Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 regional stakeholders meet to align common long-term livestock action for the years ahead
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Meeting seeks to decide on priority policy areas for collaboration with national governments in 2019.
10 December 2018, Lagos, Nigeria – The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Nigeria government, under the project, the Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 Initiative (ASL2050), has articulated alternative long-term (in the next 30-40 years) scenarios for the livestock sector and assessed their possible effects on livelihood, environment and public health, through zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
The ASL 2050 project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aims to facilitate dialogue and consultation among national and regional stakeholders and is currently been implemented in six African countries - Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda,
The 6th ASL2050 regional meeting for participating countries has been convened in Lagos Nigeria, from 10 - 13 December 2018 to discuss common emerging opportunities, challenges and disruptive threats that rapidly changing livestock systems are posing to society and to determine and decide on priority policy areas for collaboration with national governments in 2019. The meeting also addresses comprehensive recommendations to the governments of the six (6) countries involved, on how best to respond to the anticipated huge rise in demand for animal sourced food in the decades to come and deal with the emerging challenges associated with growing and changing livestock systems, thereby ensuring a sustainable growth of livestock in the long-term.
During the opening ceremony, the FAO country Representative Suffyan Koroma commended the dedication of the ASL 2050 Nigeria country team for the unwavering commitment to the project saying that, “though ASL 20150 activities were initially delayed in Nigeria, much grounds have been covered within a relatively short time, thus bringing Nigeria at par with other participating countries”. He also thanked the Nigeria government for the strong partnership built with FAO during the past 40 years and for supporting ASL2050 implementation, as well as other joint successful initiatives.
Koroma also said that the “FAO has supported the development and utilization of animal resources for human wellbeing and economic development in Nigeria for more than 40 years with significant milestones in the eradication of various Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD)”. With the population projected to rise to 400 million by 2050 “there is a paramount need to embark on a transformative agenda for the sector” to meet the demand for animal source food", he stated.
The ASL 2050 Global Coordinator, Regional facilitators from the participating countries, Representatives from FAO headquarters in Rome and Regional office for Africa and the Nigeria ASL2050 National Steering Committee also participated in the 6th Regional Meeting in Lagos.
In 2019, Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 will further collaborate with the Nigeria government, and other national governments in Africa, to identify detail institutional reforms that, by complementing current livestock sector policies and investments, will support a sustainable sectoral growth in the coming decades.
Already the ASL2050 project has gathered data and generated preliminary evidence on the impact of selected livestock systems – cattle and poultry – on public health, the environment, and livelihoods and is facilitating constructive multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary discussions, which are at the foundations of all effective policies and strategies as well as meaningful opportunities for regional economic growth.
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