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Good Practice Note | October 2006 | Number 6
Good Practice Note
 Animal Welfare
in Livestock Operations
What’s Inside?
2 What Animal Welfare is and How it isAddressed5 The Business Case for Improved AnimalWelfare10 The Costs of Improving Animal Welfare12 How Can Improvements in Animal WelfareBe Made?21 Why is IFC Concerned with Animal Welfare?
Environment and Social Development Department
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nimal welfare is gaining increasedrecognition as an important element of commercial livestock operations around the world. This has wide-ranging implications for an industry with complex historical and culturalroots. Animal welfare is being addressed not only bygovernmental agencies and academic institutions,but by a growing number of professionals atdifferent locations in theagricultural supply chain. A number of regional and globalinitiatives have thereforeemerged to provide guidanceon acceptable practices to actorsranging from individuals caring for animals on farms to large-scale commercial enterprisesproviding animal-based products from different livestock systems.Many corporate groups—fromproducers to retailers—are alsoacknowledging social andenvironmental responsibilities and pursuingprograms designed to enhance animal welfare. Animal welfare is first and foremost important for  the animal. Farm animals can feel, experience, andsuffer. Animal sentience is already recognized byEuropean Union law and forms the basis of manystandards of animal welfare around the world.
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 Animal welfare is just as important to humans for reasons of food security and nutrition. Better management of and care for livestock can improveproductivity and food quality, thereby helping toaddress nutritional deficiencies and food shortages as well as ensuring food safety.Higher animal welfare standards are also increasinglyseen to be a prerequisite to enhancing businessefficiency and profitability,satisfying internationalmarkets, and meetingconsumer expectations. For example, a third of the leadingglobal food retailers with turnovers ranging fromUS$25-250 billion, havepublic animal welfare policies.Businesses that address or enhance animal welfare arelikely to win or retain acompetitive advantage in theglobal marketplace in a varietyof ways, such ascosts savings due to more efficient productionprocesses that enhance animal welfarerealizing growing market opportunities for foodproduced in animal welfare friendly systemsbecoming the producer of choice for retailers andconsumers concerned with animal health and welfare, food safety and quality, human health,and the environment.
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“We don’t underestimate the challengeof promoting change in animal welfarein many of our projects, nor the time itwill take. Our philosophy is that it isbetter to engage and attempt to makea difference to animal welfare and,more generally, business sustainability than not to engage -a philosophy well proven by ourexperience in managing environmentaland social issues.”
 Jean-Paul Pinard, Director  Agribusiness Department, IFC
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Protocol on Improved Protection and Respect for the Welfare of  Animals, Treaty of Amsterdam 1997
 
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Stakeholders in theanimal welfare arenaagree that standardsof animal welfarehave to be based on sound science,research, and practical experience.
 Animal Welfare
IFC is determined to work with and support itsclients in reducing losses, potentially increasingproductivity, and/or accessing new markets through the application of sustainability principles, includinganimal welfare standards. This Good Practice Noteis part of an IFC initiative to provide enhancedsupport to its clients in the development of aresponsible and forward-looking approach tolivestock operations to, among other things, helpproducers access and maintain entry into highquality and value market segments. It providesguidance on a range of approaches to animal welfare.The welfare of an animal is a reflection of itsphysical and mental health and general well-being. An animal in a poor state of welfare may suffer  from discomfort, distress, or pain, which maycompromise its ability to grow, survive, andproduce or re-produce. There are many ways toassess animal welfare, ranging from behavior andhealth measurements, to the preferences of theanimals themselves. Stakeholders in the animal welfare arena agree that standards of animal welfare have to be based on sound science,research, and practical experience.Common measures of animal welfare includebehavior and physiology, productivity andreproductive success, and the incidence of injuriesand diseases. Attention to animals' housing, food, water, and health typically leads to improvements inmeasures of welfare and profitability. Productivity isoften used as an indicator of animal health.However, focusing only on improvingproductivity—particularly in large-scaleoperations—can in some cases lead to poor conditions of animal welfare. Productivity should therefore be assessed in conjunction with other elements to ensure that the welfare of theindividual animal is not being ignored.Simple scoring systems as well as complexcomputer models can be used to assess animal welfare. These can incorporate distinct measures as well as whole animal observations, and canapproach animal welfare in terms of the livestock management system being used or in relation to the performance of the animals. The differentmonitoring systems have varying advantages anddisadvantages. Scoring systems are arguably themost common and are used to integrate a number of parameters.Using these systems, various members of the foodsupply chain have developed or are in the processof developing and participating in auditing programs to assess how well a particular producer or supplier 
The AWAP audit program has been jointly developedby producers, the National Council of ChainRestaurants, and the Food Marketing Institute. An AWAP audit is voluntary. It is designed to evaluatehow a facility is functioning relative to its industry'sguidance and best management practices dealingwith animal health and welfare. Audit questions areanswered on a "Yes," "No,” or "Not Applicable" level.These answers are judged relative to thresholdssuggested by the industry or modified by the AWAPTechnical Committee. If an NCCR or FMI member has different threshold levels for particular questions,they are free to interpret the data in ways that meettheir needs. The AWAP audit is not designed to bepunitive but allows facilities to voluntarily addressand correct conditions.
www.awaudit.org
 Animal Welfare Audit Program
 What Animal Welfare isand How it is Assessed
 
The “Five Freedoms” of Animal Welfare
Originally putforward by the UKFarm AnimalWelfare Council,the “Five Freedoms”define ideal states(rather thanstandards) for acceptable welfare. They are based onbeliefs that the welfare of an animal includes its physicaland mental state; that good animal welfare implies bothfitness and a sense of well-being; and that any animalkept by man must, at least, be protected fromunnecessary suffering.The Five Freedoms cover an animal's welfare whether onfarm, in transit, at market, or at a place of slaughter.They form a logical and comprehensive framework for analysis of welfare within any system, together with thesteps and compromises necessary to safeguard andimprove welfare within the proper constraints of aneffective livestock industry. Stockmanship, plus thetraining and supervision necessary to achieve requiredstandards, are considered key factors in the handlingand care of livestock.
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Good Practice Note | October 2006 | Number 6
Stockmanship, plusthe training and supervision necessary to achieve required standards, areconsidered key  factors in thehandling and care of livestock.
is doing when it comes to animal health and welfare. One of them, the Animal Welfare AuditProgram (AWAP), was cooperatively developed by the National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR), the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), and theproducer community. The FMI has 2300 member companies active in 60 countries with total annualsales of about US$340 billion. AWAP is designed toprovide objective data regarding animal welfare atlivestock production and slaughter facilities.Out of the evolving international dialogue on animal welfare, a set of basic principles has emerged.Popularly called “The Five Freedoms”, theseprinciples have been developed by, and/or arereflected in, various animal welfare guides,recommendations, codes, and legislation of theEuropean Union, North American countries, Australasia, Asian countries, as well as the WorldOrganization for Animal Health (OIE), to addressanimal welfare issues. A number of international recommendations, codes,and laws now focus on animal welfare and a growingnumber of countries have enacted animal welfarelegislation outlawing specific animal husbandrypractices.is an intergovernmental organization created toguarantee the transparency of animal disease status worldwide. As the international reference
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Setting Standards
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst -2. Freedom from discomfort -3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease -4. Freedom to express normal behavior -5. Freedom from fear and distress -
by readyaccess to fresh water and a diet to maintain fullhealth and vigor by providing anappropriate environment including shelter and acomfortable resting areaby prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatmentby providing sufficient space, proper facilities andcompany of the animal's own kindby ensuringconditions and treatment that avoid mentalsuffering
Source: Farm Animal Welfare Council (UK)http://www.fawc.org.uk/freedoms.htm
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