Cymraeg Exploring agroecological alternatives to soy-based pig and poultry feed
What’s the issue?
Rising global demand for soy is contributing to widespread deforestation in the Global South, and the majority of this demand is coming from the animal feed industry – mainly for feeding pig and poultry.
Each year the UK imports around 3 million tonnes of soy for animal feed, and WWF estimate that the land required to grow this soy amounts to around 1.7 million hectares – an area nearly the size of Wales.
Over half of the world’s soy (and almost all of the UK’s) comes from South America – either from the Amazon, or from other biodiverse regions which, as a result of increased soy production and other land-hungry industries,
continue to be vulnerable to high rates of deforestation.
There is an urgent need to transition away from an industrial pig and and poultry farming model which is driving land-use change overseas, to a system where more ethically produced meat can be produced on a smaller and more localised scale.
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What are we doing?
LWA has launched a joint campaign – together with Pasture for Life (PFLA), Sustain, Feedback and Hodmedod – which aims to raise awareness about the land-use change and deforestation associated with the global soy animal feed supply chain and to explore agroecological alternatives for feeding pigs and poultry in the UK.
As part of this campaign we have published a report: ‘Soy No More: Breaking away from soy in UK pig and poultry farming’ which highlights the environmental impact of the global soy animal feed industry and models the opportunities and trade offs of replacing soy in pig and poultry feed with alternative protein sources.
In collaboration with Brazilian filmmaker Simone Giovine we have also produced a short film to platform the voices of Indigenous Kayapó communities who’s livelihoods and territories are being impacted by the proliferation of large-scale soy plantations. You can watch the film below.
What can you do?
If you raise pigs and poultry on soy-free feed – get in touch!
Alongside Pasture for Life and Hodmedod we are organising a series of farm tours over summer and autumn 2023 to showcase alternative feed systems; including pasture, home-grown legumes and insect feed.
Please contact: jyoti.fernandes@landworkersalliance.org.uk
Register for one of our upcoming farm tours here.
Watch our short film to find out more about the impact that the overproduction of soy is having on Indigenous Kayapó communities in the Amazon.
