The prices of red meats have continued to increase. Citizens “see red”. They have already been faced with inflation for several years, which has mainly impacted the prices of food products. To try to understand this increase specific to red meats, it is necessary to take an overview of the entire sector, so as not to limit ourselves to the often mentioned cyclical factors, which are certainly important, but insufficiently explanatory of the structural causes.
Livestock breeding is a very ancient human activity. The beginnings of the domestication of wild cattle (Bos taurus) or zebu (Bos taurus indicus) date back more than 10,000 years, in the Middle East and India. Previously, humans resorted to hunting to satisfy their dietary needs for meat. The breeding activity of sheep and goats is almost as old as that of cattle. But, throughout history, livestock farming has not only been intended to provide meat. It is in fact a complex relationship between nature and humans, which was woven through the domestication of what will be called livestock. Livestock breeding was also used to produce milk and dairy products. The same is true of animal traction for plowing land or for transport, before the appearance of motorized vehicles. This is also the case for skin or wool transformed into carpets, clothing, shoes (…). Waste/excrement, especially cow dung, serves as a natural fertilizer to fertilize arable land, and sometimes even as fuel or, mixed with earth, as construction materials.
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The breeding method has also evolved. At the beginning, livestock breeding was extensive, based on grazing, at a time when private ownership of land was not yet widespread. This mode also characterized a balanced relationship between nature and humans. The extensive breeding mode is maintained in countries with large areas such as the United States of America (EUA), Australia, New Zealand, India, Argentina, and more recently Brazil, in detriment to Amazonian forests. However, today, intensive breeding or industrial breeding tends to become the main mode of production and reproduction of livestock, in particular the beef sector. Currently, almost 3/4 of the world's livestock are made up of intensive breeding. While extensive livestock farming has many advantages, particularly in terms of natural soil fertilization and restoration of natural environments, intensive livestock farming is widely criticized both in terms of poor animal treatment conditions and for the environmental and environmental consequences. health (water and soil pollution, air pollution by methane contained in cattle excrement, etc.). In fact, this evolution was imposed by a logic of yield and by the growth in demand for red meat, at the global level, growth linked in particular to the emergence of a “global middle class”, the improvement in the power of purchasing and the change in consumption patterns where meat tends to replace plant foods. This is particularly the case for China.
Are we facing an increasingly carnivorous world? According to FAO and OECD statistics, 71,413 thousand tonnes of carcass equivalent (tc) of beef were produced worldwide in 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, compared to 70,379 thousand tonnes. tec, in 2019, an increase of almost 1.47%. However, recent developments show a slowdown, with growth in global production not exceeding 1%.
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In Morocco, livestock breeding also has a long history. Before and during the colonial period, livestock farming was dominated mainly by sheep and goats (camel in the Sahara). Formerly based mainly on grazing, recent developments have been characterized by the development of intensive livestock farming. This is explained by several factors including the reduction of grazing areas, often reallocated to irrigated crops, encouraged and subsidized under new agricultural policies. The ongoing process of melkization of collective lands will certainly accelerate this evolution and further reduce the spaces formerly dedicated to pastoralism. Added to this are the drought, the rise in livestock feed prices and the crisis in the dairy sector, linked to the importation of powdered milk.
The consumption of red meats has also seen growth with the emergence of a middle class in recent decades, which social category is currently facing an erosion of its purchasing power, even impoverishment for its lower segment, at a time when the prices of food products continue to increase. The main raw materials making up livestock feed such as corn and soya are generally imported at a rate of more than 90%.
The impact of the crisis of extensive livestock farming, based on grazing, will certainly increase migratory flows towards cities. Indeed, the extensive breeding of sheep and goats is often a vital source of income which allows “landless farmers” or small farmer-breeders to resist the effects of drought. Deprived of this resource, and in the absence of an alternative in rural areas, small breeders will be forced to move towards urban areas and begin their “reslum revitalization”. A reality which reveals a continuing inconsistency of public policies, which continue to suffer from a lack of coordination and a global vision of development.
The TOP 5 beef producers in the world
The world's leading producer of beef is the United States of America (EUA), with nearly 11,440 thousand tonnes of carcass equivalent (tec), in 2021. It is the most important agricultural sector in the USA where, previously, the bison had been almost completely exterminated en masse, either for their skins, or above all to deprive the Native Americans of a vital resource for their food. Currently, American citizens consume, on average, 450 grams of beef per person per week. A large part is exported to Asia, and increasingly to Europe.
Brazil is in 2nd position, since 2021, the year when production reached 8,370 thousand tec of beef. It is also the world's leading exporter of beef. In 2018, the European Union (EU) closed its doors to Brazilian meat for non-compliance with European criteria. However, with the recent adoption of MERCOSUR by the EU, Brazilian beef exports to the EU are expected to resume.
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The EU comes in 3rd position, with nearly 7,780 thousand TCT of beef, in 2021, or 11% of world production. Within the EU, France is the leading producer, with nearly 1,400 thousand tec.
China has developed the beef industry after the recent epidemic which hit pig farming. It currently occupies 4th place among beef producing countries. In 2021, China produced 10% of global production, or 7,170 thousand tec. Despite this, China is also the world's leading importer of beef, mainly from Australia and Brazil.
India is the 5th largest producer of beef in the world, with 4,170 thousand TTC (2021). It has the largest cattle herd in the world. In India, cows are sacred and cannot be killed or eaten. Almost all of the production is thus exported live. It was, for a long time, the world's leading exporter, before being ousted by Brazil.
