Document type: news item from CIWF France
Author: CIWF France
Preview: The French Regional Barometer for a Cage-Free Transition, produced by CIWF France, contains a comparative analysis of regional calls for projects. and focuses specifically on the provision of funding for cages in livestock farming. It plans to track key regions' progress towards cage-free farming over time, while encouraging these regions to redirect their funding away from cage-based farming systems. (...)
An almost total lack of commitment to cage-free farming
Whereas analysis of regional policies has painted a picture of mixed approaches to animal welfare and farming, the transition to cage-free farming is being ignored by the regions almost without exception. The five regions analyzed—Brittany, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Grand Est, Hauts-de-France, and Pays de la Loire—continue to allow funding for cage farming. Only Nouvelle Aquitaine has explicitly excluded certain cages from its calls for projects. It is important to note that this picture does not reflect funding actually allocated, but rather funding opportunities as they appear in calls for projects. In other words, the fact that a form of investment is listed as eligible does not necessarily mean that it has been funded. However, it would appear essential for the regions to explicitly exclude cage farming systems from their funding. Even when cage farming does not receive funding, or when the cages themselves are not funded on the ground by a region, failing to explicitly state non-eligibility leaves the door open for such funding to occur and the possibility for a reversal of commitment. A clear statement that funding for cages is excluded therefore represents an important commitment, not only to secure the direction of travel of the regions, but also to ensure greater visibility for farmers and taxpayers. As reported by CIWF France, the five regions analyzed have not yet specifically identified the transition to cage-free farming as one of the issues in the transition of livestock farming. Although some do identify animal welfare as an issue for livestock farming, these regions still have difficulty in understanding the criteria that must be applied to support the improvement of practices in this area, or the species that should be targeted.
Lack of transparency
A further major finding of this barometer has been the regions' continued struggles to make their animal welfare commitments and objectives clear and transparent. In addition, the lack of harmonized and accessible data severely constrains the objective assessment and monitoring of the transition to cage-free farming. No access is provided to data reporting systems that would allow for objective assessment of the progress made by the different regions in moving away from the use of cages.
Lack of quantitative data
In general, it is currently very difficult to obtain an accurate picture at regional level of the proportion of animals raised in cages, due to the absence of systematic public recording according to farming method. Only laying hens are classified by farming method: under European regulations, eggs that are sold must carry a code that indicates the farming method (codes 0 to 3), with code 3 indicating cage-farming systems. This system indirectly provides monitoring data on this sector, but the regions do not publish consolidated data on the number of caged hens in their area.
