Africa will be unable to meet demand for meat and milk by 2050 if it fails to boost economic growth and improve livelihoods by way of institutional and policy initiatives, according to a new report released on Wednesday.
The continent won’t also benefit from growth in the livestock sector unless countries adopt new policies and innovations, according to the Malabo Montpellier Panel which analyzed lessons from four African countries that have sustainably grown their domestic livestock sectors.
Meat consumption per person is expected to rise from 19kg a year to 26kg a year by 2050, while demand for milk is likely to rise from 44kg to 64kg per person yearly, the Panel, whose work facilitates policy choices to accelerate food security and improved nutrition in Africa, said.
Africa’s livestock sector accounts for 80 percent of agricultural GDP in some countries, but based on current projections, the continent is likely to import 20 percent of the beef, pork, poultry and milk needed by an estimated population of 2.2 billion in 2050.
“With rising incomes and urbanization quickly shifting dietary habits across Africa towards increased meat consumption, the livestock sector will play a crucial role in ensuring food and nutrition security and fostering economic growth in the years ahead,” Ousmane Badiane, co-chair of the Panel, said.
The report, Meat, Milk & More: Policy innovations to shepherd inclusive and sustainable livestock systems in Africa, recommends that African governments adopt or emulate policy initiatives based on the experiences of Mali, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Uganda – the four countries studied.
Uganda strengthened its dairy sector to maintain self-sufficiency in milk through dedicated policies, including the “Dairy Master Plan”, which involved restructuring and privatizing the state-owned dairy processing company, Dairy Corporation.
Ethiopia’s livestock sector, a national priority, had its own government department 2013. Its Ministry of Agriculture coordinated a “Livestock Master Plan” covering livestock production, fisheries, veterinary services, and pastoral development. This attracted significant investment for Ethiopia from the private sector and development partners.
Prof. Noble Banadda, a Panel member and Chair of the Department of Agricultural and Bio Systems Engineering at Makerere University, said the expansion of Africa’s livestock sector will create new opportunities for the continent’s rural populations, especially women.
“For example, households in Uganda saw their dairy income rise by more than 150 percent through the establishment of regional collection and quality control hubs under the East African Dairy Development project, which allowed farmers to negotiate better prices,” Banadda said.
The Panel also reviewed challenges facing Africa’s livestock sector ranging from feed quality to animal health and food safety issues. It made 11 recommendations covering policy, trade, and finance – focusing on resolving pastoralists-crop farmers conflict, harmonize regulations, recognize the rights of herders, and designing tailored financial services such as livestock insurance.
“Productivity, health, and sustainability of livestock must be jointly addressed,” Joachim von Braun, co-chair of the Panel, said. “This requires broad based innovations especially in animal nutrition, veterinary services, and digitization of markets.”
In addressing conflict, for example, Nigeria has a Grazing Bill which legalized the grazing rights of pastoralists as part of efforts to end ongoing deadly disputes between farmers and herders.
Panel member Nachilala Nkombo, who is country director for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Zambia, said it is essential to understand the interactions between livestock and the environment to develop a thriving, sustainable livestock sector.
Such would include assessing the extent of grassland degradation, land and water pollution, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and emissions, Nkombo said.
Zimbabwe, for example, have responded to the need for more, better quality feed to sustainably grow the livestock sector as farmers who received training in forage seeds production earned US$800 each for producing lablab, or Hyacinth bean – improving the quality of meat.
In Ghana, a simple mobile technology (CowTribe) provides veterinary information and advice to livestock farmers, with vaccine coverage among its users increasing from less than 20 percent to 65 percent.
This has reduced livestock diseases and loss and added an estimated US$300 to their annual household income, according to the Panel made of 16 leading African and international experts in agriculture, ecology, nutrition and food security.
