Food security is fundamental to human existence, and ensuring global food security is one of the transformative issues of our time. Veterinary academia has a responsibility to respond to this urgent, complex, and daunting challenge, especially because solutions will not be realized without the active engagement of the developed world's veterinary medical profession and the modernization of public and private veterinary services throughout the developing world.
A recent report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services1 warns that the world's land and water resources are being exploited at unprecedented rates and that this exploitation, combined with the ongoing climate crisis, is putting dire pressure on humanity's ability to feed itself. This report follows one from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations2 that outlines the key role livestock production can play in improving the lives of millions of people worldwide while contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the enhancement of food security. In the introduction, José Graziano da Silva, then Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, stressed that “[l]ivestock are especially vital to the economies of developing countries, where food insecurity is an endemic concern.” These reports make it clear that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will not be met without an international community of veterinarians working with a diversity of stakeholders to promote efficient environmentally and economically sustainable systems of livestock production.3
During the first half of the 21st century, food production must increase by 70% in response to a growing population, increasing urbanization, and rising incomes.4 Agriculture must meet this goal in the face of climate change, limited natural resources, poor infrastructures, and inefficient food systems. A lack of access to safe, nutritious food undermines social stability, human health, and economic growth and can incite violence,5 as was seen in 2008 when urban riots erupted in more than 30 countries following a sharp increase in food prices.
Global Hunger, Undernutrition, and Malnutrition
Global hunger and undernutrition have steadily fallen since 2000, but the percentage of the world's population without regular access to adequate nutrition and the number of people identified as hungry have both increased since 2015, with hunger affecting 822 million people worldwide in 2019 and the situation being particularly dire in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of conflict and climate change.6 On top of this, nearly 1.8 billion people were classified as food insecure in 2015 because of a lack of access to sufficient safe, nutritious food,7 and malnutrition is responsible for more ill health than any other cause.8
Meeting the Demand for Foods of Animal Origin
The rapid growth in certain regional economies has led to a boom in the demand for foods derived from animal sources, with the result that the livestock sector is one of the fastest-growing parts of the agricultural economy. The challenge for policy makers is developing plans for expanding livestock production without adversely affecting systems that currently support the livelihoods and food security of almost 1.3 billion people worldwide, marginalizing small stakeholders, or risking natural resources or human health, all while ensuring sustainability.9
Subsistence farming methods will need to make way for more efficient, biosecure methods and the development of sustainable food value chains that are profitable for everyone involved, from farmers to sellers of final products; provide broad-based, ethical benefits for society; and do not permanently deplete natural resources.10 This transformation will require large, long-term financial investments that most likely will rely on public-private partnerships. Over the long term, large-scale increases in livestock production cannot be sustained without a competent veterinary infrastructure. The current African swine fever outbreaks in China and Southeast Asia are an example of the need for this type of veterinary infrastructure. Another vital step in expanding livestock production is the development of surveillance, diagnostic, and regulatory veterinary services to control animal disease losses.
With its knowledge of best practices in livestock farming, the veterinary profession in the United States has an essential role to play in effecting this transition by working as consultants to advise farmers and local leaders. Veterinary consultants could provide expertise in the epidemiology of zoonotic and transboundary diseases, food safety, and biosecurity protocols. They could also play an essential role in the development of livestock production systems that are economically, socially, and environmentally viable, reduce waste, and are integrated with food value chains leading to domestic and export markets.
Livestock development initiatives must have a sound economic foundation, and veterinary consultants should promote the use of financial records to expand livestock production efficiency. Entrepre-neurship is needed to foster the aspirations of small farmers, as is the capacity to evaluate the applicability of new genetic strains and new technologies to specific farming systems. Veterinary consultants could play a vital role in these areas as well.
A Global Vision for Veterinary Medical Education
Food insecurity, climate change, and population growth are issues that concern young people, including veterinary students. Many receive an introduction to climate change and the environment during their preveterinary education but have little understanding of potential adaptive strategies in crop and livestock production that offer solutions to the challenges of global food insecurity. To date, professional education in the United States in general and in veterinary academia in particular has been slow to respond with cross-disciplinary programs that offer students the necessary holistic understanding of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the role of livestock in global food security.
We have previously drawn attention to the dearth of veterinarians in governmental and nongovernmental international aid agencies.11 To correct this, veterinary academia needs a global vision that focuses on the first 3 Sustainable Development Goals (poverty relief, food security, and good health), while also stressing the increasingly interconnected nature of all 17 goals, and that looks to prepare veterinary consultants with an understanding of the developing world's critical priorities and the capacity to help guide government policies that initiate the process of change. If veterinary students are to contribute and find jobs, it is essential that they receive a multidis-ciplinary education rooted in the essentials of veterinary medicine, but with a broad vision that takes into account this wider understanding. This includes but goes beyond the present focus on one health and is consistent with the recommendation of Gray and Mazet12 that the one-health focus should move closer to animal agriculture.
The greatest needs are in Sub-Saharan Africa, where developing nations lack the veterinary services required to improve the health, welfare, and sustainable productivity of their livestock populations and wildlife. Infectious disease surveillance and control should be a priority, and veterinary students should become familiar with the threats of endemic zoonotic diseases and understand that unless control measures are integrated with other aspects of sustainable economic development, these countries will have difficulty meeting the growing food demands of their cities or lifting their small farmers from poverty.
Students should also become familiar with current deficiencies in the developing world's veterinary profession, including the dearth of private veterinary practitioners, scarcity of robust animal health surveillance systems, lack of interaction between veterinary professionals and the paraprofessionals who provide most livestock care, inadequacy of diagnostic laboratories and food safety protocols, low levels of government support and regulatory infrastructures, existence of counterfeit medicines, tendency to ignore the role of women in livestock farming, and inadequacy of veterinary clinical training programs.13 Moreover, as Graham et al13 point out, interventions from the West are doomed unless accompanied by an understanding of not only animal health and welfare issues but also the ways in which livestock are vitally important to the economy and social structure of traditional farming communities.
Veterinary medicine has the capacity to advance the transformative issue of global food security. What will it take to get the veterinary profession more fully engaged?
References
1. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Available at: www.ipbes.net/global-assessment-report-biodiversity-ecosystem-services. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Transforming the livestock sector through the Sustainable Development Goals. Available at: www.fao.org/3/CA1201EN/ca1201en.pdf. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
3. Higham L. Why strong veterinary services are needed. Available at: www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/livestock/opinion/strengthening-veterinary-services-benefit-poor.html. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. How to feed the world in 2050. Available at: www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/expert_paper/How_to_Feed_the_World_in_2050.pdf. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
5. Sneyd LQ, Legwegoh A, Fraser EDG. Food riots: media perspectives on the causes of food protest in Africa. Food Secur 2013;5:485–497.
6. Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. Global Hunger Index 2019: the challenge of hunger and climate change. Available at: www.globalhungerindex.org/. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
7. Roser M, Ritchie H. Hunger and undernourishment. Available at: ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
8. 2018 Global Nutrition Report. Available at: globalnutritionreport.org/reports/global-nutrition-report-2018/. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
9. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Animal production. Available at: www.fao.org/animal-production/en/. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
10. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Developing sustainable food value chains: guiding principles. Available at: www.fao.org/3/a-i3953e.pdf. Accessed Nov 6, 2019.
11. Kelly A, Osburn B, Salman M. Veterinary medicine's increasing role in global health. Lancet Glob Health 2014;2:379–380.
12. Gray GC, Mazet JAK. To succeed, one health must win animal agriculture's stronger collaboration. Clin Infect Dis 2020;70:535–537.
13. Graham TW, Turk J, McDermot J, et al. Preparing veterinarians for work in resource-poor settings. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2013;243:1523–1528.
