Essay Sample on Animal Agriculture: A Significant Contributor to Agro-Food Systems

Introduction

Animal agriculture is the practice of animal breeding either for recreational purposes or for the production of animal products. Animal agriculture in the economy contributes a significant percentage of the gross domestic products from the mixed farm's practices either from dairy cows, poultry, pigs, beef cattle, and sheep rearing, therefore, contributing a significant percentage in the agro-food systems. Animal agriculture has also provided rural societies with a broad spectrum of products and services, including energy, food, fertilizers, pest control, transport services, and security. Therefore, despite the immense benefits enjoyed by humans from symbiotic relationships, the coexistence of animals poses a severe risk to the environment. These risks include infectious animal origin diseases that can affect human beings, land and water degradation, biodiversity loss, and deforestation. Animal breeding, therefore, makes the earth inhabitable by all the living creatures, including the fish in the seas, an issue the study is going to cover.

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The Spread of Diseases (Zoonosis)

Animal agriculture has resulted in the range of very contagious animal diseases to human beings such as Avian influenza. Avian influenza is a viral disease that is spread by the Avian bird. These viruses occur naturally among the aquatic birds across the world, and it can be easily infected to poultry, other birds, and the animal species (Murray 2211). During the Avian Influenza disease rise season, poultry markets also affected due to the reduction of human capital invested by the consumers in the economy. The effect of Avian influenza has been experienced in China, whereby the country loses a third of the chicken production at the peak of the disease (Huang et al. 543). Anthrax is also another zoonosis disease that has been affecting the livestock market in the economy by reducing it is production despite being a threat to human life. Reduction in production is due to the worry by consumers consuming contaminated meat during the outbreak of anthrax cases, which also affects the business market in the economy. Reduction in animal production rate affects the meat companies as well as the organizations that deal with global warming effects that earn money from the agricultural companies.

Emission of Gases

Farm animals are the most significant contributor to the production of three major dangerous gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Methane gas is emitted by ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, camel, and goats during digestion. The methane gas emitted by the ruminant effects the atmosphere by causing the concentration of microbial due to the fermentation of grains and fibrous in the stomach of the animals. Animals manure also increases methane gases in the atmosphere, which affect the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. Nitrous gas comes as a result of the application of artificial fertilizer to the food crops majorly from manure. Despite the unmeasurable important of nitrous gas, it is excess production causes the depletion of the ozone layer (Steinfeld 113). When these gases are emitted to the atmosphere, it contributes to a significant percentage of gases that affect the environmental ozone layer resulting in global warming, something that has been increasing temperature rates in the atmosphere.

Animal Agriculture Causes Desertification

Desertification is the process whereby the land loses it is production potential the way it has been in the past (Weber, Keith and Shannon 19). Animals cause desertification due to overgrazing and trampling of the rangelands. Due to overgrazing, vegetation cover is reduced in the environment leading to the reduction of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. Other forces also may take place as a result of desertification, such as soil erosion. Soil erosion will be rampant in areas with few vegetation covers during the rainy season, and the moving water will take over all the minerals available on the surface, leaving the land unproductive (Loch 299). Unproductive land will not support plant life, something that will make the earth slowly become a desert. Reduction in vegetation cover affects the rain patterns, and the earth will quickly turn to be a semi-arid since vegetation influence the winds that carriers the moist air off the oceans.

Loss of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variability among the living things and the ecological complexes both in agricultural and non-agricultural land and water (Meinard, Coq and Schmid 88). Agriculture biodiversity, therefore, are all the components, including the microorganism that supports agriculture either by breaking and decomposition of the organic materials, which will alternatively help for plant growth such as earthworms and fungi. Due to the growing human population, there has been a need to increase the livestock population to provide the required amount of meat, eggs, fur, and transportation system to the human race. An increase in animal population requires new areas to be cultivated for rearing purposes (Aubry et al., 429). New areas to be cultivated will lead to the loss of plant species as well as some animal habitats such as birds and monkeys, which majorly lives in the forest. Biodiversity also includes the agriculture ecosystem, such as water. Water is essential for crop production, and it is among the areas that will be affected by the large population of animal agriculture due to pollution.

Feed Production

Most of the global biomass harvested worldwide enters to the livestock subsystems either as bedding or feeding material (Krausmann et. Al., 471). During feed production, there are gasses emitted into the atmosphere, which increases the greenhouse effects. Researches show that greenhouses gasses emitted from the animal feed range between 60-80% of the emission coming from pork, eggs, and chicken, and 35-45% of the beef and milk sector (Sonesson et al., 17). It means that most of the gasses are emitted to the environment due to the processing of animal feeds in the industries. Gases produced from the pastures, therefore, will pollute the atmosphere causing the greenhouse effects an issue that has been recognized as a threat to animal life in the future. Greenhouse effects will also affect the water bodies due to the warming up impact, which will lead to an increase of water in the vast oceans due to the melting up of snows in the mountain tops.

Palm Kernel Expeller

Palm kernel expeller is an additional nutrient added in the feeds of beef animals, which is a buy product from the palm oil and kernel oil. Even though the economic value of the palm kernel expeller is low, it has adverse effects on the environment. Due to a large amount of palm kernel expeller used per animal feeds, it is extraction and usage have resulted in the emission of a lot of carbon dioxide in the air, which intern affects the environment. Organic soils are also affected due to the emissions that come from the animal feeds in the beef industry.

Conclusion

The study discusses how animal agriculture affects the environment. Animal agriculture is identified and defined as the practice of animal breeding either for recreational purposes or for the production of animal products. Animal agriculture plays a significant role in the economy by contributing a more significant percentage of gross domestic products of different nations. Despite contributing tremendous results to the economy, the study has identified several effects of animal agriculture to the marketplace which includes, Spread of Diseases, emission of gases, desertification effects, loss of biodiversity and causes of greenhouse effects from the production of animal feeds. Avian flu is one of the zoonosis identified that has challenged the health of individuals, especially those who deal with poultry products such as China. Ruminants emit gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous, and methane, which affects the environment by causing accumulation in the air, and that leads to greenhouse effects. Other such as methane produced from manure reduces the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere affecting all the living organism. Also, feeds production involves high biomass harvested to be able to supply the high number of animals reared. Palm kernel expeller from the animal supplies also contributes adverse effects to the environment due to carbon dioxide emission. Carbon dioxide emission in large quantities will automatically affect the environment since it affects animal life due to the large gas accumulation in the air. Therefore, in the process of feed production, a lot of gases that come from pork, meat, and egg processing, which has negative effects on the atmosphere, such as greenhouse effects.

Works Cited

Aubry, Christine, et al. "Urban agriculture and land use in cities: an approach with the multi-functionality and sustainability concepts in the case of Antananarivo (Madagascar)." Land use policy 29.2 (2012): 429-439.

Huang, Z., et al. "HPAI impacts on Chinese chicken meat supply and demand." World's Poultry Science Journal 73.3 (2017): 543-558.

Krausmann, Fridolin, et al. "Global patterns of socioeconomic biomass flows in the year 2000: A comprehensive assessment of supply, consumption, and constraints." Ecological Economics 65.3 (2008): 471-487.

Loch, R. J. "Effects of vegetation cover on runoff and erosion under simulated rain and overland flow on a rehabilitated site on the Meandu Mine, Tarong, Queensland." Soil Research 38.2 (2000): 299-312.

Meinard, Yves, Coq Sylvain, and Schmid Bernhard. "A constructivist approach toward a general definition of biodiversity." Ethics, Policy & Environment 17.1 (2014): 88-104.

Murray, Christopher JL, et al. "Estimation of potential global pandemic influenza mortality based on vital registry data from the 1918-20 pandemic: a quantitative analysis." The Lancet 368.9554 (2006): 2211-2218.

Sonesson, Ulf, Christel Cederberg, and Maria Berglund. "Greenhouse gas emissions in milk production." Decision support for climate certification. Report 3, (2009). p 17

Steinfeld, Henning, et al. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options. Food & Agriculture Org., 2006.p.113

Weber, Keith T., and Shannon Horst. "Desertification and livestock grazing: The roles of sedentarization, mobility, and rest." Pastoralism: Research, Policy, and Practice 1.1 (2011): 19.