Wolfgang Krostitz
WOLFGANG KROSTITZ is specialist for meat and dairy products, FAO Commodities and Trade Division.
Game, one of man's main sources of food and virtually his sole source of meat in prehistoric times, has over millennia of civilization and agricultural development ceased to be an important source of meat in most parts of the world. But now it seems that certain species of game animals are about to stage a comeback, though under conditions of partial or full domestication.
Today the contribution of game to total world meat production and consumption is very small and it is even smaller in the international me at trade. Accurate statistical information is grossly lacking. In many countries even statistical data on conventional meats produced by agriculture leave much to be desired, so the situation can only be worse in the field of game meat. Data on game animals killed are recorded in only a few countries with stringent hunting legislation (e.g., as the United States) and some countries in central and northern Europe. Estimates for other countries, if at all available, are based on food consumption surveys. Frequently, data on game meat output, consumption and trade are just included under "other meats" or "meats not elsewhere specified", together with meats produced by minor domestic animals or offals, or with "meats" from rodents, reptiles, snails, amphibious animals, marine mammals or even insects. For some important game-consuming countries, such as Canada and South Africa, no estimates are available. at all, although it. is well known that game meat is popular there.
FAO's Interlinked Computer System now contains estimates of game meat production for human consumption from some 50 countries. Although FAO statistics in this field are on the whole very crude and by no means complete, they do at least indicate an order of magnitude. Aggregate national estimates of annual game meat output amount to some 0.75 million tons, or as little as 0.5 percent of total world meat production, which will reach about 135 million tons in 1979. Even assuming that of the 1.5 million tons of "meat not elsewhere specified" indicated by the Interlinked Computer System, a significant portion is game, the share of game meat in fatal world meat supply remains very small.
The developed countries account for about 40 percent of the estimated "world" output of game meat. The United States is the leading recorded producer, probably, as noted, because the numbers of animals shot by hunter are well recorded there. Virtually all of this game is consumed by hunter and not sold. With the main exception of Scandinavian countries, the proportion of game to total meat pro auction is insignificant. On the contrary, in several developing countries especially in tropical and southern Africa, game contributes substantially to the total supply of animal products In countries such as Botswana or Zaire most of the meat produced and consumed is, actually, game. On the whole, the developing countries who produce only one third of the world's output of conventional meats, account for some 60 percent of the world total in the case of game meat, with Africa by far the most important producing region. It is worth noting that in West Africa generally the meat of wildlife- "bushmeat"-fetches much higher prices in urban markets than beef, mutton, pork, goat or other domestic meat.
Table 1. Meat production in developing and developed countries in 1973
|
|
Developing countries |
Developed countries |
World total |
|
Million metric tons | |||
|
Total meat |
45.7 |
86.7 |
132.4 |
|
of which: |
|
|
|
|
Bovine |
14.8 |
33.3 |
48.1 |
|
Pig |
18.4 |
30.3 |
48.7 |
|
Poultry |
7.5 |
17.9 |
25.4 |
|
Sheep and goat |
3.9 |
3.4 |
7.3 |
|
Horse and similar |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.7 |
|
Game |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.7 |
|
Meat not else where specified |
0.4 |
1.1 |
1.5 |
In the developing as well as the developed countries most of the game is consumed close to the place of hunting. Some efforts have been made to organize "harvesting" and marketing of game meat with transport over longer distances. To a growing extent marketing has also been through international trade. According to FAO statistics since the mid-1960s, world imports of game meat have nearly trebled, reaching some 55 000 tons in 1978, valued at about US$140 million. Thus about 7 percent of total game output enters international trade, a proportion slightly higher than for meat as a whole but the absolute quantity is still less than 0.5 percent of total world trade in meat products.
Developed countries in Western Europe account for the bulk of total recorded imports of game meat, with the Federal Republic of Germany and France being the largest buyers. Since the mid-1960s, imports by France have more than trebled and those of the Federal Republic of Germany doubled. Other heavy importers are Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States, the only major importer outside Western Europe.
Table 2. Estimated game meat output and per caput supply in selected countries in 1977
|
|
Output |
Per caput supply |
|
Thousand metric tons |
Kg |
|
|
Developing countries |
426 |
... |
|
Afghanistan |
9 |
0.5 |
|
Angola |
6 |
0.9 |
|
Argentina |
39 |
1.0 |
|
Botswana |
6 |
7.5 |
|
Cameroon |
4 |
0.6 |
|
Chad |
3 |
0.7 |
|
Congo |
6 |
4.0 |
|
Benin |
6 |
1.9 |
|
Ethiopia |
7 |
0.2 |
|
Gambia |
1. |
1.8 |
|
Ghana |
28 |
2.7 |
|
Guinea |
4 |
0.8 |
|
Iran |
14 |
0.4 |
|
Ivory Coast |
13 |
2.5 |
|
Kenya |
7 |
0.5 |
|
Lesotho |
4 |
2.9 |
|
Liberia |
5 |
3.0 |
|
Namibia |
2 |
2.6 |
|
Nigeria |
95 |
1.2 |
|
Papua New Guinea |
15 |
5.2 |
|
Rwanda |
6 |
1.:3 |
|
Sudan |
7 |
0 3 |
|
Tanzania |
8 |
0.5 |
|
Togo |
4 |
1.7 |
|
Uganda |
14 |
1.2 |
|
Zaire |
68 |
2.6 |
|
Zambia |
20 |
3.7 |
|
Developed countries |
327 |
... |
|
United States |
240 |
1.1 |
|
Germany, FR |
22 |
0.6 |
|
Sweden |
8 |
1.1 |
|
New Zealand |
5 |
0.3 |
|
Australia |
14 |
0.9 |
|
United Kingdom |
4 |
0.0 |
|
Finland |
2 |
0.4 |
Source: FAO Interlinked Computer System
Table 3. International trade in game meat
|
|
1966-70 average |
1971-75 average |
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
|
Metric tons | |||||
|
Importers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Germany, FR |
11 015 |
16 002 |
20 091 |
18 755 |
19 094 |
|
France |
7446 |
12879 |
17120 |
18225 |
16972 |
|
Belgium-Luxembourg |
2 135 |
5 09-. |
7 420 |
8 784 |
7 571 |
|
Italy |
1808 |
2 306 |
1674 |
2 603 |
2 481 |
|
Netherlands |
785 |
1 261 |
1527 |
2 181 |
2 284 |
|
Sweden |
693 |
1262 |
1 153 |
1507 |
727 |
|
United States |
1051 |
1205 |
1 109 |
705 |
1787 |
|
Total |
24 933 |
40 008 |
50 094 |
52 760 |
50 916 |
|
Others |
321 |
1426 |
787 |
1044 |
10:39 |
|
GRAND TOTAL |
25 254 |
41434 |
50 881 |
53 804 |
51 955 |
|
Exporters |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Argentina |
7 233 |
11 087 |
13 184 |
14 070 |
17 000 |
|
Poland |
. . . |
1017 |
9 185 |
1058 |
950 |
|
United Kingdom |
... |
... |
6 249 |
8 224 |
8 149 |
|
Austria |
2 260 |
2 847 |
3 967 |
4 352 |
2 857 |
|
New Zealand |
3 096 |
4 192 |
2 836 |
4121 |
3 965 |
|
France |
552 |
3 710 |
2 680 |
2 837 |
3 039 |
|
Netherlands |
921 |
1739 |
2 197 |
1 838 |
1 492 |
|
Yugoslavia |
628 |
624 |
1074 |
885 |
1061 |
|
Total |
14 690 |
21 506 |
36 235 |
37 385 |
38 513 |
|
Others |
1 993 |
7 659 |
3 796 |
5 725 |
3 003 |
|
GRAND TOTAL |
16 683 |
29 165 |
40 031 |
43 110 |
41 516 |
Source: FAO Interlinked Computer System
Argentina has traditionally been the largest exporter of game, supplying :mainly hares to Western Europe. 'While its exports have shown substantial year-by-year fluctuations, the :longer-term trend has been stationary. Exports of other developing countries fare small. Among the developed countries, the United Kingdom has been the main exporter in recent years. Other important suppliers are New Zealand, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia, that is, countries which are also important exporters of conventional meats (see Table 3).
However, while exports of most suppliers consist mainly of game hunted according to traditional methods, an increasing part of supplies from New Zealand comes from farming of game animals, especially red and fallow deer. Farming of wildlife is also gaining importance in Australia, South Africa, some West European countries, the USSR and a few developing countries such as Kenya, Mauritius and Taiwan province, China.
Game meat exports from East European countries to West European markets, in particular to the Federal Republic of Germany, were well developed over the past twenty years in combination with the encouragement of foreign tourist hunting. Thus, East European deer, wild boar and pheasant have been earning foreign exchange twice over for a long time. The German (Fed. Rep.) hunter who pays a high fee for a hunting vacation in Hungary is allowed to bring home the antlers as a trophy. In the meantime, the meat, which belongs to the state, is exported, most likely to the :Federal Republic of Germany.
New Zealand, now the forerunner of commercial deer farming, has some 30 000 red and fallow deer on close to 300 farms. With regard to venison exports, New Zealand is very careful to distinguish between "wild shot" and farmed venison. The former commands a higher price in the Federal Republic of Germany because of its allegedly better flavour. In Australia the number of deer kept for commercial purposes is about 5 000 animals, the majority being fallow deer.
Keeping deer in confinement in parks as a ready supply of meat has been a centuries-old custom in many parts of Europe, but recent developments in the same area have a much more commercial orientation. In Sweden, for example, about 100 farmers keep some I 000 fallow and 2 000 red deer. In the United Kingdom (Scotland in particular) and the Federal Republic of Germany (Rhineland and Bavaria) research stations have been making considerable efforts to develop and promote commercial deer farming. As a consequence, interest among private producers is now growing rapidly.
This new interest in deer farming reflects rising demand not only for venison but also for by-products such as velvet antlers, skins, etc. In fact, in the USSR deer farming has been developed mainly for the export of velvet antlers to the Far East where they are used in traditional pharmacy as an aphrodisiac. Sales of these products are also of considerable importance to deer farmers in New Zealand and Australia where velvet antler currently fetches about Australian dollars 150 (US$170) per kg. Shooting fees may add to the income of owners of game animals. The price of an aphrodisiac capsule in a traditional Chinese pharmacy in Bangkok is the equivalent of US$2. Medical authorities in the west believe that aphrodisiacs from deer antler velvet owe their effect to psychological faith in them of those who buy them.
Venison is particularly popular in continental Europe and, in spite of its high price, demand has shown a considerable increase. In the main import market, the Federal Republic of Germany, current wholesale prices for best cuts of imported frozen red deer are above DM 20 (US$11) per kg or about the same as for beef fillet. For domestic fresh venison, producer prices at DM 1215 (US$ 6.5-8) per kg carcass weight are about twice the level of beef or sheep meat. Nevertheless, game imports, at close to 20 000 tons in 1978, were about double those of ten years ago. In other markets where governments give less support to domestic prices for conventional meats than, for instance, in the EEC countries, venison fetches a substantial premium over prices of beef and lamb. This also applies to prices in international trade (see Table 4).
ANTELOPE HUNTED FOR MEAT UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL but seldom included in food statistics
Future prospects of demand for game meat as well as by-products appear to be rather good. For meat in general demand is still responsive to rising incomes even in countries where meat consumption levels are already high. Venison, because of its distinctive flavour and leanness -its fat content is significantly lower and its protein content higher than in most other meats-may actually benefit relatively more from rising purchasing power, notably in rich countries.
However, the growing interest in the farming of deer or other game does not only reflect rising economic demand for game meat and byproducts, but also broader socioeconomic and ecological considerations. While in Australasia levels of profitability well above those in conventional livestock production have provided the main impetus, in Western Europe general aspects of rural and environmental policy have been playing an important role. Because: of continuing rapid technical progress in, and economic pressure on, traditional agriculture more and more marginal lands are being abandoned. At the same time, population is growing more slowly or even decreasing in some developed countries and output of several traditional agricultural products tends to exceed market outlets. The search for new ways of using marginal lands and improving employment opportunities in economically disadvantaged areas has in fact been behind efforts to develop deer farming, notably in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany. More recently, Austria and Switzerland, whose agriculture are plagued by heavy dairy surplus problems as much as the EEC, have taken up the idea of developing deer farming as an alternative to traditional livestock production. Austria has actually been the first country to translate this concept into political action. As of April 1979 for a period of five years farmers in mountain areas will be granted an annual payment of Schilling 1000 (approx. US$75) per dairy cow replaced by certain animals kept for purposes other than milk production.
Table 4. Prices of venison, lamb and beef in international trade (US $/metric ton)
|
Annual average |
Venison, New Zealand, c.i.f. Germany, FR |
Lamb, New Zealand, London, [Smith-field] |
Beef, Australia, c.i.f USA |
|
1973 |
3 050 |
1 390 |
12;92 |
|
1974 |
2790 |
1 415 |
1440 |
|
1975 |
3220 |
1 475 |
1 202 |
|
1976 |
4050 |
1 585 |
1 4775 |
|
1977 |
4430 |
1 695 |
1 385 |
|
1978 |
4317 |
2130 |
2020 |
|
1979 (first quarter) |
4 669 |
2210 |
2 857 |
Under this scheme fallow deer qualify at a rate of ten deer per one dairy cow replaced. With regard to developing countries, the Government of Mauritius recently stated that deer, originally introduced from Java, has become an integral part of me at production, well adapted to land unsuitable for other uses, with output to be increased by more integrated management of forests for both timber and venison production.
This growing interest in deer farming has pushed up prices for breeding stock. In West Germany prices reached DM 1200 to 1500 (US$650-800) in early 1979 compared with less than DM 500 in 1976. Current prices for breeding fallow deer are about half the level for breeding cattle (which are about ten times heavier). In Australia at the end of 1978 prices were as high as A$500 (US$565) for rusa deer and A$1000 (US$1 130) for red deer. Deer breeders in Australia are optimistic about further expansion of this new sector of the livestock industry, though production of game meat is expected to be primarily for domestic consumption, there should be growing exports of by-products.
Additional production in New Zealand will probably be mostly for export. There are optimists who believe that within the next decade or so the commercial deer population in New Zealand could approach half a million. This would still be small compared with New Zealand's sheep and cattle population of about 60 and 9 million respectively. In any case, the share of the deer industry in the country's total export earnings should grow from its present level of 1 percent.
Exportation of game meat is facilitated by relatively liberal import policies of the major meat-importing countries. This happens although by and large the same animal health regulations apply to game as to other meats, restricting and in some cases ruling out altogether imports of meat or of certain types of meat from exporting countries not free of' major animal diseases. In the EEC, the largest market, game is subject to a tariff duty of only 5 percent while the duty on sheep meat is 20 percent and imports of beef, pig and poultry meat are severely restricted by a variable levy system. There are also prospects for rising import demand in other developed countries and perhaps some of the richer developing meat-importing countries.
But we should keep in mind that if domestic production is successfully promoted in same major consuming countries, a rapid expansion of production for export by New Zealand and other countries might in the longer run result in lower prices for venison, at least in real terms. This would bring venison within the reach of a wider group of consumers, but the profitability of this new industry would eventual!; be reduced.
Projections of meat production, demand and trade to 1985. Document: CCP: ME 79/4. Rome, FAO, February 1979.
Farming the red deer. Rowett Research Institute and Hill Farming Organization, Edinburgh, 1974.
Grün- und Brachlandnutzung durch Damtiere. G. Reinken. Landwirtschaftskammer Rheinland, Bonn, 1977.
Heertenteelt. A.A.J. van der Leun Institunt voor Veeteeltkundig Onderzoek Schoonoord, Zeist, Netherlands, 1978.
Follow-up to guidelines for international cooperation in the livestock and meat sector. Document CCP: ME 79/5, Rome, FAO, March 1979.
