About SA PPLPP
Background of SA PPLPP
Rapid growth in the demand for livestock products is creating new opportunities for improving the livelihoods of a large number of poor people in Asia. Over the last two decades, consumption of livestock products has outgrown the consumption of all other types of foods and there are expectations of faster growth in demand for livestock products. It is estimated that the demand for livestock products will double by the year 2020. As a result, the livestock sector will produce more than half the agricultural output in value terms (Delgado et al., 2000). A significant proportion of this demand will come from developing countries due to rising incomes, growing urbanization, and population growth. It is expected that by 2030 the share of developing countries will increase to 63 and 54 percent respectively for meat and milk.
While it is reasonably well understood that the agricultural growth in Asia has a larger impact on poverty reduction than industrial growth, the role of the livestock sector in terms of contributing to economic growth and reduction of poverty is somewhat less appreciated. To discuss effective ways of enhancing awareness about the role of livestock in poverty reduction and the key issues in livestock-poverty-policy interface in the Asian context, an international workshop was co-organized by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Pro-poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI), based at FAO, in Anand, India in November 2003. The workshop brought together ‘critical Thinkers and practitioners’ from nine countries and an equal number of international agencies. The group strongly recommended creation of a broad coalition of credible national and regional organisations to bring about a paradigm shift in policy making that promotes development interventions with ‘people oriented livelihoods focus’ instead of ‘technology-oriented commodity focus’ (Ahuja, 2004).
In the proceedings of the mentioned workshop a short chapter called ‘the way forward’ presents a number of clear messages (Ahuja 2004; p.339-341). These are in short as follows:
• “The growth of the livestock sector has the potential of supporting and improving many more livelihoods than any other commodity focused intervention”.
The livestock sector can be an important engine to reduce poverty and to achieve economic growth.
• “Due to the perishable nature of livestock products and small marketable surplus with individual fe/male farmers, the role of farmer organisations is likely to be far more critical in the case of livestock products than perhaps of cereals”.
Organised fe/male farmers are therefore central in the approach to profit the potential of the livestock sector for poverty reduction.
• “The role of physical infrastructure in accessing new markets is far more critical for these commodities than for cereals and other field crops”. This implies that a decisive shift must occur in the policy making processes whereby people are placed in the centre and the commodity (livestock sector) is just a means to improve livelihoods.
The national and international policy making process requires reform. Broad basing the consultative process and bringing organisations and individuals with livelihood focus in the policy design and implementation process is the way forward.
The participants of the workshop brought together a rich diversity of research, ideas, and experiences from across the world. They left all full of energy and a firm belief that a new initiative of working together differently and for the betterment of smallholder livestock development was born. The National Dairy Development Board was unanimously requested to host the new initiative recognising its strengths in performing a catalytic role in transforming the lives of millions of milk producers and securing a livelihood for them through smallholder dairying.
A period of deliberations between the key parties NDDB and FAO/PPLPI took place resulting in defining the new programme called South Asia Pro Poor Livestock Policy Programme (SA PPLPP). The geographical coverage concerns Bangladesh, India and Bhutan, while interactions with other countries in the region are promoted where opportune. The assumption is that they will join in a later phase depending on the success of phase one and financial resources available.
SA PPLPP is a unique livestock development program that aims ‘to ensure that the interests of poor livestock keepers are reflected in national as well as international policies and programs affecting their livelihoods’. It endeavours to do so by a) creating spaces for and facilitating dialogue among the actors playing a direct and indirect role in the livestock sector of South Asia, and b) drawing from and using lessons from field experiences to influence livestock-related policies, programmatic and institutional changes towards the benefit of poor fe/male livestock keepers in the region. Identification of Good Practices (GPs) goes hand in hand with developing an understanding of pro-poor livestock development, building capacity in documentation and the use of simple tools to sensitize actors, build coalitions and influence policy formulation and implementation.
