COMESA has finalized the development of a draft livestock policy for the region aimed at stimulating public and private investments in the sector in its Member States. The Draft COMESA Regional Livestock Policy Framework was presented to Experts in livestock agriculture workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, 8-9 July 2015. They included Directors of Veterinary Services and Animal Production from COMESA Member States.

Professor Ahmed El-Sawalhy the Director of the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources at the African Union (AU-IBAR) told the delegates that a crisis loomed of supply over demand for livestock and livestock products due to the increase in human population in urban areas and rising affluence.

“Current trends demonstrate that in order to satisfy the increased demand for livestock and livestock products in the next 15 to 20 years, most of the Member States will have to import these products, thereby exporting jobs, losing the vital foreign exchange and running the risk of being a perpetual recipient of livestock products,” Prof. El Sawalhy cautioned.

It is estimated that about 300 million Africans depended on the sector for food security, livelihoods, employment and income generation.

He said it was pertinent that Africa takes steps to correct this situation by strategizing on how to increase local production of these products rather than import them. It was for this reason that AU-IBAR in collaboration with COMESA and other Regional Economic Communities embarked on the formulation of Livestock Development Strategy.

“While the continent is experiencing interesting changes in many sectors of the economy, the Livestock Sector remains one of the sectors that have recorded low performance, largely because it is poorly funded both from the public sector as well as from the private sector,” Prof. Sawalhy noted.

The development of Harmonized Livestock Policy Framework, he said was a step forward in facilitating the implementation of the AU Livestock Development Strategy across all its Member states and congratulated COMESA for taking the lead.

The Draft COMESA Livestock Framework acknowledges that if the current low level of public and private investments and low growth in the livestock sector is maintained, the increase in demand will not be matched by a corresponding increase in production.

“This will lead to a critical shortfall in the supply of quality proteins of animal origin, with negative impacts on the food and nutritional security of many households in Africa,” says the Policy report.

In her remarks, COMESA Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Nagla El Hussainy informed the meeting that since 2012, COMESA has been partnering with AU-IBAR in implementing the Reinforcing Veterinary Governance (VET-GOV) program.

“Since then important milestones have been achieved both at national and regional level including the development of harmonized livestock policy framework which is expected to pave the way for accelerated private and public investments in the livestock sector in our region,” she said.

The COMESA Livestock Policy Framework will therefore act as a guide for the Member States and the region to:

• Facilitate secured access to basic production inputs in order to engage in productive use of livestock assets.

• Support coordinated and harmonized control of Trans-boundary Animal Diseases (TADS) and ensure resilience to risks and shocks to secure livestock assets.

• Support harmonized registration and control over veterinary medicinal products import and distribution

• Facilitate support to enhance livestock and livestock product trade among COMESA member countries and beyond.

• Ensure sustainable livestock production, productivity and competitiveness in order to be responsive and adaptable to changing market conditions and consumer demands.