Reclaiming the Means of Meat Processing – Practical Guidance for Building Micro-Abattoirs

The Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) recently released a report entitled the Means of Meat Processing: Legal Reforms and Practical Steps to Building the Intrinsic Infrastructure of Agroecology.

This resource is the culmination of nearly a decade of advocacy work by AFSA farmers and allies, designed to support meat producers navigating the path toward building on-farm micro abattoirs.

With service-kills declining and abattoirs closing, the viability of direct-to-community meat, and the sovereignty and livelihoods of small producers is at risk.

This two-part report first surveys the problem and advocates for state-based reforms, and then provides technical guidance on how to collectivise to build a micro-abattoir. It includes:

• Step-by-step practical guidance on micro-abattoir construction, licensing, and site selection;
• Governance models for community or co-operative builds;
• Funding pathways (grants, debt, shared equity, and community-supported models);
• Risk management strategies and lessons learned from micro abattoir projects;
• And a deep dive into the Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths micro abattoir case study and other local efforts.

The report is available for download here: Part 1: Where have all the abattoirs gone and what can governments do about it? 

Please note: The full report including Part 2 is available for AFSA members only. We encourage you to join AFSA to access it. Once you have signed up for AFSA membership, please email us for access to the report (coordinator@afsa.org.au).