Time to Eggs-it: Factory Farming in The Philippines
What is Factory Farming?
Picture this: a farm with animals. Most of us are likely to imagine something idyllic, resembling a farmer collecting eggs from his chicken coop while cows graze in fields. A majority of farms once looked like this; however, in reality, an increasing number of animal farms have now become factory farms – more technically referred to as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) – which is a form of intensive agriculture designed to maximize profits using as few resources as possible. Factory farming of chickens, for example, looks like tens of thousands of chickens, each with less than a square foot of space (because space costs money) kept in dark sheds (because lighting costs money). These chickens are debeaked so they don’t peck each other out of stress, and, in the case of broilers, chickens bred for more meat, they are often unable to support their own body weight, leading to bone deformities. In the US alone, 99.9% of chickens, 95% of pigs, and 78% of cattle are factory-farmed, and more than half the world’s poultry comes from factory farms.
Overweight chicken in a factory farm; Stefano Belacchi, Equalia, We Animals Media
A San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. factory farm; The Philippines Star
While the number of factory farms in the Philippines pales in comparison to the US, it is among the Asian countries with the largest practices of factory farming. There has been an increase in its adoption for several reasons: firstly, factory farming is viewed by government officials as a solution to their economic woes. It is the assumption that factory farming will be able to keep the rising price of meat low, amidst a 17% decrease in livestock output, and increasing consumer demand for meat in the Philippines. Secondly, the government has been advised by the World Bank to industrialize and incorporate technology in its agricultural sector, a transition which leaves the door open for multinational factory farming firms to exert their influence over this transition.
While factory farming may claim to produce meat at the “lowest cost possible”, this is misleading. Consumer prices for factory-farmed poultry will be lower than those for organic or poultry from backyard farms, but this price does not account for the external costs to society: the collective price of our environment and health.
Cost to Environment
Marcela Farms’ anaerobic lagoon in Bohol, Philippines; Nick Bowden, World Bank
The livestock industry contributes nearly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Factory farming plays a major role in these emissions through the poor management of animal manure.
In 2015, thirteen (13) million tons of excreted animal manure was produced in the Philippines, with swine manure constituting 13%. Swine manure at factory farms is often stored in massive lagoons or slurry pits where it combines with other waste products like urine, spilled feed, and water used in farming activities. When stored, bacteria begin to decompose animal waste into methane and nitrous oxide, gasses which have 28 and 265 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, respectively. In addition, improper waste management in this sector can lead to contamination of groundwater and water bodies and killing fish with bacteria. Wastewater runoff from factory farms can carry residue along coastlines into the ocean, causing algae blooms that kill marine life.
While there are currently programs in place, such as the Carbon Partnership Facility’s partnership with Land Bank Philippines to create covered anaerobic lagoons that separate the methane from the sludge and convert it into electricity. The sludge can also be processed into fertilizer for the surrounding land area if used in small quantities; however, factory farms often produce much more manure than can be safely applied, adversely contributing to nitrogen issues. Unfortunately, this practice is only optional for factory farms. One example of a business using this type of anaerobic lagoon is Marcela Farms, which plans to use treated sludge as fertilizer for nearby fields. However, this has not been proven to be a full solution to the environmental threats of this waste and it is unclear if there are any other unforeseen impacts that might affect nearby farms
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Cost to Health
The environmental impacts discussed also have dangerous impacts on the health of humans and animals The water runoff from factory farms, in addition to harming aquatic life, contaminates drinking water sources for humans. They also pollute the air with gas and foul odors that can leave workers and those who live near them with serious health impacts. Factory farms are extremely unhygienic, an estimated one-quarter of hog confinement workers suffer from chronic bronchitis.
For animals, studies show that factory-farmed chickens live in their own waste and resultantly are highly prone to fecal contamination. An estimated 69.3% of factory-farmed chickens are infected with e-coli. Rather than altering their operations to reduce these risks of disease, factory farmers have developed an extreme reliance on antimicrobials. In fact, 80% of low and middle-income countries use antimicrobials for growth promotion of their livestock. This excessive use of antimicrobials has resulted in “avoidable [antimicrobial resistance] and spread”. Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” have the potential to kill hundreds of thousands and cost the global economy $100 trillion by 2050. This will have disproportionate consequences on Southeast Asia, which has the highest number of foodborne illnesses of any region, leading to 175,000 deaths per year.
Put together, the poor management of large-scale and intensive factory farms has also been shown to contribute to emergence of zoonotic diseases which are borne from animals to humans. An example of this includes the recent Covid-19 Pandemic. In fact, sixty percent (60 %) of emerging infectious diseases are caused by zoonotic diseases. The Philippines is already a hotspot for emerging diseases caused by drug-resistant and vector (living organism) pathogens. The impact of these emerging and preventable diseases is further exacerbated by issues in the public health sector, including the shortage of hospitals and medical staff in the country.
Global distribution of relative risk of an emerging infectious disease event, with red being more likely and green being less likely; courtesy of Nature Publishing Group
The Solution: Agroecology
The steady growth in factory farming practice in the Philippines and its adverse impact on the environment and health cannot be simply justified by cheaper price tags at the grocery store. These risks are being overlooked, as evidenced by the country's continuing efforts towards the industrialization of the agricultural sector with no regard for how this will affect the livestock industry or its potential impacts to animal and human welfare.
If we are going to feed the world’s estimated 10 billion population by 2050, we cannot afford to neglect issues such as waste management, soil health, farmer health, aquatic biodiversity, and efficient energy use in the livestock industry. While one might argue that factory farming is the only way to address growing meat demands in Asia, it is an environmentally destructive and unsustainable long-term solution compared to its many alternatives, and will lead to a more food insecure state in the long run.
One alternative to factory farming worth careful consideration is agroecology, which aims to create sustainable and resilient farms through a broad range of techniques and principles that seek to minimize the environmental impact of farming. Agroecology includes techniques such as organic farming and pivoting away from common methods used in factory farming. For example, a strong agroecological approach to animal farming would stop overcrowding, mutilating, and restricting the movement of animals in factory farms. This would strengthen animals’ immunity, reduce their stress, and ultimately reduce reliance on antimicrobials.
Factory farming is not the best option to provide affordable food and a secure food system for consumers because of its long-term costs and short-term risks. Factory farms are much more exposed to risk of disease spread that can lead to culling of livestock and meat recalls, they contribute heavily to carbon emissions which cause increasing numbers of droughts and floods that affect food production, and they contribute to deforestation to feed cattle cheap feed. Agroecological farming has consumers’ futures in mind, whereas factory farming does not.
Free Range Chicken in the Philippines; Sun Star
The agriculture industry must place greater accountability on factory farms that utilize harmful agricultural practices. There must be stricter policies surrounding waste treatment practices, more humane treatment of animals on farms, and improved sanitation protocols. While improving conditions at factory farms, more financial investments in the shift towards agroecological practices are necessary. By investing in agricultural systems that have long-term promise, the Philippines can help create a safer and more environmentally friendly world.
Note: Brandon Gusain was an international undergraduate intern from the 2023 Summer Internship Program of Parabukas. This article is his individual contribution to on-going discourse on his chosen environmental issue. His internship was made possible through the Queen’s Project on International Development (QPID) program of Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada.