The Urgent Need for Feed Innovation

To feed the world by 2050, farmers will need to produce 56% more food than they did in 2010. A key challenge is determining how to meet this demand sustainably and consistently. Food production, especially animal agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture, already places substantial pressures on the environment. Production of animal feed can also directly compete with food for human consumption. Without major improvements in the way feed is produced, current food system trends threaten to perpetuate negative impacts on people and the environment. 

The challenges of conventional animal feed production 

Conventional feed production poses threats to the environment and food security

Production of conventional animal feed embodies substantial environmental and social impacts. Conventional animal feed typically includes widely available grains, forages, and oilseed meals (e.g. soybeans) alongside some animal-based products (e.g., fish meal). On land, the expansion of cropland for animal feed and pasture is the leading cause of tropical deforestation worldwide, including in biodiversity hotspots like the Brazilian Amazon. Animal feed also drives soil nutrient depletion and degradation by using a majority of the world’s agricultural land. In the world’s oceans, demand for fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) in aquaculture and livestock feed contributes to overfishing and harms marine ecosystems. Further, fishing for FMFO directly competes with food for human consumption in parts of the world facing abject food insecurity, such as West Africa and South-East Asia. 

Conventional feed production is threatened by market shocks, climate change, and resource scarcity

Simultaneously, the use of conventional feed sources leaves the animal feed industry exposed to market shocks, climate change, and resource scarcity. For example, markets for key agricultural commodities used in animal feed for livestock, like corn and soy, are increasingly complex and volatile. Similar price volatility also extends to feed additives, like vitamins and amino acids. High prices and volatility for fish meal and fish oil (FMFO) prices, which are used in aquaculture, pig, and chicken feed, are also common. Volatile feed prices increase uncertainty for livestock and aquaculture producers, which can reduce food supply and increase food costs for consumers.

Climate change is also decreasing the productivity, availability, and nutritional value of feed crops. The cost of feed ingredients is expected to rise due to reduced yields and changing weather patterns as well as the increased prevalence of pests, pathogens, and weeds in crop production. Rising average temperatures and less predictable rainfall patterns also increase feed safety risks, like mycotoxin contamination and zoonotic disease spread. As the food system surpasses several planetary boundaries, natural resource scarcity also puts the animal feed industry at risk. For example, 90% of fish stocks are either overfished or maximally fished, decreasing the availability of FMFO. Freshwater scarcity threatens farmers and ranchers' ability to feed livestock. 

These combined challenges make the current feed sector unsustainable and leave animal supply chains vulnerable to disruptive events. 

Novel feed ingredients can help to create a more sustainable food system

With abundant challenges and risks associated with conventional animal feed, there is an urgent need to develop new types of ingredients to feed animals. Novel animal feed ingredients have the potential to transform the animal feed sector by making it more sustainable, resilient, and productive. 

Novel feed ingredients are safe, nutritious alternatives to conventional animal feed that can reduce the environmental impacts of animal production and decrease competition with human food consumption. Examples of novel feed ingredients include macroalgae (e.g, seaweed), microalgae, single-cell proteins (SCPs), and other plant-based proteins. For example, existing trials suggest that algal oil from microalgae can fully replace fish oil in aquafeed while maintaining fish performance and nutrition. Scaling the usage of novel feeds has the potential to substantially reduce demand for forage fish and decrease pressure on marine ecosystems. Similarly, novel feed ingredients could also decrease emissions associated with feed for terrestrial livestock. Novel ingredients can also be derived from circular sources. Adopting novel feeds derived from food production by-products and residues has the dual benefit of helping reduce food waste while increasing global food supply. 

Although agribusiness has invested heavily in the research and development of novel ingredients, commercial uptake remains limited. At present, high costs, low volumes, government regulation, and consumer scepticism are the major barriers to the adoption of novel feed ingredients in commercial settings. For example, aquafeed companies have struggled to adopt novel ingredients at scale. Despite these headwinds, industry collaborations and start-ups continue making progress towards scaling production of novel feed ingredients by lowering prices and driving adoption.

The Centre for Feed Innovation is accelerating the adoption of novel feed ingredients

Our team at CFI is working to accelerate the development of novel feed ingredients that are sustainable, scalable, and safe. We provide stakeholders with evidence-backed insights for effective adoption of feed, accelerate the rate of innovation through funding allocation to reduce cost and increase volume, and work with governments to facilitate increased adoption of novel feed ingredients. CFI is shaping the future of animal feed to nourish the world more sustainably than ever before.    

If you’re an investor, feed manufacturer, agrifood corporate, or policymaker ready to move from intent to implementation, get in touch. Our think tank can help deliver technical briefings, reports, and presentations that cut through hype and provide original insights on the novel feed ingredients industry. Let’s scale what works. Get in touch via our website.