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Paper short abstract:

In a time of polycrisis, wild meat has been positioned as both a source of crisis and potential solution, depending on the context. This paper draws from research in Zambia to untangle the multifarious nature of wild meat and discuss implications for biodiversity, equity, and public health.

Paper long abstract:

Wild meat derived from wild species has come to occupy an important position in the polycrisis era. On the one hand, wild meat has been blamed for exacerbating biodiversity and public health crises – especially in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, wild meat has been proposed as a more equitable, sustainable solution to industrial animal agriculture, as it often has a lower carbon footprint, can help address nutrient deficiencies where protein is otherwise scarce, and may align with broader food sovereignty and food systems decolonisation movements. Given its multifarious nature, governments have taken different stances on wild meat at different times, ranging from banning wild meat altogether, such as China after COVID-19 or Nigeria after Mpox, to promoting legal wild meat economies in the post-pandemic era, such as many southern African countries. In this paper, we draw from over two years of research in Zambia, where efforts have been mounting to formalise, better regulate, open-up, and grow the wild meat sector. Our analysis highlights emergent challenges and opportunities across the wild meat sector – which includes traditional private wild ranches, novel community-based wild ranches, and imported wild meat products – and affords consideration for the varied implications of wild meat for agrarian change and rural development in times of polycrisis. Specifically, we discuss trends in socio-economic and environmental impacts of relevance across southern Africa and other similar contexts, and speak to other possible trends related to animal welfare, food sovereignty, and One Health.