Page 4 - AWA Vol.41-No.8

Building safe, sustainable, and equitable animal feed systems

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the and international cooperation.
United Nations (FAO) convened policymakers, According to the FAO Director-General,
scientists, producers, civil society, and private there’s a need for science-based policies and
sector representatives to explore strategies for regulations to manage feed systems wisely –
ensuring animal feed is safe, nutritious, and protecting health, supporting trade, boosting
sustainably produced.
productivity, and building resilience. More-
The Forum highlights a sector that generates over, such policies must be inclusive and prac-
approximately $400 billion in annual commer- tical – ensuring that small- and medium-scale
cial turnover, produces 1 billion tons of live- farmers have fair access to safe and affordable
stock feed, and employs over 250,000 skilled feed, services, and markets.
workers, technicians, managers and profes- “This is where the role of feed regulators
sionals worldwide.
is crucial and is why FAO has convened this
The safety and quality of animal feed direct- Global Forum for Animal Feed and Feed Regu-
ly affect food security, human nutrition, liveli- lators,” Qu said. “FAO has provided a platform
hoods, animal and public health, and the en- for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and consen-
vironment. Improved feed reduces disease, sus-building – and most importantly, for identi-
enhances animal welfare, and lowers the need fying concrete solutions.”
for veterinary drugs – particularly antimicrobi- Building on the 2023 edition of the Forum, this
als.
year’s event provides a platform to share cut-
Yet, the risks of unsafe, inadequate, or unsus- ting-edge knowledge and scale up successful
tainable feed are significant. innovations in feed technologies and process-

Contaminants such as mycotoxins, micro- es. Discussions will focus on increasing feed
plastics, and chemical residues can harm both availability and promoting the sustainable and
animal and human health and disrupt interna- safe use of locally available feed sources - in-
tional trade. Poorly managed feed production cluding grains, pasture, forage, and circular
contributes to deforestation, greenhouse gas economy products.
emissions, and biodiversity loss. Moreover, A key outcome for FAO will be the identifi-
many countries still lack comprehensive feed cation of potential FAO Reference Centres for
legislation or have laws that are not aligned Animal Feed. These Centres will strengthen
with the Codex Alimentarius - a challenge in collaboration among regulators, laboratories,
today’s globalized supply chains, where feed researchers, and the private sector, accelerat-
ingredients cross borders and require robust ing the exchange of knowledge and innovation,
standards, traceability, risk-based regulation, the Director-General said.

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2 Vol. 41 No. 8