Abstract
Livestock production and consumption of meat are significant contributors to
today’s most serious environmental problems and global warming. This paper
investigates the role of marine reserves in shaping meat consumption pattern across
member countries of the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) for the
period 1990 to 2009. Using a panel data including economic factors, life expectancy
and environmental awareness, we find that meat consumption is positively
associated with the presence of marine protected areas (MPAs). This suggests a
possible increase in substitution of meat eating to seafood by SEAFO member
countries due to aquatic resources conservation. Marine resource conservation policy
is not a complementary strategy for sustainable livestock policy. This points out to
some necessary policy improvements and actions to ameliorate the relationship
between MPA and the negative environmental impacts of livestock. Furthermore,
economic factors appear to have played a significant role in explaining meat
consumption growth. Apart from price inflation, the most relevant factors that
positively influence meat consumption appear to be GDP, exports and imports of
agricultural products, and urbanisation. Beyond economic factors, negative health
information associated with meat consumption appear to lead to a reduction in the
consumed quantities of meat. There is evidence that meat-eating behaviour is not
only related to macroeconomic development but also to environmental awareness.