Tracing responsibilities in food production with animals

This paper summarises some results of the final report of the research project ‘Systematics of Responsibilities for Animal Welfare in the Livestock Sector’ (2018-2020). The project focused on the question who is fundamentally responsible for the treatment of farm animals. This question is largely and to some extent pointlessly discussed in the public. The study was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL). It is based on a systematic examination of the term ‘responsibility’. Responsibility means that agents (who have the necessary means) act accordingly to their value preferences and cause consequences. In this respect, it must be taken into account that animal welfare (as based on altruistic reasoning) is not always given overriding priority in decision-making. This result becomes more plausible when analysing concrete examples of how real decisions were made. The report establishes a characteristic pattern that re-occurs in many discussions on problems in farm animal husbandry: There is an enormous gap between partakers ascribing responsibility to themselves or unto others. The report in contrast uses and extends well established ethical models and principles to create a matrix that makes it possible to say more precisely who is in fact responsible, and why. The report offers a detailed and rather extensive map of possible agents and stakeholders involved in animal husbandry based on the criteria of the matrix. This will lead to a much more distinguished judgement on responsibilities. The project has also developed a database tool in order to locate players in regards to certain characteristics. One result is to filter out those agents who may be called big players in the game at hand. The big food retailers and political bodies are prime candidates. The model can prove why they have indeed an enormous share of responsibility. The role of ‘the consumer’ is in turn to be reconsidered on this basis. The report finally offers an explanation on how responsibility and reliability are interconnected: It is much easier to stick to one’s own responsibilities if other players reliably stick to theirs. In turn, confidence in the system and its elements can be boosted whenever agents evidentially take up their responsibility and do ‘their jobs’