Where: Guigang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Sector: Agriculture & forestry
About the project
Guangxi Yangxiang Co. Ltd. received three loans from the IFC since 2016. The company has become internationally famous because of its “hog hotels”: large-scale, intensive pig farms housed in 13 floors-high buildings with limited contacts with the external world. Supporters of such projects praise the bio-safety of this innovative pig farming method; however, critiques denounce animal welfare issues which could easily lead to disease outbreaks even in the safest “hog hotel”. And in factories that can raise and slaughter millions of pigs per year, a disease outbreak would have catastrophic consequences. Other potential issues that critiques observed relate to economic displacement of smallholder farmers, local environmental impacts of large-scale activities, and risks posed by the supply chains that need to feed industrial animal agriculture models.
Relevant IFC standards that were violated
  • Performance Standard 1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
  • Performance Standard 2 Labor and Working Conditions
  • Performance Standard 3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention
  • Performance Standard 4 Community Health, Safety, and Security
  • Performance Standard 6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources
For further information, check here.