During the Continental Meeting on Veterinary Education held in Dakar on 5th - 7th July 2017, a workshop was also held on 'Sensitizing Youth in Agribusiness on Veterinary Policies and Legislations for Market Development.' The workshop was a joint collaborative effort between AU-IBAR and the African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN). 25 young entrepreneurs from East and West Africa attended the workshop.
The participants were drawn from a wide spectrum of livestock and fisheries value chains, including ICT actors in the sector. The training was conducted by Dr Mphumuzi Sukati (Senior Policy Officer:Economics, Trade and Marketing) and Mr John Oppong-Otoo (Food Safety Officer) from AU-IBAR; and Mr Peter Kuria Githinji and Dr Alex Ariho (CEO) from AAIN. A key gap was noted in that most of the youth did know about SPS Standards and how Veterinary Policies and Legislations impact on their agribusinesses. In this regard, there was a need to set up an ‘African Youth Business Incubation Forum for Livestock and Fisheries Value Chains’ that will, among other things (i) Provide targeted training and awareness creation on animal health and food safety standards (ii) Provide a continental Community of Practice (CoP) for sharing information on market information, veterinary and food safety standards applicable to livestock and fisheries sectors and (iii) Build market-led technical capacities and upscale of ICTs and innovations to enhance youths in livestock and fisheries value chains. Participants were given certificate of participation by the Minister of Livestock and Animal Production of Senegal, H.E Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye; and the Director of AU-IBAR, Professor Ahmed Elsawalhy. The workshop was supported by Vet Gov Programme funded by the EU.