The 5th IGAD LPI Steering Committee of IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative focuses on IGAD’s policy capacity and on specific measures to support the poor.

Djibouti, 19-21 January 2010

 

 

The 5th Steering Committee Meeting of IGAD LPI, held from 19-21 January 2010 in Djibouti, was concluded with forward looking recommendations to strengthen project implementation.  

Commending the effort exerted by IGAD LPI and the country-teams (Policy Hubs, Working Groups, and National Information Nodes) in forging agreement by ministers on the “Regional Policy Framework on Animal Health in the Context of Trade and Vulnerability”, the Meeting stressed the importance of the establishment of the livestock unit at IGAD Secretariat to further its livestock agenda at regional and national levels. They also encouraged the project to assume the role of IGAD’s livestock secretariat in the interim. The Meeting further stressed the need to build on the political will that IGAD governments have demonstrated to enhance the project’s specific focus on poor and women livestock keepers, as well as putting the livestock sector at the forefront of the region’s economic integration agenda.

Speaking at the opening session, Dr Samuel Zziwa, Programme Manager for Agriculture, Food Security and Livestock at the IGAD Secretariat, remarked on the significant progress IGAD LPI has shown towards supporting the Region’s 60 million poor and delivering regional cooperation through the livestock sector.

The Meeting also welcomed the two studies presented to it as a timely undertaking to underpin the unique nature of IGAD LPI’s capacity building mandate. The studies, “Livestock, Livelihood and Institutions in the IGAD Region” and “Livestock Exports from Pastoralist Areas: An Analysis of Benefits by Wealth Group and Policy Implications” presented insights into the nature of livestock based interventions that are, and are not, likely to benefit the poor.

The Meeting was attended by Steering Committee members from Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan, the IGAD Secretariat and the European Commission with further representation from FAO Headquarters.
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The Livestock Policy Initiative is an IGAD project, administered by FAO and funded by the EC, to strengthen the capacity of IGAD, its member states, and other regional organizations and stakeholders, to formulate and implement livestock sector and related policies that sustainably reduce poverty and food insecurity.