Summary
This narrative review argues that the insects-as-food-and-feed industry, which rears at least one trillion animals annually, should adopt animal welfare science frameworks similar to those developed for conventional livestock. The authors present three economic cases for welfare integration—production improvement, social licence maintenance, and market differentiation—and advocate for dedicated partnerships between entomologists, welfare scientists, and industry stakeholders to advance both animal welfare and sector sustainability.
Regional applicability
The paper does not specify a regional focus and draws on comparative examples from established livestock industries internationally. The arguments and economic rationales presented are likely applicable to United Kingdom insect farming operations, particularly as UK policy increasingly emphasises animal welfare standards across agriculture, though specific UK regulatory or market conditions are not addressed in the abstract.
Key measures
Economic rationales for welfare science adoption; examples from comparative livestock industries; proposed partnerships between entomologists, welfare scientists, and producers
Outcomes reported
The paper presents three economic reasons for integrating animal welfare science into insect-as-food-and-feed (IAFF) production: improved production outcomes, maintaining social licence to operate, and product differentiation. It draws on examples from established livestock industries to demonstrate how welfare science could advance the IAFF sector.
Topic tags
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