Elaborating on the Relationship between Higher Incomes and Increased Chicken Consumption: A Case Study of Southern Africa

Since the 1960s, annual per capita meat consumption in Africa has increased from about 8 kg to about 13 kg in 2019, and this increase was driven by the consumption of chicken meat. In Southern Africa, in particular, chicken consumption increased from 1.7 kg/capita in 1961 to 33.7 kg/capita. This paper explores chicken consumption in three countries in Southern Africa: Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia. From the 1990s to mid-2000s, chicken consumption increased in each of these countries, though much more sharply in South Africa. Fitting the session theme of Food as Technologies, our paper analyzes the industrialization of chicken production and processing, which allows us to explain the increase in consumption in these three countries. First, we examine how globalization and increased trade has helped to fuel increased meat consumption, as consumption increased most rapidly beginning in the mid-1990s in Southern Africa. Second, we examine the role of corporations in encouraging expanded consumption. Third, we examine national policies in each country, focusing particularly on policies that bolster the chicken industry or protect it from global competition. Finally, we discuss the tensions or contradictions embedded in the expansion of industrialized chicken production, including highlighting the challenges moving forward. Challenges include the negative health implications for humans, animals, and the environment, and the impact of growing regional and global concentration. Our paper offers a more complete explanation of the relationship between income and meat consumption.