Abstract
Global consumption, production, and trade of livestock products have increased rapidly in the last two decades and are expected to continue. At the same time, safety concerns regarding human and animal disease associated with livestock products are increasing. Efforts to increase public health safety standards aimed at legitimately reducing the risks of human and animal disease have focused internationally on standards to regulate the movement of livestock products. There is concern, though, that measures to regulate these standards internationally, such as the WTO SPS measures that in part aim to open international markets, may marginalize small-scale poor producers. The cycle of poverty they are trying to escape through livestock production may, in fact, widen, leading to increased global poverty, malnutrition, and disease. Developing and developed nations alike should be concerned with public and private efforts to address appropriate food safety policies to reduce the likelihood of this effect. Analysis of the impact on small-scale livestock farmers is needed, as well as solutions that consider joint public and private sector initiatives. Costly farm to table tracking systems are not an option, but locally orchestrated vertically integrated systems may have merit in reducing food safety risks and in providing small-scale farmers with increased access to markets, locally and internationally. Increased scientific and technical capacity, and training of WTO officials from developing nations is also needed.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Antle, J., ''Efficient Food Safety Regulation in the Food Manufacturing Sector,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78(Dec) (1996), 1242-1247.
Antle, J., ''Benefits and Costs of Food Safety Regulation,'' Food Policy 24(6) (1999), 605-623.
Caswell, J. A. and N. H. Hooker, ''HACCP As an International Trade Standard,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78(Aug) (1996), 775-779.
Cato, J. C., Economic Issues Associated with Seafood Safety and Implementation of Seafood HAACP Programmes, FAO, Rome, 1998.
CDC, ''Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Foodborne Illnesses Selected Sites,United States, 2000,'' CDC-MMWR Weekly 50(13) (2001), 241-246.
Colby, L. J., Trade Opportunities for Processed Meat (UNCTAD, Geneva, 1997).
Crutchfield, S., J. C. Buzby, T. Roberts, M. Ollinger, and C.-T. J. Lin, An Economic Assessment of Food Safety Regulations:The New Approach to Meat and Poultry Inspection (Economic Research Service, AER-755, USDA, Washington, DC, 1997).
Delgado, C., M. W. Rosegrant, H. Steinfeld, S. Ehui, and C. Courbois, Livestock to 2020: The Next Food Revolution, Food, Agriculture,and the Environment Discussion Paper 28, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC (1999).
Edwards, S., ''Trade Orientation,Distortions,and Growth in Developing Countries,'' Journal of Development Studies 39(1) (1992), 31-57.
FAO, ''FAO Fisheries Department Review of the State of the World Aquaculture Report,'' FAO Fisheries Circular No. 886 FIRI/C886 (Rev.1), FAO, Rome (1997).
FAO, FAOSTAT Database, <http://faostat.fao.org>, Rome, 2000.
Hayes, D., J. Shogren, S. Shin and J. Kliebenstein, ''Valuing Food Safety in Experimental Auction Markets,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 77(Feb) (1995), 40-53.
Henson, S. J., R. J. Loader, A. Swinbank, M. Bredahl, and N. Lux, Impact of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on Developing Countries (Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, The University of Reading, Reading, 2000).
Henson, S. J. and R. J. Loader, ''Barriers to Agricultural Exports from Developing Countries: The Role of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Requirements,'' World Development 29(Jan) (2001), 85-102.
Holloway, G., ''Safety and Quality Regulation and Stage of Distribution,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78(Dec) (1996), 1254-1260.
Holloway, G., ''Evaluating the Alternatives,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(5) (1999), 1090-1095.
Longbottom, H., ''Emerging Infectious Diseases,'' Communicable Diseases Intelligence 21(7) (1997), 89-93.
Michalopoulos, C., ''The Developing Countries in the WTO,'' World Development. 27(1) (1999), 117-143.
Monke, E. and S. R. Pearson, The Policy Analysis Matrix for Agricultural Development (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1989).
Murphy, K. M. and A. Shleifer, ''Quality and Trade,'' Journal of Development Economics 53(1) (1997), 1-15.
Nin Pratt, A., P. Bonnet, S. Ehui, M. Jabbar, and C. De Haan, Benefits and Costs of Compliance of SPS Rules:The Case of Rift Valley Fever in Ethiopia.Module III. Benefit-Cost Evaluation of an Export Certi cation Scheme to Comply with OIE Regulations, Draft paper, International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2003).
Petrey, L. A. and R. W. M. Johnson, ''Agriculture in the Uruguay Round:Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures,'' Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics 61(3) (1993), 433-442.
Pinstrup-Anderson, P., ''Food Policy Research for Developing Countries:Emerging Issues and Unfinished Business,'' Food Policy 25(2) (2000), 125-141.
Reardon, T. and J. Berdegué, ''The Rapid Rise of Supermarkets in Latin American: Challenges and Opportunities for Development,'' Development Policy Review 20 (Sept) (2002), 371-388.
Reardon, T., J. M. Codron, L. Busch, J. Bingen, and C. Harris, ''Global Change in Agrifood Grades and Standards:Agribusiness Strategic Responses in Developing Countries,'' International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 2(3) (2001), 421-435.
Roberts, T., J. C. Buzby, and M. Ollinger, ''Using Benefit and Cost Information to Evaluate a Food Safety Regulation:HACCP For Meat And Poultry,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 78(Dec) (1996), 1297-1301.
Rosegrant, M. W., M. S. Paisner, S. Meijer, and J. Witcover, Global Food Projections To 2020: Emerging Trends and Alternative Futures (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, 2001).
Segerson, K., ''Mandatory Versus Voluntary Approaches To Food Safety,'' Agribusiness 15(Winter) (1999), 53-70.
Thilmany, D. D. and C. B. Barrett, ''Regulatory Barriers in an Integrating World Food Market,'' Review of Agricultural Economics 19(1) (1997), 91-107.
Unnevehr, L. J., G. Y. Miller, and M. I. Gómez, ''Ensuring Food Safety and Quality In Farm-Level Production:Emerging Lessons From the Pork Industry,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(5) (1999), 1096-1101.
Unnevehr, L. J. (ed.), The Economics of HACCP:Costs and Benefits (Eagan Press, St.Paul, MN, 2000).
Westgren, R. E., ''Delivering Food Safety,Food Quality,and Sustainable Production Practices: The Label Rouge System In France,'' American Journal of Agricultural Economics 81(5) (1999), 1107-1111.
World Bank, World Development Indicators, 1998/99 (World Bank, Washington, DC, 1999).
WHO, ''The Increasing Incidence of Human Campylobacteriosis. Introduction,'' Report and Proceedings of a WHO Consultation of Experts Copenhagen, Denmark. 21-25 November, 2000. World Health Organization, Geneva (2001), pp. 7-8.
WHO, Food Safety and Foodborne Illness, Fact sheet No. 237, World Health Organization, Geneva (2002).
WTO, Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (The World Trade Organization, Geneva, 1995).
WTO, Food Safety and The WTO. Trade Briefing Paper No. 3 August 1999 (The World Trade Organization, Geneva, 1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hall, D.C., Ehui, S. & Delgado, C. The livestock revolution, food safety, and small-scale farmers: why they matter to us all. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 17, 425–444 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-004-5183-6
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-004-5183-6