What do we know about the future of animal-source foods and food systems?

Enahoro, Dolapo K.; Mason-D'Croz, Daniel; Herrero, Mario; Mensah, Charles; and Baltenweck, Isabelle. 2025. What do we know about the future of animal-source foods and food systems? In What do we know about the future of food systems? eds. Keith Wiebe and Elisabetta Gotor. Part Three: What Do We Know About the Future of Selected Food Commodities? Chapter 28, Pp. 166-171. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175515

Urbanization and income growth lead to more diverse diets and increased consumption of animal-source foods (ASF) in lower-income countries, while in some higher-income countries, consumer preferences may slowly be shifting away from ASF.

A significant shift in diets is projected for lower-income countries, with the demand for ASF expected to increase by 20 percent in absolute kcal/person/day terms under conditions of baseline socioeconomic trends to 2050.

Projected shifts in ASF consumption will disrupt local-to-global food production and distribution, but most attention has focused on its implications for nutrition and health, climate, and the environment, with less attention to socioeconomic and livelihood impacts.

Strategies proposed for addressing the complex and multidimensional future impacts of changes in ASF demand, production, and distribution need further exploration.