• PRATYUSH RANJAN

Animal agriculture or livestock farming (involving meat, dairy, and associated industries), at a macro-level, is leading to dire unintended consequences in the 21st century- being among the major causes of pollution, global warming, soil degradation, depletion of natural ‘resources’ like clean water, deforestation, and so on, resulting in climate change, as recent studies especially since the groundbreaking one titled Livestock’s Long Shadow by the FAO, have revealed. The massive spike in human population and consequent rise in demands have turned the industry exceedingly unsustainable, on a global scale, having arguably surpassed the ecological carrying capacity and economic optimality, making the marginal costs overwhelmingly bigger than the marginal benefits. What was initially meant to address food security, is leading to poverty and massive food insecurity, ultimately making agriculture excessively difficult and uneconomical. Such underlying insecurities often lead to environment-related conflicts- adopting political-, ethnic-, and communal-overtones, as had happened in Rwanda, Darfur, Somalia, Ethiopia, inter alia, having resulted from unsustainable human choices and actions. Climate change-induced migration, refugee crises, and related social turmoil are indicators of The Coming Anarchy. This paper aims to analyze the major adverse impacts of the industry of animal agriculture, especially on that dimension of human security, called-environmental security (or vice-versa). It would start by establishing the empirical case for the globalized industry of animal agriculture as being a major cause behind climate change and other forms of environmental insecurities, taking inspiration from case studies of mainly developing areas around the world. It highlights the massive emissions (in terms of greenhouse gas potential) emanating from animals used for agriculture, directly, as well as indirectly and associated impacts from the various auxiliary practices that contribute to environmental and human insecurity. It will conclude by highlighting some of the possible solutions to the unsustainability- associated crises. Virtues of evolution of economics towards steady state economics or ecological economics, as advocated by economic thinkers such as Herman Daly, John Stuart Mill, inter alios, with global cooperation, will be extolled. The author conservatively sides with the former camp in the Malthusians-Cornucopians (and Technocentrics) debate, although realizes the revolutionary potential in technologies and in transhumanism.

Animal agriculture, Human security, Human development, Environmental Security, Climate change, Anthropocentrism, Development economics, Ecological economics, Transhumanism

"ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY - An Inquiry into How Globalized Animal Agriculture Imperils Environmental Security (and therefore- Human Security)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.793-805, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906696.pdf

"ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY - An Inquiry into How Globalized Animal Agriculture Imperils Environmental Security (and therefore- Human Security)", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp793-805, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906696.pdf