© 2020 AU-IBAR. SADC Regional Stakeholder Consultation Workshop to Refine Implementation Modalities of Catalytic Actions for Prioritized Regional Livestock Value Chains. Group Photo.Victoria, Seychelles
9^th to 11^th March 2020

Background

1. The African Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) conducted a consultative stakeholder meeting at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort, Victoria, Seychelles from 9^th to 11^th of March 2020 to refine the implementation modalities of catalytic actions for the prioritised red meat and live animals Regional Livestock Value Chain (RLVC).
2. The meeting was attended by 31 participants from 14 SADC Member States (Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), tertiary institutions (Stellenbosch University, University of Zambia, University of Zimbabwe), a member of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research - International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), red meat and live animals industry – (the Lesotho abattoir and the National Emergent Red Meat Producers' Organisation (NERPO)) and staff from AU-IBAR.
3. The overall objective of the workshop was to: build consensus on modalities including, prioritised intervention and action areas, develop workplans and time-frames, budget and targets for implementation of defined catalytic actions under the SADC Priority Regional Livestock Value Chain of the red meat and live animals.
4. The specific objectives were to:
   
   1. Review and build consensus on priority catalytic intervention actions as defined during the stakeholder stocktaking exercise and consolidated during the Project Steering Committee meeting.
   2. Draft a Concept Note including workplan and budget along the priority catalytic intervention areas of the Regional Livestock Value Chain of the red meat and live animals.
   3. Consolidate implementation modalities which include subsidiary complementarity and direct intervention by AU-IBAR.
   4. Establish implementation approaches for knowledge management and communication.
   5. Establish risks and assumptions, potential constraints and mitigation measures.

Proceedings

1. The meeting was chaired by Botswana. Representing the Government of Seychelles, Ms Alejandra Cubillos welcomed the participants to the workshop. She emphasised the importance of achieving the set objectives, including reaching a consensus on the implementation modalities and coming up with a Concept Note for the red meat and live animal value chain. She also noted that this meeting was coming at a time when Seychelles was developing its Livestock Strategy and enhancing some of its livestock value chains and would therefore benefit from the proceedings. On behalf of the Director of AU-IBAR, Dr Edward Nengomasha informed the participants that this workshop was a follow-up to the stakeholder stock-taking exercise conducted in August 2019 in Cairo, Egypt and was to define intervention areas along the Priority Livestock Value Chains under the theme ‘Catalytic Actions to Boost Equitable Growth’. He also noted the agreement that each REC would develop a detailed Concept Note with priority activities, clear expected outputs and impacts, budgets, timelines, as well as responsible institutions to operationalize the support from the Live2Africa project. He emphasized that the task ahead of the workshop was significant especially that the catalytic actions of the chosen regional livestock value chain were expected to contribute to the improvement of the livelihoods of SADC livestock keepers and contribute to food and nutrition security as well as economic growth.
2. The proceedings comprised plenary presentations and group work. The participants were split into three groups and tasked to identify key areas of intervention considered priority by the SADC region from the presented three strategic areas. It was stressed to the participants that the key interventions should be implementable with tangible positive outputs before the end of the project in December 2021.
3. The groups deliberations generated the following key intervention areas:
   
   1. Develop mechanisms to enhance market access at local, regional and international levels.
   2. Develop approaches for conservation and utilization of natural resources and the environment.
   3. Develop /Promote platforms/ hubs for knowledge, communication and information sharing at local, national and regional levels including the use of ICTs.
   4. Develop a framework for Public Private Producer Partnerships (PPPP) in the red meat and live animals
   5. Value chain.
   6. Capacity building of stakeholders (both public and private sector) along the value chain.
4. Out of these intervention areas, participants were encouraged to further prioritize and to match the available funds from the project. Furthermore, it was explained that the process to operationalise incubation of selected agri-preneurs at a Regional African Technology and Innovation Incubation Hub (A-TiChub) had been initiated at the Live2Africa project level. Earlier meetings of stakeholders from the SADC region had proposed Stellenbosch University and Tshwane University of Technology as potential institutions to serve this purpose. The participants endorsed consideration of these two institutions. After thorough deliberations, the participants came to a consensus on the following three priority interventions areas to be implemented for the red meat and Live animals value chains:
   1. Develop approaches for conservation and utilization of natural resources and the environment.
   2. Develop mechanisms to enhance market access at local, regional and international level.
   3. Develop/ Promote platforms/ hubs for knowledge, communication and information sharing at local, national and regional levels including the use of ICTs.
5. The participants then developed a draft Concept Note (CN) for the region. The above-mentioned priority areas of interventions informed the development of the CN for the red meat and live animals value chains. The CN was drafted based on a template provided.

Way Forward

The Concept Note will be finalized by the SADC region and submitted to AU-IBAR for funding under the Live2Africa project.

Victoria, Seychelles, 11^th March 2020

Communiqué - SADC Regional Stakeholder Consultation Workshop to Refine Implementation Modalities of Catalytic Actions for Prioritized Regional Livestock Value Chains
2020-05-02   English  405.91 KB

© 2019 AU-IBAR. Regional Training-of-trainers workshop on Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) for promotion of the dairy value chain in Eastern Africa.In East Africa, the dairy value chain is considered very important and contributes significantly to the regional economies. This is further emphasized by the East African Community (EAC) and other stakeholders. Key intervention areas were identified to promote this priority livestock value chain in the region. One of the key interventions proposed is the promotion of utilization and adoption of application of the latest reproductive technologies to increase milk production in the respective member states. There is indeed room for growth and opportunities for East Africa to embrace available and novel technologies and innovations that will propel the value chain to function at the desired level. It is therefore pertinent that, the East African member states provide enabling environments for increased technology uptake, utilization and transfer.

As part of providing leadership and coordination in the sustainable development of the continent’s Animal Resources, AU-IBAR is implementing a 5-year project on “Sustainable Development of Livestock for Livelihoods in Africa - Live2Africa”. The Live2Africa project is a vehicle for the promotion of the implementation of the Livestock Development Strategy for Africa (LiDeSA) and is aligned with Agenda 2063 development goals. One of the key project’s focus areas is to enhance utilization and adoption of technologies as well as build human capacities in priority livestock value chains in the regions. In line with AU-IBAR’s mandate, the Live2Africa project is training key stakeholders on the use of various assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to ensure optimal milk production, processing and value addition.

Robust training is pertinent as it ultimately culminates in increased ART transfer and adoption across the region. The increased awareness creation through training further draws the attention of policy makers on the benefits of ARTs and ultimately triggers increased investment in the Dairy livestock value chain.