Trade in feed grains, animals, and animal products: Current trends, future prospects, and main issues

Abstract

• The food transition process is now occurring much more quickly in developing countries than in developed nations, where it took over more than a century to achieve it. Two essential consequences of this process are a switch in the domestic utilization of cereals from human consumption to feeding of livestock and a much greater growth rate of meat and milk production today in developing countries than in developed nations. • However, many developing countries continue to consume more animal products than they produce, and hence, are still dependent on imports for satisfying their increasing needs. They depend on trade not only directly through imports of animals and animal products, but also indirectly through imports of cereals and oilseeds for animal feed. • The prospects are that the developing world will continue to drive world demand for all agricultural products, including animal products, in the next decades, and agricultural trade should increase. • Current trends and future prospects raise the issue of how to ensure access to international and regional agricultural markets and stabilize food prices. This is exacerbated by the fact that exports, more specifically exports in animals and animal products, are highly concentrated among a few key players. • Animal production does not have to be condemned because of its drawbacks that should urgently be addressed with the aim of reducing their energy and environmental footprint. More specifically, trade issues include international trade rules, food safety, and harmonization of environmental and animal welfare rules.