In July 2023, the 2nd Africa Protein Summit was held in Nairobi, Kenya, and although campaigners urged governments to promote plant-based proteins arguing that the growing demand for meat is fuelling the climate crisis, they fell short to promote veganism and ask for a phasing out of animal agriculture.
The summit was organised by the international animal welfare organization World Animal Protection (WAP), which is known for not promoting animal rights or veganism, but rather reformist animal welfare improvements. Calling to reduce meat consumption instead of stopping it altogether is a classic mis-messaging of this type of organisation. Indeed, the summit was launched to raise awareness of the potential of plant-based diets to mitigate climate change, but at the same time calling for implementing animal farming practices at a lower scale to reach animal welfare standards.
WAP, which has its headquarters in the UK, has been campaigning for a moratorium on factory Farming in the global south, as opposed to for the abolition of animal farming in the entire world, to be replaced with plant-based agriculture, much more efficient in producing food, and much better for the environments — as well as for the animals, of course.
Tennyson Williams, WAP Africa director, said, “Climate change is one of the world’s biggest threats and intensive animal farming is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.” Victor Yamo, WAP farming campaigns manager, said, “Governments should also hold agricultural companies with high emissions accountable for their carbon footprint and low regard for animal welfare.”
As the global population increases in Africa, the demand for meat products, such as flesh from cows, chickens, and pigs, is expected to rise by 30% by 2030. If the message to stop animal agriculture altogether and replace it with plant-based agriculture is not loud and clear, this trend is unlikely to slow down.
