The potential to increase food system resilience by replacing feed imports with domestic food system byproducts

Many key feed commodities used in livestock and aquaculture production are highly traded in global agricultural markets. The dependence on these imported inputs may create vulnerabilities for importing countries when disturbances in global trade flows occur. Replacing feed imports with domestic food system byproducts—i.e. secondary products from crop, livestock and aquaculture processing—offers a solution to decrease trade dependency, increase food system resilience, and contribute to environmental sustainability. The potential impacts of such replacements on global food-trade patterns—and consequently on heightened self-sufficiency—remain largely unexplored. In this study, we assessed the material flows in the global feed trade at the country level and estimated the potential to replace imported feeds with more efficient use of domestic food system byproducts. We focus on three key feed groups in both livestock and aquaculture production: cereals, oilseed meals and fishmeal. We show that, at the global level, 19% of cereal, 16% of oilseed meals, and 27% of fishmeal feed imports can be replaced with domestic food system byproducts without affecting animal productivity. The high-input animal production countries in East and Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and North America show the highest potential. This study highlights the commodities and areas with the most potential to guide and inform decisions and investments to build more local and circular livestock and aquaculture production that would be more resilient to several kinds of shocks. Replacing feed imports with food system byproducts can increase food system resilience. Nevertheless, larger sustainability strategies, such as dietary change and reducing food loss and waste, should be implemented to ensure a transition towards more sustainable food systems.