• Global calls to reduce meat consumption do not apply uniformly to Africa, where average intake is just 15 kg per capita, less than half the global average of 35 kg, per FAO data.

• Expert Christian Corniaux argues Africa can sustainably increase consumption, unlike high-intake regions such as Europe or North America.

• Regional meat trade systems in West and Central Africa support efficient distribution to urban markets.

As global scrutiny intensifies over the environmental impact of agri-food systems, particularly livestock farming and high meat intake, Africa’s distinct context stands out. According to Christian Corniaux, Deputy Director of the Selmet Research Unit at Cirad, Africa’s meat consumption remains far below global norms and should not be conflated with the overconsumption patterns of the Global North.

“In Europe and Northern countries, average meat intake exceeds 100 kg per person annually. That’s too much. But in Africa, we’re at 15 kg. We can consume more without a problem,” Corniaux told Agence Ecofin.

FAO data confirms the disparity: global average meat consumption stands at 35 kg per capita, more than double Africa’s level.

The issue drew heightened attention after a 2018 study in Nature outlined the environmental costs of food production and advocated a "flexitarian" diet, reducing beef intake by 80%, pork by 88%, lamb by 70%, and poultry by 50% by 2050.

However, Corniaux emphasized that Africa, with its rapid urbanization and evolving diets, is still in a phase of increasing meat consumption. “Westerners tend to see themselves as the global center. But in the global discourse on reducing meat consumption, Africa remains an exception.”

He added that West and Central Africa’s meat trade networks, linking producers in Chad, Mauritania, Mali, and Niger to cities like Dakar, Lagos, Yaoundé, and Abidjan, help balance supply and demand across the region.