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Throughout the Horn of Africa, the enormous potential of livestock in combating poverty goes underexploited.

Livestock underpin the livelihoods of some two thirds of the region’s 60 million poor, who invariably rank them among their most likely means of escaping poverty. Proportionate to their wealth, it is the poor who keep the most livestock and are prepared to spend the most on keeping them healthy.

Yet despite this, livestock are largely invisible to policy makers. They remain absent from national strategies while institutions that could enable the poor to take full advantage of livestock have not been put in place.

Through the IGAD -LPI, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development is working to unlock the potential of livestock. Together with the governments and civil society of its member states, it is developing the capacity to support the region’s poor through their livestock.