4.2. A global perspective of the environmental
impact of intensive animal farming. The demand
for cereals and meat by the world’s human
population is predicted by the FAO to rise by at
least 50 percent to 275-360 billion tonnes by the
year 2020 (FAO, 1995). If this prediction is correct
and if intensive animal farming continues to grow,
the inevitable result will be more intensive land and
water use for animal feed, with equally inevitable
environmental degradation. Industrial animal farming
already puts natural resources under stress and
causes severe localised pollution in many developing
countries. The spread of intensive animal farming
throughout the world cannot be seen as a sustainable
solution and many organizations such as the
Compassion in World Farming Trust believes that
the FAO should take the lead in rejecting the spread
of intensive animal farming and promote animal
husbandry methods that are appropriate to local
conditions and which respect biodiversity, animal
welfare and the environment (CWFT, 1996). The
Compassion in World Farming Trust also believes
that environmentally-friendly farming and higher
standards of animal welfare are closely linked. In