Environmental impact of different production systems and consumer willingness to pay for chicken meat produced with a higher regard for the environmen

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify policy approaches to promote sustainable broiler production in Malaysia and this was addressed by three specific objectives namely to: i) estimate the environmental impact of different broiler production systems; ii) estimate consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for chicken meat produced with a higher regard for the environment (chicken-HRE); iii) investigate potential policy changes which could be brought in to livestock production in Malaysia and assess their impact on the poultry industry from the perspective of various stakeholders including broiler producers, integrated broiler companies and the Government.

Evaluation of environmental impact was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment method, with a functional unit of 1 tonne live weight of broiler chickens and a cradle to point of slaughter criterion as the system boundary. The environmental impact analysis used various sources to obtain foreground data on two broiler production systems, namely intensive closed house (CH) and open house (OH) systems. The CH system produced 6 to 7% lower environmental burdens but marginally greater use of energy than the OH system. Feed-related inputs (mainly raw materials and transportation) accounted for the greatest proportion of environmental burdens with, on average, 89.8% of energy use, 94.1% of greenhouse gas emissions, 76.8% of acidifying emissions and 86.8% of eutrophying emissions.

A Contingent Valuation Method was used in a survey of over 200 selected consumers across Peninsular Malaysia to ascertain the maximum WTP for chicken-HRE. Some 50% of respondents were willing to pay an increment of 10% above the existing market price. Using a mixed method approach, quantitative findings from the environmental assessment and the socio demographic and economic survey were integrated with qualitative results to explore the impact of potential policy approaches to promote sustainable broiler production in Malaysia. Even though the economic aspects explored in this study give only an indication of the likely societal attitudes to broiler chicken production, they nevertheless provide an indication of the growing stakeholder interest in methods of food production and implications for the level of environmental quality to be experienced by future generations.