Cross-Movement Collaboration For Farmed Animal Advocates In Southeast Asia

By JLRiedi @ 2025-06-25T16:02 (+6)

A new study from Faunalytics & The Good Growth Co. examines the landscape of social movements in six Southeast Asian countries — Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam — to identify opportunities for collaboration between farmed animal advocates and other sectors. The research focuses on the environmental and health/development movements, analyzing how these groups operate, where their goals align with animal advocacy, and how coalitions form and function in the region.

Drawing on interviews with local leaders and country-specific research, the report provides practical guidance on how farmed animal advocates can engage strategically with existing movements to increase their impact. The findings highlight shared concerns such as food system sustainability, land use, public health, and rural livelihoods, and offer recommendations for building trust, navigating political dynamics, and forming effective, context-sensitive coalitions.

This study serves as a foundational resource for advocates, researchers, and funders interested in fostering intersectional approaches to systemic change in Southeast Asia.

https://faunalytics.org/cross-movement-collaboration-for-farmed-animal-advocates-in-southeast-asia/ 

Background

The goals of animal advocacy organizations have the potential to benefit not just animals, but also public health, environmental outcomes, and livelihoods, leading many to believe that increased cooperation between social movements may increase their impact. Research has found that environmental supporters are more likely to take pro-animal actions than those unconcerned (Faunalytics, 2023), and that potential collaboration between animal advocates and climate organizations is feasible in China, Brazil, and the U.S. (Faunalytics, 2024), particularly on issues like legal advocacy, education, and promoting plant-based diets. Furthermore, research and policy frameworks have been developed in India (Samayu, 2024) to support collaboration between animal advocates and other movements, engaging decision-makers and farmers through a One Health and resilience lens. However, Southeast Asia, a critical region for farmed animal advocacy, lacks comparable research to support this kind of alignment.

This scoping study explores social movements in Southeast Asian society more broadly — what these movements are, the key players, how they achieve policy or other broad implementation of goals, and how different movements in the region already work together. It also looks at how these movements perceive, and could support, goals they share with farmed animal advocates.

This study examines social movements in six Southeast Asian countries — Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam — selected for their large human and animal populations and their economic significance. After a preliminary literature review, local researchers helped identify key organizations, gray literature, and social media content on social movements in their countries. We then selected two movements for in-depth analysis: the environmental movement and the health and development movement, focused on human development — well-being, livelihoods, and access to basic services. We interviewed senior staff at organizations in these movements, providing specific insights into the social movements in their regions.

These findings will help farmed animal advocates strategize future collaborations with other movements, giving direction on how to approach them, how their goals may overlap, and country-by-country analysis to give more specific advice. This report will also help researchers think of future research projects designed to make advocacy and collaboration in Southeast Asia easier.

Key Findings

1. Environmental and health/development movements in Southeast Asia show the most promising opportunities for collaboration. They share concerns with animal advocates particularly around diets, land-use change, antibiotic overuse and disease spillover in animal agriculture, and the environmental impact of factory farming, as well as the economic impacts of farming on the livelihoods of rural and lower-income communities. Some organizations in these movements already engage in advocacy related to sustainable and healthy food systems, making them receptive partners for farmed animal advocates.
2. A significant level of collaboration already exists between and within movements, especially for climate, health, and intersectional issues. Climate and health organizations often work together in complex coalitions covering multiple demographic groups and cause areas. Additionally, broad cross-cause or political coalitions, such as those associated with the recently disbanded Move Forward Party in Thailand, bring together movements working on intersecting issues. Alongside formal alliances, there are also soft ties and opportunistic cross-cause support, such as loosely connected climate organizations meeting to draft a shared statement, allowing for more flexible and issue-specific collaborations.
3. Coalitions function through complementary roles, strategic negotiation, and diverse advocacy approaches. Effective coalitions assign roles based on member strengths — some organizations focus on grassroots mobilization or institutional engagement, while others balance confrontational and diplomatic tactics depending on the context. Coalition success often hinges on partners negotiating shared priorities, building trust, and strategically engaging decision-makers. For animal advocates, this requires balancing compromise with advocacy goals and navigating power dynamics carefully, particularly when entering established coalitions.
4. Political and social factors create wide variation in movement strength and coalition potential across countries. While countries like Thailand and the Philippines benefit from vibrant social movements and grassroots engagement, others, such as Singapore and Vietnam, face constraints due to limited civic space and restrictive political environments. Structural and funding limitations, especially in countries like Vietnam and Malaysia where non-profit activity is closely monitored, further shape collaboration possibilities. Cross-border efforts and large regional coalition projects can amplify impact, facilitate knowledge-sharing, and are often better positioned to secure grants and support (see Appendix for list of funders). However, regional coalitions can be difficult to sustain, as differing local priorities, political contexts, and advocacy strategies often necessitate country-specific approaches.
5. Alignment and trust are crucial for effective collaboration. Successful partnerships with other social movements require both strategic alignment and the establishment of credibility. Some movements or actors may view farmed animal advocacy as unimportant or conflicting with their priorities, leading to skepticism about collaboration. Advocates must therefore invest in finding common ground and building relationships and credibility. This can be achieved through engagement with existing networks, trust-building, and demonstrating alignment with widely shared concerns — such as public health, livelihoods, or environmental protection — before introducing farmed animal issues.
6. Social movements drive change through both top-down advocacy and bottom-up mobilization. The former focuses on policy and corporate engagement, while the latter emphasizes grassroots action and cultural shifts. These approaches also interact with the distinction between elite-driven movements targeting institutional actors or the urban middle class and those engaging rural or working-class communities. Advocates must consider how these dynamics shape their strategies and whether to prioritize institutional change, grassroots engagement, or a mix of both based on their capacity and local context.
7. Collaboration across and within movements is often pragmatic and project-based. Across Southeast Asia, advocates in climate and health/development movements frequently collaborate through joint events, shared research, treaty work, co-funded initiatives, and project-based partnerships. These collaborations are often motivated by mutual benefit, strategic alignment, or practical support. This flexible, opportunity-driven style allows actors to build trust and impact without requiring full value alignment.

Conclusions

Farmed animal advocacy in Southeast Asia has the potential to grow significantly by integrating with the region’s active social movements, particularly those focused on environmental and health issues. Many challenges tied to farmed animals — such as industrial farming expansion, rising non-communicable diseases, and antibiotic overuse — are closely linked to broader human and environmental concerns. By positioning farmed animal welfare within a larger system that affects human well-being, climate resilience, and public health, advocates can form alliances in grassroots campaigns and broader policy discussions. This approach not only increases visibility for farmed animal issues, but also embeds solutions within long-term systemic change.

However, there are challenges and trade-offs. Animal advocacy does not always align neatly with other cause areas, and some social movements — such as those centered on religion, democratic change, agriculture, and gender or LGBTQ+ rights — may have different priorities or even conflicts with farmed animal advocacy. This makes coalition-building a careful process that must account for contextual and structural barriers.

This report has explored different structures and forms of collaboration. Engaging grassroots and youth movements presents an opportunity for large-scale social change, with farmed animal advocacy potentially playing a role in broader transformations. However, immediate policy shifts and corporate reforms will require engagement with decision-makers in government and business. Organizations must carefully assess whether to prioritize grassroots collaborations, elite-driven advocacy, or broader movement alliances based on their strengths and strategic positioning. Many of these structures already exist across Southeast Asia and can be leveraged.

The future of farmed animal advocacy in Southeast Asia will depend on advocates’ ability to navigate this complex and evolving landscape. While barriers such as limited political freedoms, economic reliance on animal agriculture, and entrenched cultural perceptions of meat consumption may slow progress, the rise of climate-conscious youth movements, public health initiatives, and ethical consumption trends presents new opportunities. By strategically aligning with other movements and adopting a flexible, context-sensitive approach, advocates can contribute to systemic change that benefits both animals and society.