Post outline:

• Intro
• How did you start doing cage-free work?
• What are your successes and milestones in cage-free work?
• What are the things that surprised you (positively or negatively) in the course of your work?
• What are some aspects of your work that have not worked out as well as you’d hoped?
• What have you found challenging or encouraging in the course of your work?
• What are some of the important takeaways or lessons you’ve learnt from doing this work?
• What would you recommend to others working in this space in African countries e.g. skills, resources, connections that have helped you?
• What do you wish you had known before doing cage free work?
• What could help your cage-free work now?

"The cage-free movement is increasingly gaining momentum all over the continent. More consumers, international organisations, and activists are calling for the ban of cruel battery cages which are detrimental to animal welfare, and pose serious threats to public and consumer health. At the core of this important work in Africa are passionate and dedicated animal advocacy organisations, many of whom are small, under-funded yet vibrant groups working hard to eradicate battery cages one at a time. Open Wing Alliance and Animal Advocacy Africa work with three of these organisations, Education for African Animal Welfare from Tanzania, Animal Welfare League from Ghana, and Sibanye Animal Welfare and Conservancy Trust from Zimbabwe, who shared their experiences with us; walking us through what it is like to run cage free campaigns in their countries." Read the full article here.

How did you start doing cage-free work?

Animal Welfare League began doing cage-free work in early 2022 when our organisation was accepted as a member of the Open Wing Alliance. 

We first began our work by identifying three vital stakeholders for the success of our cage-free programme; consumers, farmers, and corporations. Our key activities then involved reaching out to these three groups of people. 

Consumers: We reached out to consumers through social media campaigns (employing graphic designs that depict the suffering of birds in cages) and community outreach programs. Specifically targeting the Ghanaian population, we launched a social media campaign last year on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook against the use of battery cages and patronage of poultry products originating from caged farms.

Farmers: We work with farmers through various farmer associations across Ghana, using veterinary services directorate of Ghana, regional veterinary officers, and other resource persons to organise educational workshops on cage-free farming. We use pre- and post-survey forms, individual interviews, and an open forum to understand farmers' concerns in the region.

Corporations: We emailed staff members at corporations, seeking preliminary in-person meetings. At these preliminary meetings, we emphasised hen welfare and how they, as a corporation, could play a vital role in improving the welfare of hens.

What are your successes and milestones in cage free work?

On 1st March 2023, we had a successful workshop with poultry farmers in the capital of Ghana, Accra on the theme “Improving poultry welfare and productivity in Ghana” which emphasised the creation of a network of farmers in the region who will be trained in higher welfare cage-free production. After the workshop, 76.7% of participating farmers embraced the cage-free farming system with 21 farmers signing on to our national cage-free farms' directory. Two farmers indicated that they would transition from using battery cages to a cage-free production system. We estimate that this measure will prevent at least 50,000 laying hens from the cruelty of being housed in cages.

We also collated the email addresses of over 15 corporations and had preliminary meetings with six companies. After two in-person meetings with two hotels in Ghana, they expressed an interest in adopting a cage-free policy. We remain optimistic that we will get a minimum of 3 corporations signing a cage-free policy before the end of 2023.

What are the things that surprised you (positively or negatively) in the course of your work?

One surprising thing was the fact that farmers were willing to transition from battery cages to cage-free farming methods throughout our workshops. However, most corporations we have targeted do not check their emails or have inactive emails, making it very hard to reach them. 

What are some aspects of your work that have not worked out as well as you’d hoped?

Using emails as our initial corporate outreach method did not provide the results we had expected as most of the companies we contacted did not respond. We have established that having in-person meetings with them works much better. 

What have you found challenging or encouraging in the course of your work?

Navigating corporate dialogues with companies that expressed interest in adopting better animal welfare policies but have not yet decided on commitment timelines. We found the warm reception of the cage-free message from most farmers and the Ghanaian people encouraging as we believe they are an ally in achieving better welfare standards. 

What are some of the important takeaways or lessons you’ve learnt from doing this work?

After several attempts to reach some corporations via email and failing over and over again, we realised it was much easier to gain an audience by showing up at their reception, stating our purpose, and seeking an audience with the appropriate staff should they be available or book an appointment if they weren’t.

We have also learned that mapping out key stakeholders in our campaigns and engaging them individually, in a holistic manner produces the best results.

In gathering resources and information for this project, we realised a lack thereof in Africa. Through this and other mediums, we will publish our resources to ease the replication and modification of similar works in Africa. 

What would you recommend to others working in this space in African countries e.g. skills, resources, connections that have helped you?

We recommend they understand the concerns of stakeholders involved in cage-free farming. 

Use the essential resource materials provided by OWA and reach out to other organisations that have extensive work and experience to learn from their successes and weaknesses. We also recommend understanding and drawing up the theory of change of their programs at the planning stage. This gives an idea of the gaps that exist in your country and what activities you can focus on to achieve the ultimate goal of no cruelty to farmed animals. 

What do you wish you had known before doing cage free work?

From a global perspective, we understood how cage-free work is done but there was no local context of the various strategies used in cage-free work because farmed animal welfare is neglected in Ghana, and across the region. It is therefore important to us to create and develop that local context of cage-free work in Africa for others to build on. 

What could help your cage-free work now?

After several workshops and meetings with farmers and corporations, we firmly believe a model cage-free farm is of immense importance as it will provide practical training in best practices in cage-free management, serve as a model farm for cage-free producers to visit and as a research and development center for the region. It will also benefit farmers, auditors, veterinarians and other industry stakeholders across Africa.