EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LIFE CYCLE COSTING FOR SUSTAINABLE POULTRY PRODUCTION IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

The agriculture sector is essential for sustainable food production and maintaining socio-economic stability. Throughout the world, this sector continually faces the challenge of remaining profitable while addressing various environmental concerns. Currently, Malaysia is one of the countries that aspire to fulfil the global efforts towards sustainable agriculture. However, the challenge remains to assess the economic cost of environmental emissions generated from these activities. Given this, a study was carried out to evaluate the environmental cost associated with the agricultural sub-sector of poultry production. The study applied the method of life cycle assessment (LCA) to assess the overall environmental impacts. Following this, the approach of life cycle costing (LCC) and environmental life cycle costing (ELCC) was adopted, whereby the results for potential cost increase were assessed. The overall results indicated a potential cost increase of 25.12% if the environmental costs are included in future production costs. To avoid refusal among the producers, the best option is to encourage them to mitigate and reduce emissions before policymakers can implement new policies to impose the cost on the market. It is hoped that the findings in this study will serve as a reference for various methods to assess the environmental cost related to the agricultural sector in Malaysia.