Bigger role in ensuring food security

It is no secret that the 21st century has set the global scene to constant transformations. One of them, though, not only reinforces the unique bond between humans and animals, but also emerges as crucial: population growth. Official United Nations projections indicate that the world population will reach 9.8 billion in 2050. What comes along with this massive figure is the need of feeding all those humans in an efficient and sustainable way. This is one of the market trends to shape the animal health sector in the years to come.

Boehringer Ingelheim is proud to support food producers in their mission to maintain farms sustainable and animals healthy. Providing nutritious food while preserving animal well-being in environmentally sustainable conditions is key to ensure food security for so many people. Under our framework Sustainable Development – For Generations we continue to make a positive impact through our initiatives, such as LastMile that we run with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GALVmed. The LastMile initiative is part of our long-term sustainable model that bridges current gaps in access, availability, and awareness of animal healthcare solutions for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The programme’s mission is to create long-lasting partnerships with the local farming community to establish and drive sustainable business activities that are integrated into the wider national economy.

The World Food Program (WFP) defines food security as the conditions where “availability and access at all times to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” are met. Today, though, about 820 million people around the globe do not have enough to eat. Numbers also point that around 20 percent of animal and agricultural food production across the world is lost to disease – a scenario completely avoidable through adequate access to prevention and animal health.

Ensuring One Health

An interesting trend from African and Asian economies is stressed by Dr. Oscar Mendoza-Vega, Global Head of Market Analytics, Customer Insights and Marketing Excellence at Boehringer Ingelheim’s Animal Health Business Unit. He underlines a notable increase in the number of farm animals in Eastern Asia, mainly in poultry and pigs reared in confined production systems. In general, large-scale intensive animal production units are established in densely populated areas – and that poses major risks.

“Today, if one in each five animals is lost from the food supply in these large-scale systems, outbreaks of infection may be devastating as recently seen with the African Swine Fever (ASF). We cannot afford that in the future,” says Oscar. “Modern veterinary medicine has developed with a strong focus on prevention instead of treatment in order to ensure that production animals are able to offer us enough protein with smaller footprint while their well-being is respected. This is possible. Prevention is fundamental and we can contribute through our products, services and approaches.”

Animal well-being plays a fundamental role when considering the future of livestock and the future of the food security itself. Farmers take good care of their animals to provide humankind with a healthy supply of meat, eggs, milk and fish, ensuring also human health for generations to come. This shows how the lives of animals and people are intertwined in deep and complex ways. “At Boehringer Ingelheim, our focus lies on an integrated approach that takes the animal, the environment and the food supply chain seriously in consideration," highlights Oscar. "We are aware that consumers now want to know where their food come from, how it was handled and which footprints it left behind. Customers understand that when animals are healthy, humans are healthy, too. That message is never to be forgotten.”