April 04, 2025
Overview:
Governments around the world have committed to reducing antibiotic use in agriculture and food systems to fight antimicrobial resistance. As part of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declaration, countries pledged to cut antimicrobial use (AMU) in the agrifood system by 2030. Additionally, 47 countries have set specific targets to reduce AMU by 30 to –50 percent within the same timeframe.
But meeting these goals won’t be easy,—especially in regions where livestock production is expected to grow due to increasing populations and rising incomes. To develop effective policies, it’s essential to understand the different pathways that could help achieve these reductions.
In this One Health Trust co-authored article, researchers explored various scenarios to project global livestock antibiotic use through 2040. Their findings provide key insights to guide policy decisions and global efforts to curb antibiotic use in agriculture and livestock.
The Question:
How much could livestock antibiotic use change in the coming decades?
The Findings:
To better understand antibiotic use in livestock, researchers in this study developed a new tool —the Livestock Biomass Conversion Method – which provides a more accurate way to measure livestock biomass and its impact on antibiotic use.
They project that if current trends continue, global antibiotic use in livestock could increase by 29.5 percent, from about 110,777 tons in 2019 to 143,481 tons in 2040. However, depending on changes in livestock production and antibiotic use policies, antibiotic use could either increase by 14.2 percent or decrease by as much as 56.8 percent. The study highlights that meaningful reductions in antibiotic use will require coordinated global efforts to reduce both antibiotic use intensity and overall livestock biomass.
Read the article in Nature Communications here.
