Protein shift could save 100,000 lives in Thailand
Thousands of lives lost to air pollution each year in Thailand could be saved by shifting a proportion of the country’s protein production from animals to plants.
That is the finding of our new report, produced in partnership with Asia Research & Engagement (ARE), out today.
The report, Tackling the maize haze: How protein diversification can clean up Thailand’s air, shows the heavy impact of intensive animal agriculture on Thailand’s seasonal smog.
It finds that maize grown for animal feed makes a significant contribution to the dangerous levels of air pollution in the country, as residues of the crop are burned to clear land ready for replanting.
The research shows that:
Agricultural burning in the dry season is linked to an estimated 34,000 premature deaths in Thailand annually.
Replacing half of meat and seafood production with plant-based protein by 2050 could avoid more than 100,000 premature deaths from air pollution.
Thailand’s meat and seafood production could contribute to 361,000 premature deaths from air pollution between 2020 and 2050 if nothing is done to rebalance the country’s protein production.
The air pollution from agricultural burning is most severe between December and April in Thailand and neighbouring countries. The burning releases tonnes of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution into the air. The impact of the burning on PM2.5 levels is made worse by the dry season’s weather conditions in this period, causing levels to peak around March and April.
The level of fine particulate matter pollution during these months can reach up to 130 micrograms per cubic metre - more than three times the Thai national standard for short-term exposure.
Madre Brava’s Thailand Director Wich Piromsan, said: “The air pollution that chokes Thailand during the burning season places an unacceptable burden on the health and lives of Thai people. That’s why the government has introduced measures to reduce it.
“But the role played by animal agriculture is largely overlooked. Cutting burning from animal feed production could save hundreds of thousands of lives and help many more lead healthier lives.
“The toll on our health of agricultural burning for animal feed is laid bare in this new report. Thailand would breathe easier and reap the economic rewards if we rebalanced the proteins that we produce.”
Sureerat Treemanka, the vice president of Chiang Mai Breath Council, agreed that the region was particularly badly affected.
She said: “People in the north of Thailand bear the brunt of maize burning. Our region has the highest rates of lung cancer in the country and higher premature deaths from air pollution than other regions.
"But the meat and seafood industry feeds the entire country, including some export markets. The long-term solution should not be an indiscriminate penalty for farmers who burn crops, but should include supporting the shift away from monoculture of maize for animal feed and to more sustainable crops.”
Wich added: “The quality of the air you breathe should not be dictated by your zip code. With a national shift in protein production, it wouldn’t be.”
Increasingly, Thailand is exporting meat to other countries, including the UK, so there is a link between this air pollution and meat consumption overseas.
This latest research from ARE and Madre Brava draws on a report released in November last year by Madre Brava and ARE, which showed the benefits to the Thai economy of a shift in protein production from meat and seafood to plants.
The ‘Kitchen of the Future’ report found the same 50% protein replacement would create THB 1.3 trillion of economic value, add 1.3 million jobs to the Thai economy, save 35.5million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and spare up to 2.17million hectares of land.
