Zimbabwean animal advocates confront fish and farming industries

One Health focuses on fish welfare, ending industrial farming, stronger laws, and plant-based diets to improve animal welfare and public health in Zimbabwe.

For animal advocates working in Zimbabwe, approaching issues from a One Health lens is critical. One Health focuses on the links between human, animal, and environmental health, recognizing that improvements in one area can lead to benefits in the others. This report highlights four key animal welfare priorities in the country with One Health implications:

Including fish welfare in aquaculture law;
Preventing industrial animal farming;
Creating comprehensive animal welfare legislation; and
Promoting plant-based diets.

In adapting to local policies and needs, these initiatives can significantly improve the lives of millions of animals in Zimbabwe, while contributing to economic development and public health.

Including fish welfare in Aquaculture Law

According to the authors, fish welfare should be a top priority for Zimbabwe’s aquaculture industry, particularly for Nile tilapia, which make up 99% of the country’s total farmed fish population. They estimate that, at any one time, there are between 20 and 35 million farmed Nile tilapia alive in Zimbabwe — more than any other farmed vertebrate in the country.

With Nile tilapia production expected to double by 2032, the report highlights the urgency of influencing the country’s pending fisheries regulation bill. Current welfare guidelines lack clarity, prompting recommendations for the bill to include an animal welfare clause and require welfare training for workers who handle and slaughter fishes.

Beyond the fisheries regulation bill, the authors also recommend a code of practice for both cage and pond production systems used in Zimbabwe. This code should limit stocking density and the time that fishes spend out of the water before slaughter. For pond systems specifically, it should also include monitoring water quality and providing substrate for natural Nile tilapia behaviors like burrowing and nest building.

Humane stunning and slaughter methods for fishes are also a concern. The authors argue that the high cost of compliance makes these methods impractical for Zimbabwe, but suggest a centralized stunning facility as a feasible alternative.

The report also warns against scaling up the use of black soldier fly larvae as fish feed due to potential insect suffering.

Preventing industrial animal farming

For the authors, advocating against industrialized animal farming in Zimbabwe is a high-impact priority to prevent large-scale, intensive farming systems like battery cages and gestation crates. However, they recognize that it may be especially difficult to achieve in practice.

Instead, the authors suggest focusing on promoting extensive or free-range farming systems, which are already characteristic of many small-scale households in Zimbabwe. This approach aligns with the country’s constitution which enshrines people’s right to sustainable development and could help avoid the public health and environmental issues linked to industrial farming in developed nations. The benefits also include reduced animal suffering, potentially fewer animals farmed overall, and, if successful, a global advocacy impact.

Despite challenges such as potential government resistance and perceived conflicts between animal welfare and humanitarian or economic priorities, framing the policy as a win-win solution for animal welfare, public health, and sustainable development is key to gaining stakeholder support.

Creating comprehensive animal welfare legislation

Animal welfare in Zimbabwe is primarily governed by the outdated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, which doesn’t recognize animal sentience, excludes invertebrates like bees, and uses undefined terms like “cruelty” and “confined.” Enforcement is difficult and fines are too low to deter violations. Other relevant legislation includes Zimbabwe’s Animal Health Act, which lacks provisions for animal well-being and allows for the “destruction” of wild animals.

The report proposes more comprehensive legislation that:

Focuses on intensive and semi-intensive systems
Covers the major farmed animal species, including chickens and fishes, who are farmed in the greatest numbers
Addresses the key welfare issues for farmed animals, such as stocking density, water quality, handling, and slaughter
Creates a new animal welfare team under the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate
Establishes regular reviews for continual improvement

In addition to legislation, creating enforceable codes of practice for all animals is also essential to improving welfare in Zimbabwe, as currently no detailed welfare standards exist for most species. An exception is the voluntary Zimbabwe Quality Assured Pork scheme, which provides better welfare protections for pigs. However, as the authors note, it applies to less than 20% of pigs raised in the country and isn’t legally required.

Promoting plant-based diets

Finally, the authors consider expanding plant-based diet outreach campaigns as a lower-impact but feasible back-up option, requiring less government involvement compared to the other animal welfare priorities detailed in the report. These campaigns, often delivered via mass media like radio, TV, and the internet, have shown potential to reduce meat consumption and promote plant-based foods, with evidence suggesting they spare approximately 0.5 animals per dollar in some contexts. While specific data for developing countries like Zimbabwe are limited, studies indicate that mass media campaigns effectively influence health-related behaviors and dietary habits, including increased fruit and vegetable intake.

Lower-priority opportunities

The report also discusses a number of lower-priority opportunities to improve animal welfare in Zimbabwe, such as addressing chicken, cow, and pig welfare.

Chicken welfare: Zimbabwe has an estimated 10.5 million chickens in commercial systems, plus an additional 30 million backyard chickens. Increasing intensification is driven by imported cheap battery cages, posing significant welfare issues. While pushing for cage-free systems is important, these campaigns face challenges such as low consumer demand, limited funding to convert to new systems, and farmers seeking returns on cage investments.
Cow welfare: Tick-borne disease is a leading cause of cow mortality in Zimbabwe, accounting for 55% of all cow deaths. Reducing tick-borne diseases in cows is a key government focus involving widespread insecticide dipping. These efforts have reduced cow mortality by 47%. However, mortality rates are still high, and the authors see vaccination as a potentially more effective and sustainable solution.
Pig welfare: While only around 300,000 pigs are alive at any one time in Zimbabwe, they face significant welfare issues, including inhumane slaughter methods, confinement in sow stalls, lack of funding and management skills, and piglet deaths caused by cold or crushing due to electricity shortages. As mentioned earlier, the Quality Assured Pork scheme is voluntary and still allows for painful procedures like tail docking and ear notching without anesthetics, leaving much room for improvement.

The report is written with animal advocates in mind, highlighting the key areas where advocacy will have the greatest impact. Improving animal welfare in Zimbabwe requires a comprehensive approach, addressing urgent issues like fish welfare and industrial animal farming while laying the groundwork for long-term legislative reform and promotion of plant-based diets. Tackling lower-priority concerns, such as chicken, cow, and pig welfare, can further enhance animal well-being and align with broader ethical, environmental, and public health goals.

Original source: https://faunalytics.org