Removal of Subsidies on Feed

Subsidies on feed as drought relief have become a feature of livestock production systems in some countries, contributing to the unsustainable build up of herds. It is clearly important for governments to mitigate and relieve the human suffering caused by drought, but it is not clear that feed subsidy is a cost-effective way of doing this, whatever its environmental impacts. Drought management policies for timely destocking, and policies to open up drought-time reserve grazing are likely to be more effective in mitigation, and well-targetted food aid as relief.

If feed subsidies are considered desirable, the should be:

- triggered by an objective measure of drought
- targetted on poorer herdowners
- tied to policies to reduce long-term drought vulnerability, e.g. through insurance or savings schemes, or through range management

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