It’s time for banks to stop funding factory farms

Earlier this month when global leaders gathered at the Finance in Common Summit in Cartagena, Colombia, they underscored the urgency of addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. Multilateral development banks, with their vast influence, play a vital role in shaping our planet’s future. However, for these banks to effectively realize this pivotal role, they must first demonstrate their commitment to responsible action by ceasing their own financing of industrial animal agriculture.

The consequences of industrial animal agriculture are profoundly alarming. This method of large-scale production of livestock leads to deforestation, excessive water usage and pollution, and the release of vast amounts of greenhouse gases, notably methane. Food production is now the single largest cause of biodiversity loss and livestock production is responsible for roughly 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Factory farming also drives antimicrobial resistance and appalling animal welfare conditions.

In Colombia, a country renowned for its rich biodiversity, this model of agriculture poses an existential threat to its ecosystems, exacerbating the climate crisis and undermining the ability to meet international climate commitments. Multilateral development banks — institutions like the World Bank and its private sector arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — who say they want to safeguard our planet’s future, are currently complicit in this environmental degradation and continue to invest billions of taxpayer dollars in factory farming, propping up a failing system that fundamentally undermines sustainable development. Funding industrial livestock expansion undermines their commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Climate Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework.

These banks are meant to allocate taxpayer dollars judiciously to projects that truly benefit society and promote shared prosperity. The development banks often cite the goal of “food security” to justify their support for factory farming projects. However, the reality on the ground often reveals a starkly different story. These funds predominantly enrich agribusiness giants; for example, in the last few years the IFC has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into industrial soy trader Louis Dreyfus Corporation (LDC) in Brazil, Ecuador’s largest meat company PRONACA and dairy giant Alvoar in Brazil, while small-scale farmers struggle to get access to credit and technical assistance.

More than three quarters of agricultural land is used for livestock production, yet this land produces just 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of our total protein. Using this land to grow crops directly for human consumption could increase global food security and feed an additional 4 billion people a year.

In Colombia, where agriculture is a cornerstone of their economy, this issue hits close to home. Family farmers, who make up the majority of Colombia’s agricultural sector, face immense challenges accessing financial support and resources. Funds from multilateral development banks that should bolster ecological and small-scale agriculture are instead being diverted to large corporations for extensive cattle ranching that prioritizes profit over environmental and social responsibility and human rights, often displacing Indigenous and traditional communities.

This monopolization in the agricultural sector perpetuates social inequality, jeopardizing the work of family farmers who are forced to sell their land or to work under exploitative conditions for these agricultural giants. By financing projects that support small-scale farmers who produce around one third of the world’s food, multilateral development banks could shore up food supplies and create millions of jobs.

To achieve the ambitious climate agenda laid out at the Finance in Common Summit this month, multilateral development banks must now demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development and align their agricultural loan policies with the climate imperative. The choice is theirs: continue to plug money into factory farms and jeopardize a livable planet; or take a stand for food sovereignty and sustainable development by investing in healthy, ecological food systems that protect our collective future.

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