Shifting to plant diets could slash world's need for farm labour by up to 30 per cent by 2030: Study

New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) A shift towards plant-based diets could lower the world's requirement of agricultural labour by up to nearly 30 per cent by 2030 -- the equivalent of up to 100 million full-time jobs -- indicating a need for policies to support a fair transition for workers, according to a study.

Estimates published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal also show that while countries practising a livestock-heavy agriculture would see the highest fall in labour demand, lower-income countries could need 18-56 million workers more to grow fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts.

Switching to a plant-based diet, which favours fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts and small portions of meat and dairy, is among the recommendations described by the United Nations for reducing one's carbon footprint to meet the Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Researchers, including those from the UK's University of Oxford, said the study is the first detailed, country-level assessment of how a change in diets can impact farming jobs across 179 countries.

The team combined data on labour requirements for crops and livestock with models of global food production to understand how dietary patterns, including vegetarian and vegan diets, would affect the agricultural workforce.

While dietary shifts can result in efficiency gains, the researchers said policy and planning are needed to ensure that transitions are fair.

Measures such as retraining, redeployment and investment in horticultural production will be crucial to support workers and rural communities as food systems evolve, they said.

"Dietary change doesn't just affect our health and the planet -- it also has a big impact on people's livelihoods. Moving away from meat-heavy diets reduces the need for labour in animal production but increases demand in horticulture and food services," lead researcher Marco Springmann, senior researcher at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, said.

"Consistent strategies and political support will be needed to enable just transitions both into and out of agricultural labour," Springmann said.

The researchers also found that changes to the world's agriculture workforce could slash labour costs by USD 290-995 billion per year, translating to around 0.2 per cent to 0.6 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). PTI KRS AMJ AMJ