PI: Zach Wulderk, Faunalytics

Date Awarded: December 2024 (FSRF 2024-08-21)

Summary (adapted and reposted from final report):

This report examines the role of international organizations in the expansion of industrial animal agriculture across low- and middle-income countries, as well as the factors that influence their financial support to the animal agriculture industry. It also provides insights into the ways animal advocates can shape the decision-making of these organizations. These recommendations are informed both by the literature on this topic and, critically, by conversations with people who have worked in and alongside many of the international organizations and non-governmental organizations who exert the most influence in this space.

Key Findings:

1. International organizations’ chief concerns are nutrition and food security. The driving force behind most industrial animal agriculture projects in LMICs is concern about nutrition and food security, rather than animal welfare or environmental concerns. Large animal agriculture companies have successfully positioned their products as the solution to these core needs, enabling their global expansion. International organizations also often consider the potential of interventions like animal agriculture to drive economic development.

2. Trust and relationships are essential for change. Numerous international organization insiders we spoke with emphasized that trust and personal relationships are critical to their work. For example, major investors repeatedly work with the same clients, and development organizations partially evaluate the potential success of projects based on trust built through relationships. For animal advocates aiming to make plant-based food more accessible in LMICs, building long-term, trust-based relationships with key decisionmakers at international organizations is likely the most vital step.

3. Support for factory farming is often hidden. While some organizations, like the International Finance Corporation, directly invest tens of millions of dollars in individual factory farming projects, many types of support offered by international organizations and development finance institutions are harder to spot. These “hidden supports” include:

   ○ Favorable terms on loans

   ○ Investments in infrastructure (e.g., roads, electricity) necessary for the distribution of animal products

   ○ Technical advice that favors industrial agriculture

   ○ Laws requiring the import of low-welfare animal products.

Reposted from: Wulderk, Z., & Troy, A. (2025). Globalizing The Factory Farm: International Organizations And The Spread Of Industrial Animal Agriculture. Faunalytics. https://faunalytics.org/globalizing-the-factory-farm-international-organizations-and-the-spread-of-industrial-animal-agriculture/

Further Information: The full report is available on the Faunalytic’s website and can also be download here. Data and study materials are available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) here.