Terms of Reference version 2.0

16/04/2016

A review of the environmental impacts of livestock and aquaculture feed, future directions and WWF network positions

WWF is currently looking at the key question concerning feed: What needs to happen in order to reduce and possibly halt the environmental impacts of feed production and consumption for all the animal proteins considering their consumption trends for the next 30 years and what role/s could WWF play?This project will aim to support the development of the work of WWF on this topic.

1Project objectives

The objectives of the project are to:

  1. Summarise current information and issues relating to the environmental impacts of livestock feed production and future trends (Phase 1)
  2. Identify and map key stakeholders. It will be necessary to understand the positions, framing[1] and activities of external partiesand other key thinkers/players (Phase 2).
  3. Identify the current work being undertaken in the WWF international network on livestock[2] feed (including aquaculture)and who are the key staff involved. This will determine the position and framing of WWF network actors, and identify thevarious positions of WWF internal constituencies and the underlying rationales (Phase 3).

Tasks within the project could include:

  1. Literature review and market scanning: to review the literature on environmental impacts of feed, summarise key external trends and other relevant information (Phase 1).
  2. Identify other external organisations working on this issue and their positions (Phase 1).
  3. Determine network teams and staff working on this issue (Phase 2).
  4. Collate relevant national office and global network positions[3] (Phase 2).
  5. Produce report with executive summary including prioritisation of key areas of intervention that will lead to the most important reductions of key impacts (land use, water use and ghg emissions) (Phase 3).

2Background

The world’s population has been predicted to rise to over nine billion by 2050, with most of this increase predicted to occur in low and middle income (developing) countries. Income levels are also expected to rise, increasing the demand for more nutritious and higher quality foods including meat and fish. It has been estimated, by the FAO under a Business As Usual scenario, that to meet the growing demand for food products in 2050, global food production must increase by about 60%[4]. This will place increasing pressure on limited land andwater (both marine and freshwater) resources for crop and livestock production, and on the climate through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural production and through the use of fossil fuels.In addition, the increasing production of terrestrial crops for bioenergy provides additional pressure.

Searchinger et al. (2013 and reference therein) stated that agricultural food production uses nearly 50% of the world’s land mass (if Antarctica, deserts, permanent ice and inland water bodies are excluded), 70% of all freshwater abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers (80-90% of which is consumed and hence not returned) and accounted for approximately 24% of GHG emissions in 2010. Furthermore, agricultural expansion is a major proximate cause of tropical deforestation, the conversion of carbon-rich peatlands and associated impacts on ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Theproduction of crops and pasturefor livestock and aquaculture feeds is responsible for significant environmental impacts such as land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, pesticides pollution, soil degradation, fertilizers, etc.Reducing the impacts of feed ingredient production would significantly reduce the impacts of livestock production[5].

A number of staff in the WWF network is working on this issue from various angles including:

  • Livestock feed Substitution – e.g. shifting livestock feed consumption to sources of animal nutrition that have lower environmental impact, new technology for production of alternative proteins and oils to feed livestock such as insects and algae; also the risks and benefits of recycling animal protein;
  • Improved sustainable production – e.g. sustainable production/certification (and sourcing by companies) of feed crops, commodities such as palm oil, soy, corn, alfalfa/lucerne, canola, rice, etc., and work on improved feed conversion efficiency, including aquaculture.
  • Human food Consumption – e.g. reducing meat consumption, shifting food consumption to sources of human nutrition that have a lower environmental impact;

The main objective of this project is to bring together all the existingresearch and thinking into a single review paper to provide the information required to better understand the issue and what the WWF network is working on and how they are thinking in regard to developing and implementing successful interventions to reduce the environmental impacts of feed.

3Project scope, method and organisation

The 1st Phase of the work will be adesktop study to provide the external background required to determine where the priorities lie for intervention in this landscape and asummary of the key external organisations working on this issue and their areas of focus. Phase 2 will be a study of the extent of work going on around the WWF network on this subject. The results of Phases 1 and 2 will be used to develop an outline of the areas that need to be covered as well as the existing positions/activities of the various external stakeholders and WWF network teams and any gaps identified. Contact with network offices will be carried out by email and telephone.

It is envisaged that the areas discussed and that the consultant will be required to assess will include but not necessarily be limited to, the areas below:

1)What are the main environmental issues around the production of livestock feed?

a)Land use and conversion, deforestation, chemicals, soil degradation, overfishing, LCA, trade offs

b)Species used: Soy, Palm oil, maize, wheat, rice, fish meal and oil

c)Production methods: intensification, efficiency,

d)Food versus feed

2)What are the potential solutions and barriersin addition to environmental impacts (LCA)? Using the following lenses: social, environmental, political, economic, value chain impact, nutritional

a)New species: e.g. bacteria, fungi, insects, algae, seaweed, GMO, etc;

b)New technologies: recycled animal protein, waste streams, by-products & distillates e.g. palm oil

c)Consumption: e.g. eating less beef

3)What are others doing what is their focus e.g. new species, food security, increased profitability, reducing environmental impacts?

a)Feed companies

b)Organisation such as Forum for the Future

c)Research organisations

d)Governments

e)Private sector initiatives

f)Impact/ Investment circles

g)NGOs (for social impacts, trade offs)

4)What is WWF doing?

a)Food security

b)Consumption

c)Deforestation and specific environmental impacts

d)Land use/ Planning

3.1Aspects of the study and guiding questions

Project stages

For this project it is expected that the study would involve desk-top analysis plus phone calls and visits to the required office(s) (at a minimum to WWF-UK in Woking and maybe WWF-US.

Phase 1: Literature review and stakeholder mapping:

  • Review of literature and summarise key priorities for reducing impacts of feed.
  • Identify the positions, framing[6] and activities of external parties and other key thinkers/players.

Phase 2: Understanding the network

  • To determine the position and framing of WWF network actors; and identify areas of overlap or conflict between positions of WWF internal constituencies and their underlying rationales.

Phase 3:Final report

  • A final report will be submitted to WWF. The contents (some, all – TBD) of which may be used to produce publically available information.

The contractor should clearly set out costs and methodologies, including number of days, separately for each phase of work.

3.2Project management

Management of the project to verify project progress will be led by Dr Piers Hart, Aquaculture Lead at WWF-UK. The consultant should appoint one project manager as a contact point for the project.

The chosen consultant will be expected to provide a detailed breakdown of the methodology to be used for the evaluation within 14 days of being contracted for discussion and approval.

Results of the study will be used by Piers Hart, who will be responsible for coordinating any response required by the study as well as dissemination of the results to the partnership team.

There will be a small steering group comprised of WWF-UK staff working on Food and Seafood

4Deliverables and timeline

Each of the points described in this ToR will be fully addressed and the results will be presented in the final report. A summary of the expected deliverables within the project are detailed in Table 1. It is anticipated that the consultant will develop a detailed budget and timeline for the deliverables that will be agreed before the contract is signed.

Table 1 Summary table of project deliverables for part one

Deliverable / Description
1. Project
inception / Inception meeting will be held within 7 days of the contract award date.
2. Project management / The project will be managed professionally and ensure timely completion of the deliverables. Communication with WWF-UK will be regular and include email, Skype, in-person and telephone communications as required. A minimum of 3 face to face meetings would be expected and at least monthly Webex calls for updates to the core working group
3. Final output / The final report will provide the results and summarise key priorities for future work.
The final report will also include a max. 4-page summary/statement that can be used publically on the WWF websites.

5Budget, funding and payment terms

The payment for the project is estimated to be as follows and the contract will be from June 2016 to September 2016.

Schedule of Payments to Consultant / Due Date / Payment %
Payment on commencement / June 2016 / 25%
Payment on approval of final project Webex / September 2016 / 75%
Total Payment / 100%

6How to apply

Proposals should include the relevant background of the consultant(s) involved, CVs of consultants who will participate in the project, a cost estimate for the project, and a detailed timeline for delivery of the reports by September 2016. The application should be no longer than 6 sides plus CVs of participating consultants.

Interested experts, institutions and or consortia should send their letter of intent with the relevant documents as detailed above to the contact below by email not later than June 5th. Applications received after that will not be considered.

7Project contact details

Project Manager: Piers Hart, Aquaculture Lead.

WWF-UK, the Living Planet Centre, Rufford House, Brewery Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4LL

Phone: 01483 426 444

Email:

8References

WWF network positions and important studies/papers

WWF Framing work/use of frames

WWF soy strategy

WWFDraft MTI Dairy Strategic Framework

WWF beef strategy documents

WWF aquaculture documents

[1]Framing is the agenda used to justify the specific work being undertaken e.g. Food security, continuity of supply.

[2] Livestock pertains to animals raised for a commercial purpose to produce commodities including food, fibre and labour i.e. cattle, pigs, sheep, chicken and aquaculture fish species.

[3] See references at the end of the document.

[4]Alexandratos, N. and Bruinsma, J., 2012. World agriculture towards 2030/2050: The 2012 Revision. ESA working paper No. 12-03. June 2012. Report for the Agricultural Development Economics Division

[5] SARF, 2016. A risk benefit analysis of mariculture as a means to reduce the impacts of terrestrial production of food and energy. Project number SARF 106

[6] Framing is the agenda used to justify the specific work being undertaken e.g. Food security, continuity of supply.