Simon J. Oosting

The Dutch agricultural sector’s orientation towards exports attracts divergent views. Whereas some stakeholders advocate maintaining exports to help ‘feed the world’, others question the validity of this rationale and its environmental consequences. Here we assess the Netherlands’ net-export potential using an agroecological food system model. We find that producing the food groups currently consumed domestically would require all available land in the country. Even with a shift towards more plant-based diets, the potential to export food remains limited if land is also required for strengthening natural ecosystems and fostering the biobased economy. These findings challenge the economic ‘feeding the world’ narrative and underscore the need for an ecological perspective. Our approach can be applied to other regions, helping to redefine their role in the global food supply.

The rising demand for animal-source food (ASF) is driving the intensification of livestock systems, increasing the need for high-quality feed resources, such as concentrate feed. This trend may reduce circularity through increased feed-food competition and disrupt nutrient cycles. To examine these dynamics, the present exploratory descriptive study assessed the circularity of livestock diets, using feed-food competition and reliance on external feed inputs as proxies. Diet compositions were characterized through interviews with livestock farmers (dairy cattle, dairy goats, pigs, and poultry), and the origins of external feed ingredients were traced through follow-up interviews with feed suppliers. Concentrate feeds had the highest inclusion levels in monogastric diets, indicating a strong dependency on off-farm sourced ingredients, while ruminants primarily relied on on-farm crop residues and feed crops. Poultry diets contained substantial amounts of food-competing ingredients (i.e. maize grain, fish meal, and soybean meal) resulting in higher human-edible protein (HeP) and human-edible energy (HeE) proportions compared to dairy goats, pigs, and dairy cattle (0.73, 0.24, 0.23, 0.09 HeP; and 0.62, 0.09, 0.14, 0.05 HeE, respectively). Protein-rich concentrates were mostly imported from the region (e.g. Tanzania, Uganda), while energy-rich ingredients were sourced nationally, regionally (i.e. East Africa), and globally (e.g. Ukraine). Feed additives (e.g. minerals and vitamins) were sourced globally. The widespread use of food-competing ingredients and reliance on external feed inputs underscores the need to shift to locally available, non-food-competing feed resources, especially in the poultry sector.

Holstein cattle account for the largest proportion of dairy cattle in China. The current China Performance Index (CPI) consists mainly of production traits. To derive economic values (EV) of additional traits for balanced breeding programs, a bio‐economic model is necessary. Landless and intensive dairy farms are dominant in China, wherein all feed is purchased, and in‐farm technicians and veterinarians are employed. Therefore, in the present study, a tailored bio‐economic model was developed using the parameters of a typical dairy farm in North China. The typical farm had 1500 cows and 1400 youngstock, with a replacement rate of 33.5% per year and a productive life of 1090 days. The bio‐economic model was on a per cow per year basis and described the revenues and costs from different animal categories. The EVs of 17 traits, including production, calving, fertility, longevity, and health traits, were derived and used to develop a more balanced selection index. Results showed that the bio‐economic model can represent the typical dairy farm system in North China. The EVs of production traits were 2.39 Chinese Yuan (CNY), 32.85 CNY, and 89.60 CNY per kg milk yield, fat yield and protein yield, respectively. The EVs of production traits were two to three times higher than those in some European countries, due to the higher prices on milk volume and milk solids in China. The EVs of health traits ranged from −0.45 CNY to −11.95 CNY and were nearly half of those in other countries, due to the lower in‐farm veterinarian labour costs. The EVs of most other functional traits were in line with the published values of other countries with similar economic assumptions in the model. Using the calculated EVs, a more balanced selection index was derived by including functional traits. This index had higher relative weight (46.8%) on functional traits than the current CPI (12.5%). With the high milk prices, it is still most profitable to allow for a decline in functional traits, although the decline is considerably smaller with the developed balanced index than with the CPI. Collectively, the bio‐economic model and EVs provided the foundations for implementing balanced breeding programs in the Chinese Holstein population.

The objective of this study was to examine social networks in dairy value chains (DVCs) in Kenya and understand how DVC actors’ power relationships and trust influence their behaviour regarding milk quality. We conducted a stakeholder analysis using the Net-Map tool in Laikipia, Nakuru and Nyandarua counties in Kenya. VisuaLyzer software was used to analyse the social networks. Thematic content analysis of the discussions, recorded during the mapping exercise, was undertaken using ATLAS.ti. Formal DVC had more actors and dense social networks characterised by vertical and horizontal integration, high levels of power asymmetries between actors, limited trust and short-term contractual arrangements. Informal DVC was characterised by fewer actors and less dense social networks, low levels of power asymmetries between actors and a high level of trust due to the existence of reciprocal personal relationships. Milk was perceived to be of higher quality in the formal value chain reflecting top-down enforcement of milk standards, bottom-up collective action, power asymmetries and contractual relationships. Poor milk quality management in the informal DVC underscores the need for powerful actors, e.g. regulatory agencies, and buyers such as processors, to influence other DVC actors’ behavioural change. Understanding and leveraging DVC social networks and actors’ power and addressing power asymmetries and enhancing trust between actors will increase compliance with milk quality standards. There is an urgent imperative to design policies and interventions which empower DVC actors, by providing economic incentives, enhancing their skills and knowledge and their access to infrastructure which facilitates milk quality improvement.

Smallholder farmers in developing countries often lack resources. They rely mostly on extensive production approaches, such as cattle keeping and resort more to extracting forest resources at no charge. Our objective is to assess the relationship between the diversification of income sources, poverty and livelihood capital for smallholder farm households which combine cattle farming with forest extraction. We collected 600 surveys from Indonesian farmers specialized along the cattle rearing supply chain (464 breeders, 66 feeders and 70 mixed breeder-feeders). We found no correlation between poverty and income diversification. Cattle breeders have been found to rely most on forest resources. Distance to cropland and forest correlated positively, whereas their education level correlated negatively with income diversification. Feeders who were owning other livestock, were a member of a forest user group and owned some modest capital like a motorbike showed increased income diversification. Crops are the most important source of income for farmers, whereas cattle keeping and forest extraction play a role in income diversification. Increasing ecological pressure caused by forest extraction due to expanding cattle production could be best avoided by extending those parts of the cattle sector that use forest resources in a sustainable manner, for instance, through silvopastural systems or agroforestry so that incomes of poor farmers get more diversified and, therefore stabilized.