Livestock's contribution to poverty alleviation and food security

The livestock sector is an important part of the economies of the African countries, accounting for about 25% of agricultural GDP on average. It has unrivalled prospects for growth because it has the fastest growing market which is driven by urban and higher income consumers within Africa and globally. It supports and sustains the livelihoods of over 300 million people in Africa. These people fully or partially depend on livestock for income and/or subsistence. Livestock can provide a steady stream of food and revenue, and are often the only means of asset accumulation and risk diversification. Moreover, it creates employment opportunities in the agriculture and industry sectors. In addition to employment, livestock offer other livelihoods services such as social capital, which is an important social function essential in establishing and maintaining the social networks through which risk is managed. In many agricultural systems, livestock are particularly important to women who engage in selling livestock products.

Despite its crucial role in Africa's economy and livelihoods services, the livestock sector has, however, remained undeveloped because of a number of constraints, the main of which is the huge burden of animal diseases. In order to alleviate this problem, national veterinary services in Africa should play a prominent role in preventing and controlling emerging and re-emerging diseases. Their role should even go beyond the enhancement of animal production by reducing losses caused by animal diseases. They should also aim at safeguarding public health by tracking animal diseases transmissible to humans and protecting consumers from food-related health risks, and improving access to markets. Member States (MSs) however, cannot fulfil all these without adequate policies and legislations which are responding to the establishment of efficient and affordable veterinary services.

The quest for adequate policies and legislations for the livestock sector

Policies and legislations are the prerequisites for public and private investment, which can be used to implement programmes and projects. The prevailing agricultural policy environment in most African countries, however, appears to be unfavourable to attract investment in livestock development in general and the provision of efficient, affordable and sustainable veterinary services in particular. The following observations characterise the nature of agricultural policies in Africa:

• Despite livestock's fundamental importance, many agricultural policies focus on the crop sector. It is indicative of livestock's low profile in national planning that Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) contain only general points relevant to the livestock sector. Government policies for the agriculture sector for many years have been targeting food security through increasing cereal crop production, and have incorporated livestock primarily in terms of its contribution to crop production.
• Where livestock policies have been formulated, they tend to be based on poor levels of information and analysis, and are generally formulated without participation from key stakeholders, most notably the poor and the private sector.
• At this time of globalisation, agricultural/livestock policies need to embrace major concerns of the global community, such as food safety and the transmission of diseases from animals to humans (zoonoses). Globally, animal health systems are becoming increasingly a 'global public good'. Failure of one country to prevent and control zoonoses or animal diseases may endanger others. To address this concern, the global community is pursuing the "One Health (OH)" approach. The approach envisions a global partnership aimed at minimising the impact of epidemics and pandemics caused by highly infectious diseases of humans and animals, thereby improving public health, animal health, food safety, food security, livelihoods and the environment.

It is therefore clear that change is required to review/change livestock policies towards contributing to the development agenda through tapping livestock resources. That is why policies and legislations have constituted a central place in the Reinforcing Veterinary Governance in Africa (VET-GOV) Programme.

The VET-GOV Programme

The Programme contributes to the overall strategic objective of AU-IBAR, which is "to improve the contribution of livestock to food security and safety, economic growth and wealth creation in Africa." In support of this objective, the VET-GOV Programme is poised to "improve the institutional environment at national and regional levels to provide effective and efficient animal health services in Africa. The strategic focus is on strengthening veterinary services towards (i) the establishment of adequate and affordable veterinary services on the national level; (ii) strengthen regional institutions to play their coordinating, harmonising, supporting and integration roles between their MS in line with the OH concept. This will be done through two intertwined interventions: evidence-based advocacy, and capacity building programmes for policy formulation and implementation.

The Programme is expected to deliver the following results:

• Result 1: Knowledge and awareness for institutional strengthening enhanced.
• Result 2: Institutional capacity for livestock policy formulation, animal health strategies and legislation enhanced.
• Result 3: Institutional capacity for the implementation of policies strengthened.