Presiding over the opening ceremony on the launching of the Burundi national livestock policy hub which took place from 21st to 23rd May 2014 at King's Hotel, Bujumbura, the permanent secretary ministry of agriculture and livestock, Mr JOSEPH NDUWIMANA expressed gratitude to the Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources of the African Union (AU-IBAR) for its continued support. He reiterated that the government of Burundi is cognizant of the pivotal role of livestock in national socio-economic development and will therefore spare no effort in building strategic partnerships for the development of the sector. He reminded participants of 2 major events that took place in 2013, the national livestock stakeholders workshop facilitated by VET-GOV and the colloquium on the development of the sector. He urged participants to critically reflect on the recommendations of those 2 important national events with a view to coming up with a well thought action plan which will be the basis of the VET-GOV engagement.
The objectives of the workshop were:
- to bring together policy hub members nominated by their institutions following a request by the minister of agriculture and livestock
- to critically review the action plan proposed by the national stakeholders workshop and develop roadmaps for implementing the priorities
- to draft concept notes and request to be submitted to AU-IBAR and partners for technical and financial support.
The workshop brought together participants from the public sector and non-state actors and agreed on the following support areas:
- Finalizing the national livestock policy document
- Update of veterinary legislation
- Inclusion of livestock in CAADP
- Operationalisation of animal resources information system.
The workshop was facilitated by Dr Baboucarr Jaw, Project Officer VET-GOV and Dr William Olaho Mukani, VET-GOV Regional Coordinator for East African Community.