Factory farming in Africa: development banks see it as a good idea, but it’s bad for the climate

By: Divya Narain, University of Oxford, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: December 1, 2025

Words: 1,192

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

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By Divya Narain, University of Oxford

In sub-Saharan Africa, pastoral livestock farming – where cattle, goats and sheep roam freely across grasslands, grazing at will – has been the main form of livestock production. It has been a source of livelihoods for centuries, if not millennia.

But now, industrialised, mass livestock farming – factory farming – is being increasingly funded by development banks.

This is a problem because factory farming is a high-emissions …

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