Towards the global eradication of PPR: partnerships, funding and shared responsibility

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Rome, 2025 – During the FAO Global Conference on Sustainable Livestock Transformation, leaders from governments, international organizations, development partners, the private sector and civil society came together with a shared commitment: to eradicate Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) worldwide by 2030 and to make biosecurity the cornerstone of sustainable livestock systems.

High-level participants included the Ministers of Livestock from Uganda and Burkina Faso, ambassadors, representatives of the World Bank, the European Union, the African Development Bank, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and international organizations such as FAO, WOAH, AU-IBAR and the IAEA. Together, they reaffirmed that livestock health is central to food security, livelihoods, and resilience for millions of smallholder farmers across Africa and beyond.

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Key Messages

✅ PPR is more than a veterinary issue  it is an economic, social and security challenge.

✅ Eradication requires coordinated, cross-border vaccination and surveillance campaigns.

✅ Innovation from thermostable vaccines to community-based surveillance is essential.

✅ Funding must be shared among governments, donors, financial institutions, the private sector, and producers.

✅ Success depends on political will and collective responsibility.

✅ The Pan-African Secretariat must play a central coordinating role to steer eradication efforts across the continent.

Recommendations:

The meeting produced clear and actionable recommendations:

  • Integrate PPR into national budgets and development plans;
  • Convene a high-level ministerial dialogue bringing together finance, agriculture, and animal health leaders;
  • Establish a continental monitoring and accountability mechanism;
  • Mobilise the private sector and producers to contribute to financing eradication;
  • Ensure the inclusion of women and youth livestock farmers as frontline champions of eradication.
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A Springboard for Sustainable Systems

Speakers stressed that the fight against PPR must not end with eradication alone. It should serve as a springboard towards resilient, inclusive, and sustainable livestock systems. 

Smallholder farmers ,the majority of whom are women ,must no longer be marginalized, but empowered as key drivers of transformation.

As one participant summarized: “A PPR-free Africa by 2030 is not only possible, it is necessary. But success will depend on partnerships, funding, and above all, shared responsibility.”