially the U.S.) and Europe.

Very little money is going towards where the animals actually are (Asia) or where these animal herds are expected to grow (Africa). A lack of funds creates a lack of research. There are a few reports on strategies specific to African countries (like Bryant Research’s Africa-wide intervention report, Animal Ask’s reports on Egypt, Ghana, and Zimbabwe, or Animal Advocacy Africa’s research), but more is needed.

In my opinion, we need to build the movement against factory farming in Africa before Big Meat becomes too entrenched and powerful to stop. To help the cause, I spent time in Africa at the AVA Summit learning about what African advocates need to build up their strategies.

The Questions African Advocates Need Answers To

I surveyed 30 people who represented 11 individual countries across Africa (5 of whom worked for intra-African organizations). The advocates were asked to tell me the specific research questions that would benefit their work, as well as research gaps they’ve run into. I also took the results from a group brainstorming session at the conference that I led.

First, we can see how advocates use research: mostly to convince stakeholders to take action, identify problems, and make strategic decisions. Legitimacy and capacity-building were ranked lower.

I then asked the participants where they are currently sourcing their research, with most people using search engines or checking the websites of global animal advocacy research organizations or African advocacy organizations.

Finally, what barriers are they running into? By far the most significant barrier is research relevant to their region, with language barriers being relatively low on the list. Keep in mind, the participant pool was attending a mostly English-based conference, so the population is more likely to speak English than the average advocate; the language barrier is likely an underestimate. Only two people indicated they face zero barriers.

To me, this shows the dire need for more region-specific research, as it’s a stark research gap. The academic fields that advocates need research in the most include economics, animal welfare, and mapping the problems (such as finding the number of factory farms or wild animals in a region). In comments, participants indicated they needed a central depository of research, more collaboration between organizations, and more replication of research from the Global North.

I also tabulated a list of research questions from the survey and brainstorming session that will benefit researchers, funders, capacity builders, and advocates based in Africa. I’m hoping more and more of these will get answered in the coming years — without them, it will be far harder to make a difference.

The Bottom Line

I don’t pretend to know all the answers about how to prevent factory farming in African countries, but I do know that it’s a problem that will only grow with time if left unaddressed. The problem is also exciting in a way! We have the opportunity to mitigate the growth of African factory farming while it's still in its infancy, thereby preventing future harm to animals, the environment, and locals alike.

To make that a reality, African advocates need more research, more funding, and more resources to do their best work.

Thank you

Thank you for reading! I always make these resources available for free, but consider becoming a paid subscriber if you find my work valuable. I am a freelance non-profit researcher, and the more financial support I have, the more time I can spend on making these resources as impactful as possible. Plus, I donate 10% of subscription fees to highly impactful meat reduction initiatives and animal sanctuaries.

1. One caveat: the data for the U.S. and the African countries were collected differently. The U.S. data is an estimate based on food supply while the African data comes from HCES nationally representative surveys of household food consumption. This means the US data is likely an overestimate, but the overall discrepancy in meat consumption is still gargantuan. If you’re curious about the intricacies of meat consumption data collection, read my 2023 piece on the subject.