On 2nd September 2022, the 4th Steering Committee Meeting of the AU-IBAR Sustainable Development of Livestock for Livelihoods (Live2Africa) Project funded by the European Union was held at the AU-IBAR offices in Nairobi, Kenya.
During the meeting, information on the project progress and achievements since June 2021 when the latest Steering Committee Meeting was organised was shared. Such achievements, among others, can be listed as the Upgrade of the East Africa Regional Dairy Value Chain, Support for Inclusion of Livestock in the Reformulation of the ECCAS Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Regional Program for Agricultural Investment, Food Safety and Nutrition (PRIASAN), facilitating dialogues and actions that will strengthen priority regional livestock value chain contributions to implementation of Phase 1 of the AfCFTA Agreement, Institutionalization of the East Africa Dairy Regulatory Authorities Forum (EADRAF), support work towards the Implementation of the Central Africa Regional Parent Stock Farm (CA-RPSF), Promotion of Growth of Commercial and Farm Household Poultry Production and Intra-African Trade in West Africa, Launched the Djibouti- Ethiopia cross-border collaboration; governance structures and development of Harmonized surveillance and vaccination program, Development of mechanisms to strengthen the operations of Public Private Producer Partnerships (PPPP) in the red meat and live animal value chains in SADC region, and strengthening knowledge management systems.
Following the project activities presentation, discussions were held on the best modalities for closing the project in June 2023. The meeting agreed to tentatively have the final Steering Committee and close the workshop in 2023 in Addis Ababa.
During the meeting opening, Dr Faouzia Chakiri, Head of Division Food Security, Arab Maghreb Union, and chair of the Live2Africa Project Technical Committee, stressed the need for enhanced partnerships and mobilization of additional funds to fully implement the mandate of the Project and implementation of the various strategies.
The EU representative, Ms Bernadi, noted the diversity of delegates at the meeting. She provided an overview of why the EU has been supporting Live2Africa. Firstly, she pointed out that the Project identified deficiencies in policies, feed and land resources, service delivery, value addition, market information, and phytosanitary standards. She emphasized the crosscutting intervention issues, particularly women, youth and producers. The role of the RECs and the facilitating role of the private sector were mentioned to provide direction and viability of the Project.
Dr Nwankpa, AU-IBAR's Acting Director, speaking on behalf of the Amb. Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment, drew attention to the project's success for primary beneficiaries but also recognized that diverse challenges remain, especially in respect of continued work toward animal resources development in Africa and work associated with continuity of project deliverables beyond this no-cost-extension phase. A recommendation was made on the need to ensure that the interventions implemented under the Live2Africa Project are sustained. He further emphasized the need to reinforce partnerships and multilateral collaboration leveraging existing regional and national initiatives to continue and scale up the outputs of this project. The remarks concluded by reiterating the appreciation of the AUC for the support provided by the EU for the development of the animal resources sector in Africa and thanking all the other partners and stakeholders for their support in the project implementation so far.
Before the PSC, the Live2Africa Technical Committee was held on 31st August 2022 to review progress and make recommendations on Project implementation to the PSC.
The Live2Africa Project is co-funded by the European Union, with part funding from African Union Member States. The Project commenced in December 2016 and will end in June 2023.
Read more on the Live2Africa Project on this website
