JBS has plans to invest $2.5bn in meat processing facilities in African country
A plan by the largest meat processor in the world, JBS, to expand its operations in Africa is counterproductive to ensuring food security on the continent, ProVeg Nigeria and ProVeg Brazil said in a joint statement today.
Large-scale intensive animal agriculture operations lead to heightened biosecurity risks, increased antibiotic resistance, deforestation and climate-damaging emissions, consequences that Brazil, where JBS is headquartered, has witnessed firsthand.
“This is the completely wrong approach to food production in Africa in the 21st Century. It is detrimental to food security as it will lead to feed agriculture being prioritized over food production for the people. We can feed seven times more people with nutritious, plant-protein rich food than with inefficient animal protein,” Hakeem Jimo, Director of ProVeg Nigeria, said.
“Companies like JBS have caused immense damage to Brazil’s environment and they could do the same to Nigeria. We need voices in the Nigerian Government to speak out against this and take the leadership on sustainable food production,” Jimo added.
JBS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian government to build six meat processing plants in the country; three for poultry, two for beef and one for pork.
However, this contradicts the signing, by Nigeria, of a Declaration on food and emissions at the UN climate summit, COP29, last week. Signatories call on the EU Commission, OECD countries and China to base the cost of food on GHG emissions, acknowledging that livestock production generates the most GHG emissions in the global food system.
“We are very familiar with the damage that meat operations like JBS cause here in Brazil. Here, JBS has been linked to legal and illegal deforestation, including in indigenous lands, slave work and the bribery of politicians, just to name a few. We would not wish that for Nigeria,” Aline Baroni, Director of ProVeg Brazil, said.
“Intensive meat production also brings greater risk of zoonotic diseases like bird flu, as well as pollution of waterways from run-off and a damaging effect on nature and biodiversity. On top of this, 32% of methane emissions, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, comes from animal agriculture,” Baroni said.
ProVeg advocates for more investment in nutritious, climate-friendly plant-rich diets. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and only by shifting to more climate-friendly diets – grains, beans, pulses, fruit, vegetables and alternative proteins – will these emissions be reduced.
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Notes to Editors
For media inquiries, email Peter Rixon at [email protected]
For scientific data about the benefits of plant-based eating, see our Food System Data website.
About ProVeg International
Our vision is a world where everyone chooses delicious and healthy food that is good for all humans, animals, and our planet. ProVeg International is a food awareness organization with the mission to replace 50% of animal products globally with plant-based and cultivated foods by 2040.
