Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate

Highlights

• 86% of the global livestock feed intake in dry matter consists of feed materials that are not currently edible for humans

• Contrary to commonly cited figures, 1 kg of meat requires 2.8 kg of human-edible feed for ruminants and 3.2 for monogastrics

• Livestock consume one third of global cereal production and uses about 40% of global arable land

• Livestock use 2 billion ha of grasslands, of which about 700 million could be used as cropland

• Modest improvements in feed conversion ratios can prevent further expansion of arable land dedicated to feed production.

Abstract

Livestock contribute to food security by supplying essential macro- and micro-nutrients, providing manure and draught power, and generating income. But they also consume food edible by humans and graze on pastures that could be used for crop production. Livestock, especially ruminants, are often seen as poor converters of feed into food products. This paper analyses global livestock feed rations and feed conversion ratios, with specific insight on the diversity in production systems and feed materials. Results estimate that livestock consume 6 billion tonnes of feed (dry matter) annually – including one third of global cereal production – of which 86% is made of materials that are currently not eaten by humans. In addition, soybean cakes, which production can be considered as main driver or land-use, represent 4% of the global livestock feed intake. Producing 1 kg of boneless meat requires an average of 2.8 kg human-edible feed in ruminant systems and 3.2 kg in monogastric systems. While livestock is estimated to use 2.5 billion ha of land, modest improvements in feed use efficiency can reduce further expansion.

Introduction

In 2015, almost 800 million people were still undernourished (FAO, 2015a). This includes insufficient access to balanced supply of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) but also “hidden hunger”, i.e. lack of, or inadequate intake of micronutrients, resulting in various forms of malnutrition, such as anaemia or vitamin A deficiency (FAO, 2015a).

Food from animal sources contributes 18% of global calories (kcal) consumption and 25% of global protein consumption (FAOSTAT, 2016). But it also makes an important contribution to food security through the provision of high-quality protein and a variety of micronutrients – e.g. vitamin A, vitamin B-12, riboflavin, calcium, iron and zinc – that can be locally difficult to obtain in adequate quantities from plant-source foods alone (Randolph et al., 2007, Murphy and Allen, 2003). Livestock's contribution goes beyond the production of meat, milk and eggs, however, and a number of factors determine their overall impact on food security (Gerber et al., 2015). Positive contributions include: (1) the direct supply of essential macro- and micro-nutrients; (2) the contribution of domesticated animals to agricultural productivity through manure and draught power; and (3) the income generated by livestock production at household and national level. Potentially negative contributions to food security include: (1) animal feed rations containing products that can also serve as human food; (2) the fact that animal feed may be produced on land suitable for human food production; and (3) the relatively low efficiency of animals in converting feed into human-edible products.

This paper aims to inform one important dimension of the debate on the contribution of animal production to food security. Beef production, in particular, is often criticized for its very high consumption of grain, with cited figures varying between 6 kg and 20 kg of grain per kg of beef produced (Eshel et al., 2014, Elliott, 2012; Godfray et al., 2010; Garnett, 2009). The upper bound of this range is, however, based on feedlot beef production, which accounts for 7% of global beef output according to Gerber et al. (2015) and FAO (2009), and 13% according to this analysis. It does not apply to the other forms of beef production that produce the remaining 87–93% of beef. Indeed, debate on the subject often lacks recognition of the wide diversity in production systems and in the goods and services delivered by livestock (Smith, 2015). And while some of the global discussion on food security may address the question of the feed/food competition, it often fails to mention the diversity of animal diets around the world and the various levels of efficiency in production systems (Godfray et al., 2010, Flachowsky, 2010). Some well-documented studies (e.g. Eshel et al., 2014) covering the US livestock sector, are often quoted without clear reference to the geographic context they apply to (e.g. Carrington, 2014), and are therefore wrongly used to inform decision makers, and the public at large. For example, the literature often highlights the supposed efficiency of pigs and poultry in converting feed into meat. But these studies do not take account of the higher share of feed consumed in the form of grains edible by humans and of land suitable for food production used by monogastrics.

The livestock sector is expected to continue to grow. Demand for animal products is increasing in many parts of the world as a result of rising incomes, growing population and urbanization. Global demand for meat and milk is expected to increase by 57% and 48% respectively between 2005 and 2050 (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012). Most of the past decades sector's growth took place in large-scale, specialized monogastric farms (FAO, 2009), and this trend can be expected to continue. This was achieved through an increased reliance by the sector on cultivated forages, grains and oilseed meals, but also on agricultural by-products such as brans, dried distillers’ grains, pulps and molasses.

As this increase in demand for animal source food will have a major impact on global food systems and land use, there is a need to better inform policy makers and consumers about feed use and feed use efficiency in the livestock sector (Capper et al., 2013). To this end, this analysis addresses the food/feed competition looking at two main drivers: the feeding of human-edible materials to animals and the use of arable land to produce animal feed (instead of producing food directly). It relies on a new and unique database and provides broad quantitative estimates of livestock feed rations, feed demand, and related land use. It analyses the composition of feed rations and the efficiency with which human-edible and non-human-edible feed materials are converted into animal-source food and discusses land use implications. This paper is meant to inform policy makers and the wider global community with a quantitative assessment of the role of livestock in current and future food security.