Project overview:

In 2006, FAO conducted a regional workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in cooperation with the Kazakhstan Association of Animal Production (KAAP), to establish a framework and support for a Subregional Focal Point for cooperation on Animal Genetic Resources (AnGRs) in Central Asia. The participants signed a Memorandum of Understanding expressing the need to strengthen cooperation, networking and coordination with regard to AnGRs in the region; however, lack of resources and capacities have hampered progress in this regard. 

Following repeated requests from countries of Central Asia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, FAO and KAAP organized a second workshop, held in September 2009 in Almaty, entitled “Sustainable Management of Animal Genetic Resources: Development of Priorities, Policies and National Action Plans”, which targeted National Coordinators (NCs) for AnGR and their alternates. Representatives from 12 concerned countries participated in the workshop, which highlighted common challenges and similar priorities among the countries, providing a good basis for future collaboration. The workshop also emphasized the need for regional coordination, concerted action, capacity building and support to implement the Global Plan of Action on Animal Genetic Resources (GPA-AnGR) at national level.

The workshops uncovered the following problems/issues to be addressed:

• lack of organization and control in livestock breeding
• lack of networking and cooperation in the field of AnGR
• lack of capacity and insufficient awareness of the significance of AnGR

The project aimed to support the ministries of agriculture in five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) as well as Azerbaijan and Turkey in formulating a national livestock breeding policy and strategy for the sustainable use and development of livestock, and to establish networks that link stakeholders and support institutional development and capacity-building at the national and subregional level.

Key results of the project:

• The National Focal Points in all five countries were equipped and made operational.
• A common resolution expressing the desire for subregional cooperation beyond the duration of the project was signed by the NCs for the Management of AnGR, or their alternates, during the final workshop held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 25 September 2014. 
• The NCs of the participating countries and/or their alternates agreed to make use of the Domestic Animal Diversity Network (DAD-Net), an e-mail-based network that provides an informal forum for the discussion of issues relevant to the management of AnGR. A subgroup of DAD-Net for Central Asia was established to maintain further subregional communication, and the alternate of the NC in Kyrgyzstan was appointed as moderator of the platform. Communication would be bilingual (Russian and English), in order to overcome existing language barriers.
• All participating countries developed a National Strategic Action Plan (NSAP). The respective NSAPs were endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) of Kazakhstan in January 2015, and the Turkish MoAs of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan in March 2015.