PhD ThesisThe aim of this study was to identify policy approaches to promote sustainable broiler
production in Malaysia and this was addressed by three specific objectives namely to:
i) estimate the environmental impact of different broiler production systems; ii) estimate
consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for chicken meat produced with a higher regard
for the environment (chicken-HRE); iii) investigate potential policy changes which
could be brought in to livestock production in Malaysia and assess their impact on the
poultry industry from the perspective of various stakeholders including broiler
producers, integrated broiler companies and the Government.
Evaluation of environmental impact was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment
method, with a functional unit of 1 tonne live weight of broiler chickens and a cradle to
point of slaughter criterion as the system boundary. The environmental impact analysis
used various sources to obtain foreground data on two broiler production systems,
namely intensive closed house (CH) and open house (OH) systems. The CH system
produced 6 to 7% lower environmental burdens but marginally greater use of energy
than the OH system. Feed-related inputs (mainly raw materials and transportation)
accounted for the greatest proportion of environmental burdens with, on average, 89.8%
of energy use, 94.1% of greenhouse gas emissions, 76.8% of acidifying emissions and
86.8% of eutrophying emissions.
A Contingent Valuation Method was used in a survey of over 200 selected consumers
across Peninsular Malaysia to ascertain the maximum WTP for chicken-HRE. Some
50% of respondents were willing to pay an increment of 10% above the existing market
price. Using a mixed method approach, quantitative findings from the environmental
assessment and the socio demographic and economic survey were integrated with
qualitative results to explore the impact of potential policy approaches to promote
sustainable broiler production in Malaysia. Even though the economic aspects explored
in this study give only an indication of the likely societal attitudes to broiler chicken
production, they nevertheless provide an indication of the growing stakeholder interest
in methods of food production and implications for the level of environmental quality to
be experienced by future generations.Government of Malaysi