Final Communiqué

Addis Ababa – Ethiopia – 7th September 2012

Introduction

A continental inception workshop for the project 'Develop and Implement a Certification and Traceability System in Pastoral Areas' (i.e. the Livestock Identification and Traceability Project – LIT), was held on 7th September 2012 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Participants of the Workshop included Public Veterinary services, livestock trade and marketing associations, continental and regional initiatives supporting livestock trade and marketing in Africa, AU-IBAR, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The Workshop was opened by the Director of AU-IBAR, Prof Ahmed El-Sawalhy.

Participants to the Workshop

1. Suitable livestock identification and traceability systems in pastoral areas identified;
2. Capacity to develop and implement livestock identification and traceability systems in Africa enhanced.

The workshop had the following objectives:

1. To share experiences on animal identification and traceability systems at national and regional levels;
2. To raise awareness on the importance and benefits of animal identification and traceability on food safety and safe livestock trade;
3. To agree on project activities and the road map.

During the plenary and group discussions, the following issues were discussed:

• Purpose, expected results and proposed activities of the project;
• Concepts of livestock identification and traceability;
• Experiences of RECs and Member States on Livestock Identification and Traceability systems (LITs).

Following the deliberations and considering that:

1. About 70% of livestock produced in Africa is raised in pastoral systems and forms an important source of livelihoods and food security for the pastoralist;
2. Access to regional and international livestock markets is essential for livestock keepers to support livelihoods and food security;
3. There is increasing market demand by trading partners on health and food safety standards;
4. Disease risk management strategies based on OIE Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS) require a livestock identification and traceability capability for effective implementation;
5. In pastoral systems livestock movement occurs across national boundaries for trade or for pasture and effective disease control and animal identification and traceability system should take a regional approach;
6. Transboundary pastoral systems transhumance and nomadism) have their unique challenges and therefore a novel system of LIT is required;
7. Traditional livestock identification has been used for centuries in Africa but only a few systems have basic traceability capability. However, comprehensive, systematic and formal identification and traceability systems are lacking in all regions, i.e. Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), Union du Maghreb Arabe (UMA), East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); except the Southern African Development Community (SADC);
8. AU-IBAR's role in supporting MS to build capacity in the development and application of international standards and regulations required for food safety, safe trade in livestock and livestock products and control of animal diseases.

We, representatives of Ministries in charge of Livestock, Regional economic Communities and national/regional stakeholders organizations of the livestock sector from the continent, gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 7th September 2012 , at the occasion of the Livestock Identification and Traceability Inception and Awareness workshop,

•  Recognize the need for the establishment of sound, adequate and sustainable LITS in Africa in order to address the following issues:
  • Facilitation of trade/certification
  • Breeding
  • Facilitation of animal movements and transhumance
  • Disease control
  • Public health
  • Resolution of conflicts and control of cattle theft/rustling
  • Statistics /census
  • Insurance
• Recommend that the following principles are considered when designing LITS for Africa:
  • LITS should take into account and build on the existing traditional systems, which have proved their efficiency and adequacy to pastoral contexts;
  • In line with the above, transfer of systems and techniques from countries with different conditions (copy and paste), which has lead to many failures and waste of resources in the past, should be avoided;
  • Simplicity, sustainability and cost efficiency should be the main guiding principles for the design of LITS. LITS can be sustained and adopted only if the benefits they provide are recognized by the users and the community and compensate the cost;
  • LITS should be harmonized at regional level;
  • Communication with all stakeholders should be maintained throughout the development and implementation of LITS.
• Recommend AU-IBAR, in partnership with RECs, to undertake an inventory of all existing LITs systems, including traditional systems, with an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses with strong involvement of other organisations and stakeholders;
• Recommend AU-IBAR to undertake a cost benefit analysis and feasibility study of innovative LITS in pastoral areas;
• Recommend AU-IBAR to pilot identification and traceability schemes based on the feasibility study findings and the principles stated above, in a selected sample of African countries, with priority to pastoral systems;
• Recommend AU-IBAR to publish policy briefs based on best practices and on the findings of feasibility/cost benefit analysis study as well as lessons learnt from piloting studies;
• Recommend AU-IBAR and RECs to undertake awareness raising and advocacy campaigns, using outputs and lessons learnt from the studies;
• Recommend AU-IBAR to develop a continental strategy and roadmap for all regions of Africa;
• Recommend AU-IBAR and RECs to assist MS in designing adequate policy and legal frameworks to support LITs;
• Urge the AU-IBAR and other technical partners to keep the stakeholders informed of the progress being made in development and implementation of LITs in pastoral areas and to ensure complimentarity and synergy;
• Recommend the RECs to develop regional LITs policy frameworks and strategies.

Vote of thanks

• The participants of the continental meeting for livestock Identification and Traceability thank the Ethiopian Government for hosting and facilitating the workshop.
• They also thank AU-IBAR for organizing such an important and timely gathering.
• The participants also convey a special gratitude to the Spanish Government and the European Union for the financial support