Summary

• Farmed animal advocacy in Africa is growing but remains fragmented, underfunded, and heavily reliant on founder-led initiatives.
• Many advocates face limited formal career opportunities, making it unclear where individuals can have the most lasting impact.
• Animal Advocacy Africa (AAA) conducted a structured study using desk research, surveys, and expert interviews to map the most promising career pathways for advancing farmed animal welfare across the continent.
• The top three high-impact career paths identified are: Government and Public Administration, Earning to Give (E2G), and Charity Entrepreneurship.
• Other promising options include Corporate Sector Insider Activism, NGO Roles in Adjacent Causes, and Mission-Aligned For-Profit Entrepreneurship.
• The findings informed AAA’s new Pathways Programme, a free, self-guided programme helping advocates identify, plan, and prepare for impactful careers in animal advocacy.
• Overall, this research provides the first continent-wide, evidence-based framework for talent development and strategic career planning in farmed animal welfare across Africa.
• The full report can be found here.

Why This Research Was Needed

While farmed animal welfare is gradually gaining traction across Africa, the movement remains nascent, fragmented, and under-resourced. A growing number of advocates and organisations are emerging, yet most struggle with limited funding, few formal roles, and uncertain long-term career prospects.

At the same time, broader Effective Altruism (EA) discussions, such as Lauren Mee’s post “Why Many EAs May Have More Impact Outside of Nonprofits in Animal Welfare”, have raised questions about where individuals can create the most value when nonprofit pathways are constrained. We observed similar dynamics in Africa’s animal advocacy ecosystem: low absorbency, unstable finances, and heavy reliance on founder-led initiatives.

To address these gaps, AAA conducted a comprehensive study to identify which career paths could most effectively strengthen the farmed animal movement across the continent. We evaluated opportunities across multiple institutional pathways, from government and academia to corporate and entrepreneurial roles, to understand where additional talent and resources could achieve the greatest impact.

Our report, “Career Paths for Effectively Improving Farmed Animal Welfare in Africa”, highlights high-impact, scalable, and tractable career options that can build a stronger, more resilient movement for animals in Africa.

What We Did

To move from curiosity to clarity, we adopted a structured yet adaptive research process. 

Our first step was to identify and define a set of potential career paths, across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors that could create the greatest positive impact for farmed animals in Africa. This list served as a strategic framework rather than an exhaustive taxonomy, focusing on institutional entry points with the strongest potential for systemic change.

Next, we assessed each path using a Weighted Factor Model (WFM), a structured decision tool that helped us compare their relative promise. Our WFM drew on three key evidence sources:

• Desk research: consulting global and Africa-specific sources to inform our understanding of career impact and opportunities.
• Surveys: capturing perspectives from AAA alumni and external stakeholders to understand perceived opportunities and bottlenecks.
• Semi-structured expert interviews: contextualising scores through in-depth conversations with practitioners across sectors.

Each path was evaluated across seven criteria, namely: potential scale of impact, tractability/ accessibility, neglectedness, career capital development, stability and sustainability, diversity of intervention options and timeliness/urgency. Three AAA staff members developed and scored the model, combining their internal assessments with survey responses to generate a final weighted score for each career path. This process yielded our ranked list of the most promising pathways for animal advocates in Africa.

Throughout the process, we remained transparent about our assumptions and limitations, acknowledging data scarcity, the subjectivity of weights, and the evolving nature of Africa’s policy and market windows. 

Key Findings

Summary

Overall, our research indicates that the most strategically promising career paths in Africa combine high leverage, neglectedness, and potential for career development, namely, Government and Public Administration, Earning to Give (E2G), and Charity Entrepreneurship. For detailed scores and methodological insights, please refer to the full Career Mapping Report. The findings highlight which paths are most strategically valuable for aspiring and experienced advocates, while also acknowledging viable, lower-ranked alternatives. Below, we summarise our findings, presented in order from the most recommended career paths (highest ranked) to lower-ranked career paths based on our analysis.

Recommended Career Paths

These are the top three career paths AAA considers most impactful for advancing farmed animal welfare in Africa. They combine high potential for systemic change with opportunities for personal growth and skill development. Strengthening these areas could significantly accelerate progress for animals across the continent.

1. Government and Public Administration: Careers in government, local authorities, and intergovernmental institutions offer a unique opportunity to influence policies, budgets, and regulatory frameworks that indirectly affect millions of animals. While entry barriers are high, requiring advanced qualifications, networks, and technical expertise, these roles are extremely neglected in Africa and provide significant potential for systemic change and transferable career skills. Early engagement in these institutions is critical as industrial farming expands across the continent.
2. Earning to Give (E2G): Pursuing high-earning careers with the goal of donating a share of income can have outsized impact, funding multiple full-time advocates or projects. Although accessibility is limited by training requirements and income potential, E2G is almost absent within African animal advocacy. Advocates pursuing this path can also gain transferable skills, professional networks, and leverage their resources to stabilise and grow the movement.
3. Charity Entrepreneurship: Founding new organisations allows advocates to directly address neglected gaps in farmed animal welfare. While high-risk and resource-dependent, charity entrepreneurship has enormous upside potential. Founders rapidly acquire skills in leadership, operations, fundraising, and stakeholder management, and can tailor interventions to national contexts. The scarcity of early-stage charities in Africa makes this path highly neglected and urgent, particularly given the rapid expansion of industrial farming.

Other Promising Career Paths

These paths ranked slightly lower but still offer substantial potential to improve animal welfare. Depending on your background, skills, and network, they may represent equally valuable entry points into the movement. For many advocates, these careers can be both impactful and personally rewarding.

1. Corporate Sector Insider Activism: Influencing company policies, supply chains, and ESG standards from within.
   Reason for ranking: While this career path has strong leverage potential and emerging opportunities in Africa within animal agriculture-related companies, effectiveness depends heavily on the market power of corporations and their alignment with welfare goals.
2. Roles in Adjacent Cause Area NGOs: Positions in non-profits addressing intersecting areas such as food systems, environment, or public health.
   Reason for ranking: Opportunities are relatively accessible and neglected, but the impact on farmed animal welfare is indirect.
3. Mission-Aligned For-Profit Entrepreneurship: Founding or leading businesses promoting alternatives to animal agriculture or higher welfare practices.
   Reason for ranking: High potential impact in the long term, but significant technical, financial, and market barriers limit feasibility and scale in Africa.

Alternative Career Paths

While not prioritised in our current analysis, these paths remain meaningful options for those whose circumstances or interests align more closely with them. Each offers unique ways to contribute to animal welfare, and we encourage advocates to consider where their strengths and opportunities best fit.

1. Political Careers: Running for or holding office to influence legislation and public policy.
   Reason for ranking: Potentially high systemic impact, but extremely high entry barriers and slow timelines limit practical tractability for most advocates.
2. Philanthropy and Grantmaking: Directing funds toward effective animal welfare causes.
   Reason for ranking: Critical for movement resources, but scarce local roles and competitive access make this path highly limited in Africa.
3. Academia: Research and teaching in veterinary science, agriculture, philosophy, environmental science, public health, or related fields.
   Reason for ranking: Academia offers high credibility and long-term influence, but slow feedback loops, limited positions, and scarce funding restrict immediate impact.
4. Roles within Existing Animal Welfare NGOs: Professional roles at established organisations improving farmed animal welfare.
   Reason for ranking: While there is strong potential for direct impact, roles in animal welfare non-profits working in Africa are few, funding is limited, and roles are highly competitive.
5. Roles within Existing Pro-Animal Businesses: Working in companies advancing alternatives to animal agriculture or improving welfare.
   Reason for ranking: Opportunities are emerging but constrained by market size, funding gaps, and technical expertise requirements.

From Research to Action: The Career Guide Programme 

To make the insights from our career mapping actionable, AAA has developed the Pathways Programme, a short, self-guided programme designed to help advocates explore and prepare for high-impact careers in farmed animal welfare across Africa.

The programme translates research findings into practical guidance by helping participants:

1. Understand top career paths such as Government and Public Administration, Earning to Give (E2G), and Charity Entrepreneurship.
2. Reflect on their strengths and motivations to identify where they can have the greatest impact.
3. Plan concrete next steps with a structured personal roadmap.

By providing structured guidance, case studies, and self-assessment tools, the programme enables emerging advocates to navigate a complex landscape, consider alternatives to traditional NGO roles, and make informed career decisions. This approach reflects our broader research insight: while the African farmed animal movement is growing, opportunities remain limited, underfunded, and unevenly distributed.

Our Pathways Programme is intended for aspiring and experienced advocates seeking clarity on where their efforts can have the greatest long-term effect. Interested participants can sign up for the programme here.

Call to Engage

We invite the EA and broader animal advocacy community to engage with the findings and tools from this research:

• Read the full report: Access detailed scoring, case studies, and methodology to explore the top career paths for farmed animal advocacy in Africa.
• Explore our Pathways Programme: Use the programme to identify high-impact roles, plan career trajectories, and align personal skills with the most promising pathways.
• Share our Pathways Programme: We warmly encourage you to help spread the word about our programme, particularly if you have access to a strong network of aspiring advocates.
• Collaborate with AAA: Share feedback, suggest research extensions, or discuss joint initiatives to strengthen talent pipelines and systemic impact across the continent. Contact us via email.

Obligatory Disclaimers/Final Considerations

While this research highlights promising career paths for farmed animal advocacy in Africa, it is important to remember that these rankings are indicative, and which career path is best for each person heavily depends on career fit, personal skills, interests, professional networks, and life circumstances, which can dramatically influence the path with the most impact for any given advocate.

Additionally, the landscape for farmed animal advocacy is evolving rapidly. Policy windows, market conditions, funding availability, and movement priorities may shift over time, meaning that our rankings are not static. We encourage readers to use this blog and our in-depth report as strategic guides while continuously evaluating new evidence, emerging opportunities, and their own unique strengths when planning a career in the field.