The Economics of Farm Animal Welfare: Theory, Evidence and Policy

Bouda Vosough Ahmadi · Dominic Moran · Rick D'Eath

jul 2020 · CABI

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This landmark new text charts the latest developments in economic research relevant to farm animal welfare. A range of global experts and key opinion leaders outline the challenges in achieving sustainable livestock production while improving farm profit, climate change and animal welfare, and make policy-relevant recommendations for the future.

This is a theoretical yet practical book that examines:

- the origins of farm animal welfare, cross-disciplinary interactions and the future of the field;
- consumer demand and changing preferences as animal welfare rises up the social agenda;
- the impact political organisations such as the EU and WTO have on animal welfare.

An important resource for policy makers and animal welfare scientists, economists and clinicians, this book provides a thought-provoking yet evidence-based review for all those interested in quantifying and improving farm animal welfare.

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Dr Bouda Vosough Ahmadi is veterinarian and animal-health and welfare economist currently working at the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. His main research focus is on agricultural policies and economics and policies of animal-health and animal welfare. He currently leads socioeconomic impact assessment studies of livestock diseases at EuFMD/FAO. is an agricultural economist with a background in veterinary medicine. Since 2008, he has worked within the Policy Analysis Team of the Land Economy, Environment and Society (LEES) Research Group of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). His main research focus is on assessing the impacts of policies on farm economics and management, and on livestock health and welfare. Since February 2016, he has been working at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. Professor Dominic Moran is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Previously he worked for a period of 18 years at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), prior to which he was a government economist and in private consulting. His research focuses on applying economics to environmental management and the development of interdisciplinary approaches to resource allocation problems in agriculture and global food security. Most recently, his work has focused on the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and food supply chains, and the problem of antimicrobial use and resistance in agriculture. Dominic has worked in over 30 countries and has published more than 100 refereed journal papers. He has been in continuous receipt of funding from the EU, ESRC, NERC or BBSRC since 2000 for his research on climate change and agriculture, and has supervised 20 PhD students. Dr. Rick D'Eath is a Reader in Animal Behavior and Welfare at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). As an applied ethologist working on farm animals, his main research interests involve understanding how the farmed environment can modify and sometimes frustrate an animals' motivated behaviors often leading to animal welfare problems. Rick primarily works on pigs and poultry, with a particular focus on questions around feeding and hunger, and interactions between animals which are negative for their welfare, including aggression, tail-biting and mounting.