Western activists can’t assume that tactics that worked in the West, investigations of factory farms, say, or street-level protests, can simply be exported everywhere else, so as not to violate cultural norms and laws.
MARC GUNTHER: The fight to end factory farming has long been vexed by a disconnect: While experts estimate that 6 percent of the world’s farm animals are located in the US and Europe, advocacy groups in those regions collect the lion’s share of funding. Last year, about $200 million went into the farmed animal advocacy movement, according to a survey of several hundred nonprofits conducted by Farmed Animal Funders. Only about one-fifth of that reached activists in countries outside the US and EU, where the vast majority of animals are farmed.
This misallocation of resources comes against a backdrop of worrisome trends. Meat consumption is rising in the developing world, particularly in Asia. Intensive farming practices are becoming the norm in Latin America and Asia, and they are getting a foothold in Africa as well. According to one estimate, nine out of 10 animals raised for food globally are confined in factory farms.
The animal rights movement is responding — and not a moment too soon. From São Paulo to Shanghai, local organizations focused on animal protection are growing fast. Meanwhile, nonprofits that once worked only in the US, including Mercy For Animals and the Humane League, now have staff in Brazil, Mexico, India, and Japan.
Institutional funders are supporting advocacy and public awareness campaigns across Latin America and Asia. “We’ve shifted funding to the Global South,” says Amanda Hungerford, a program officer at Open Philanthropy, the world’s biggest funder of farm animal advocacy. She expects that trend to continue. Kieran Greig, a manager of the EA Animal Welfare Fund, says by email: “Our grantmaking to the global south has increased significantly in these past five or so years. I am optimistic that the percentage of giving to the global south will continue to increase steadily.”
These early efforts have led to some gains. For instance, the Open Wing Alliance, a global but decentralized network that was incubated by the Humane League, has brought together 79 organizations from 63 countries, most in the Global South, to campaign against battery cages for egg-laying hens, considered one of the cruelest factory farming practices. It reported earlier this year that more than 2,000 companies around the world have adopted cage-free egg policies, and that 85 percent of companies that pledged to use cage-free eggs by 2020 or earlier have done so.
But the scale of the challenge facing animal welfare advocates is daunting, and the movement faces new obstacles as it expands around the world. It’s difficult to identify startup organizations or leaders to fund, donors say. Meat consumption remains a marker of economic well-being in many places. Western donors and activists can’t assume that tactics that worked in the West — investigations of factory farms, say, or street-level protests — can simply be exported everywhere else, and have to be mindful to defer to locals on strategy, so as not to violate cultural norms and laws.
By far the steepest challenges are in China. China farms more animals than any other country. Altogether, China consumes almost one-third of the world’s meat, although its per capita consumption is still less than half that of the US. Yet the animal advocacy community there is small, and groups in China play by strict rules set by the government.
Second to China in terms of its farmed animal population is India. There, strong laws prohibiting animal cruelty are rarely enforced. Despite the country being home to more vegetarians than any other country, meat and dairy consumption are on the rise. The question now is whether the animal advocacy movement can build on its progress in rich countries, even as it seeks to expand to the Global South. It has won meaningful victories, including an EU ban on battery cages for egg-laying hens and a slew of corporate animal welfare commitments in the US, and it has helped power the growth of plant-based alternatives to milk and meat.
Even so, huge problems remain in the West, notably the misery suffered by the billions of chickens raised for meat every year. Funding is not just limited but meager: The estimated $200 million a year spent on farm animal welfare is a fraction of the amount devoted to more popular causes, like climate change. Donors and activists will have to decide where to allocate their money, their time, and especially their creativity. New thinking will be required to build a robust animal welfare movement in countries where hundreds of millions of people live without electricity or suffer from malnutrition. SOURCE…
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