The Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) are inviting applications for the construction of a factory farm for 18,385 pigs in Sheung Shui in enclosed buildings. We oppose the construction of factory farms in Hong Kong on environmental, public health and animal welfare grounds, and request that truly environmentally friendly farming projects be constructed instead. 

香港環境和生態局（EEB）和漁農自然保護署（AFCD）正在申請在上水興建一座多層式集約化養豬場。 我們以環境、公共衛生和動物福利三方面為基礎，反對政府在香港建設集約化畜牧農場，並要求政府建立真正環保的農業計劃。

 

Further information:

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Letter to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department expanding on our reasons for opposing the pig factory farm in Sheung Shui

 

We noted with great concern the Government Press Release by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department dated May 16, 2025 and titled “Hong Kong's first multi-storey, modernised, and environment-friendly pig farming project to hold briefing session and accept applications”. We would like to express in the strongest terms possible our vehement opposition to this project on the grounds that it will not be in any way environmentally friendly or sustainable, and is a public health threat. We urge you to consider truly environmentally friendly projects as an alternative. 

 

To begin with, intensive livestock farming is not environmentally friendly. Livestock farming has a massive carbon footprint and is also responsible for global acidification and eutrophication, and Hong Kong already has a problem with algal blooms starving freshwater and marine life of oxygen. One of the largest analyses of farmland found that even the very lowest impact pig farming operations cause much more environmental harm than the least sustainable vegetable and cereal growing. Joseph Poore at the University of Oxford, UK who led the research said, “Agriculture is a sector that spans all the multitude of environmental problems. Really it is animal products that are responsible for so much of this. Avoiding consumption of animal products delivers far better environmental benefits than trying to purchase sustainable meat and dairy.” (1)

An “intensive pig farming operation” as proposed by the AFCD is also not sustainable. It takes 6.4kg of grain (2) and 6,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of pork. In stark contrast, it only takes 237 and 214 litres of water to produce 1kg of cabbage and 1kg of tomatoes respectively.(3) It follows that it would be much more sustainable to farm vegetables instead of pigs with the added benefit of being able to feed much more people with much less resources.

Therefore, the proposed intensive pig farming project is actually very unfriendly to the environment. 

 

Secondly, the AFCD is proposing “multi-storey, environment-friendly and enclosed livestock farming buildings operated in an intensive and modernised manner.” This raises serious animal welfare concerns. Intensive animal farming is by definition cruel to animals. Intensive pig farming often involves chopping some teeth and the tails off of piglets, as well as castrating them. These mutilations are done without anesthetic and cause intense and sometimes chronic pain.(4) Pigs in intensive farming operations are also confined in such cramped conditions that the ability to even turn around or engage in natural behaviours is restricted. The proposal of “enclosed livestock farming buildings” also suggests that the pigs will not have any natural sunlight or the chance to breathe fresh air. Such conditions lead to stress in the animals, and proliferation of disease and high death rates. For these reasons, intensive livestock farming practices are being phased out from modern farming operations. Why is the AFCD proposing to construct an inherently cruel intensive pig farming operation when the rest of the world is moving away from such practices? Again, we urge the AFCD to cancel the pig farming proposal in favour of one which does not cause animal cruelty and suffering.

 

Thirdly, an intensive pig farming operation is a major threat to public health and is another pandemic disaster waiting to happen. Diseases  spread rapidly in the crowded, low welfare conditions of intensive livestock operations and is the reason antibiotics are heavily used. These antibiotics eventually percolate into the food and water supply and result in bacteria becoming resistant.(5) Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are a deadly and dangerous threat to public health. For this reason alone, there should be no intensive pig farming operation in Hong Kong. 

Furthermore, intensive livestock farms are hotbeds for disease, including ones that can jump from pigs to humans. Swine and bird flu have already jumped from pigs and chickens and been fatal to humans.  In recent memory, Covid-19 jumped from bats to humans. The possibility of unleashing a pandemic similar to Covid-19 is too great a risk to take. Prevention is much better than cure and it thus on public health grounds that we strongly urge the AFCD to  build an alternative in place of the proposed pig farm.

 

Two much better alternatives to promote farming and agriculture in Hong Kong are hydroponic farming and developing plant-based meat alternatives.

Hydroponic farming of vegetables and fungi is truly environmentally friendly and also has the following benefits compared to pig farming:

·        Produces vastly less greenhouse gases 

·        Uses much less water

·        Much more sustainable and uses less resources

·        Creates a product that improves the health of people

·        No animal cruelty or suffering involved

·        Healthier and happier farm workers

·        No filthy smell or eutrophication from pig manure 

·        Does not contribute to antibiotic resistance

·        No risk of deadly diseases jumping to humans

 

The other suggested alternative is to develop the site as an incubator hub to develop meat alternatives. Since Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods broke onto the scene, plant-based meats have become an innovative, futuristic sector with the potential for huge environmental benefits. A comparison of meat and imitation meat ie. plant-based meat, found that imitation meat had the highest land use efficiency.(6) It goes back to what has been stressed over and over, that intensive livestock farming operations like the one the AFCD is proposing are the least sustainable form of agriculture.

Hong Kong already has a leader in the field of plant-based meat alternatives with OmniPork. Why not nurture this nascent sector with an incubator hub for companies in this space? Singapore is currently the leader in attracting companies developing alternatives to factory-based, intensive livestock farming operations, and has even drawn companies away from Hong Kong. Let’s bring them back and attract others as we move to a truly sustainable food supply. 

 

To reiterate, we resolutely oppose the multi-storey pig farming project in Sheung Shui on environmental, public health and animal welfare grounds. Therefore, we ask that the AFCD consider truly environmentally-friendly and sustainable  farming projects. We look forward to your response. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

 

致漁農自然保護署：

反對政府在上水興建多層式集約化養豬場及其原因

 我們極度關注漁農自然護理署於2025年5月16日發布，題為「香港首個多層式現代化環保養豬場項目將舉行簡介會及接受申請」的新聞稿。我們堅決反對此項目，養豬場絕非環保或可持續，且對公眾健康構成威脅。我們敦促政府考慮真正環保的項目作為替代方案。

首先，集約式畜牧業並不環保。畜牧業的碳足跡龐大，亦是全球酸化和富營養化的元兇，而香港早已面臨藻類大量繁殖，導致淡水和海洋生物缺氧的問題。一項對農田的大規模分析發現，即使是影響最低的養豬業，也比最不可持續的蔬菜和穀物種植造成更大的環境損害。英國牛津大學領導該研究的約瑟夫・普爾表示：「農業是一個涵蓋眾多環境問題的產業。實際上，絕大部分問題都歸咎於動物產品。避免食用動物產品比嘗試購買可持續的肉類和乳製品帶來遠更好的環境效益。」(1) 漁護署提議的「集約式養豬場」亦不可持續。生產1公斤豬肉需要6.4公斤的穀物(2)和6000公升的水。與此形成鮮明對比的是，生產1公斤捲心菜和1公斤番茄分別只需要237和214公升的水。(3) 由此可見，種植蔬菜比養豬更具可持續性，而且能夠以更少的資源餵養更多的人。 因此，擬議的集約式養豬項目實際上對環境非常不利。

其次，漁護署提議「以集約及現代化方式運作的多層式環保封閉式養豬場」引起嚴重的動物福利問題。集約式動物飼養就其定義而言，是對動物殘忍的行為。集約式養豬通常包括切除仔豬的部分牙齒和尾巴，以及對牠們進行去勢。這些殘割手術在沒有麻醉的情況下進行，會造成劇烈且有時是慢性的疼痛。(4) 集約式飼養的豬隻亦被限制在極度狹窄的空間，甚至連轉身或進行自然行為的能力都受到限制。「集約式養豬場」的提議亦暗示豬隻將無法接觸到自然陽光或呼吸新鮮空氣。這種環境會導致動物壓力過大、疾病蔓延和高死亡率。基於這些原因，集約式畜牧做法正逐步從現代化養殖作業中淘汰。當世界其他地區正摒棄這種做法時，為何漁護署卻提議興建一個本質上殘忍的集約式養豬場？我們再次敦促漁護署取消該養豬項目，轉而支持不會導致動物虐待和痛苦的方案。

第三，集約式養豬場對公眾健康構成重大威脅，是另一次潛在的疫情災難。疾病在集約式畜牧業擁擠、低福利的環境中迅速傳播，這也是大量使用抗生素的原因。這些抗生素最終滲入食物和供水系統，導致細菌產生抗藥性。(5) 抗生素耐藥性超級細菌對公眾健康構成致命且危險的威脅。僅僅基於這個原因，香港就不應存在集約式養豬場。 此外，集約式養豬場是疾病的溫床，包括可能從豬隻傳播給人類的疾病。豬流感和禽流感會從豬隻和雞隻傳播給人類，並導致死亡。記憶猶新的是，新冠病毒病從蝙蝠傳播給人類。爆發類似新冠病毒病的疫情的可能性風險太高，不容冒險。預防勝於治療，因此，基於公眾健康理由，我們強烈敦促漁護署建造替代方案，取代擬議的養豬項目。

推廣香港農業和耕作的兩個更好的替代方案是水耕種植和發展植物性的肉類替代品。 蔬菜和真菌的水耕種植是真正環保的，而與養豬場相比，還具有以下優勢：

- 大幅減少溫室氣體排放  
- 大幅減少用水量 
- 使用更少資源，更具可持續性
- 農作物有益人類健康
- 不涉及動物虐待或痛苦 
- 保障農場工人的身心健康
- 沒有豬糞所帶來的惡臭或富營養化
- 不會助長抗生素耐藥性 
- 沒有致命疾病傳播給人類的風險

另一個建議的替代方案是將該地點發展為研究肉類替代品的中心。自Beyond Meat和Impossible Foods問世以來，植物性肉類已成為一個創新、具未來性的產業，更有巨大的環境效益潛力。一項肉類和人造肉（即植物性肉類）的比較研究發現，人造肉的土地利用效率最高。(6) 這再次強調了我們一再重申的觀點，即漁護署提議的集約式畜牧業是最不可持續的農業形式。 香港已有植物性肉類替代品領域的領先者OmniPork，何不培育這個新興產業？新加坡目前在吸引開發替代集約式畜牧業的公司方面處於領先地位，甚至吸引了一些公司從香港搬走。讓我們在邁向真正可持續的食物供應之際，吸引更多公司。

重申，我們基於環境、公共健康和動物福利理由，堅決反對在上水興建多層式養豬項目。因此，我們要求漁護署考慮真正環保和可持續的農業項目。我們期待你們的回覆。謝謝。

此致

聯署人

  

1. Poore, J., and Nemecek, T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science Vol 360, Issue 6392, pp. 987-992. 2018.

2. Meat conversion efficiencies - Alexander et al. (2016) – processed by Our World in Data. University of Oxford. 

3. How much water is needed to produce food and how much do we waste? Data  Blog, The Guardian. 2016.

4. Piglets are forced to endure painful mutilations in factory farming. It’s time to end their suffering. Mills, Jacqueline. World Animal Protection. 2019.

5. Superbug fight 'needs farmers to reduce antibiotic use'. Marshall, Claire and Prior, Malcolm. BBC. 2022.

6. Could consumption of insects, cultured meat or imitation meat reduce global agricultural land use? Alexander, Peter, et al. Global Food Security, Science Direct, Vol. 15, pages 22-32. 2017.

 

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Press release from the AFCD inviting "applications from organisations for the use of the (Sheung Shui) site to construct and operate the first multi-storey, modernised, and environment-friendly pig farm"

https://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/agriculture/agr_mul/multistoreypigfarm.html