To beef or not to beef: Unveiling the economic environmental impact generated by the intensive beef cattle industry in an arid region


Abstract:

The world population is close to 8 billion, which generates not only an increase in the demand and consumption of products of animal origin, but also greater pressure on the use of water resources while an increase in the greenhouse gases emission (GHGE). Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts is required. The aim of this study was to quantify the economic impact of the Water Stress Index (WSI), water footprint (WF) and carbon footprint (CF) during the period 1994–2018, as indicators of the sustainability of the beef cattle fattening industry (BCFS) and compare them with the economic value (EV) generated by that system. The study was conducted in the Comarca Lagunera (CL) located in the arid north of Mexico (24° 22′ and 26° 23′ N, 102° 22′ and 104° 47′ W; 240 mm), which has an important beef industry. The value of each of the variables (WF, CF and EV) was adjusted to 2011 euros, indicating the value in United States Dollars (USD) between parentheses. During the period analyzed, the CL recorded an annual average of 381,319 slaughtered animals, with a production of 53,705 tons of meat. When comparing the average annual EV of the production of M€ 89.52 (MUSD 112.07), with the economic cost (EC) of the WF (ECWF) of € 2344.01 million added to the ECCF of M€ 20.29 (MUSD 25.40), a significant environmental and economic impact of the BCFS is unveiled. In fact, the BCFS′ EV represents only 3.79% of the ECWF and ECCF. Regarding the WSI, the CL's BCFS potentially contributed to the world's freshwater scarcity by 699.60 MMm3 per year (13.16 m3 of H2O-eq kg of meat−1). Different mitigation strategies are proposed to be managed by the BCFS with respect to water use and the GHGE. Adoption of such strategies will be essential to achieve not only the sustainability of the BCFS, but also the ecological, economic and social viability of the CL itself.

Año de publicación:

2019

Keywords:

  • water footprint
  • Beef Cattle
  • greenhouse gases
  • Sustainability

Fuente:

scopusscopus

Tipo de documento:

Article

Estado:

Acceso restringido

Áreas de conocimiento:

  • Ciencia ambiental

Áreas temáticas de Dewey:

  • Producción
  • Economía de la tierra y la energía
  • Otros problemas y servicios sociales