ADDIS ABABA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- African policymakers and experts have called for fostering strategic partnerships and investments to transform the continent's pastoral livestock sector into a robust driver of economic growth, food security, and inclusive development.
They made the call during the inaugural African Pastoral Markets Forum, which opened Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and was convened by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), the AU's specialized technical body mandated to support, develop, and sustainably manage the continent's animal resources.
The five-day continental event, which runs until Friday, brought together more than 100 delegates, including African policymakers, investors, and representatives of financial institutions, private sector actors, pastoral representatives, development partners, and researchers to advance livestock markets and unlock investment across Africa's pastoral livestock sector, according to the organizers.
Addressing the opening session, Director of AU-IBAR Huyam Salih emphasized the forum's ambition to champion a continental shift from treating pastoral livestock mainly as a vulnerability issue to recognizing it as a strategic economic system capable of supporting food security, trade, jobs, investment, industrialization, and regional integration.
According to the AU, across sub-Saharan Africa, the sector contributes approximately 25 percent of agricultural gross domestic product and accounts for up to 80 percent of agricultural value added in many countries, positioning it as "one of the most significant economic assets on the continent."
Despite this enormous resource base, the AU said the African continent continues to capture only a fraction of the value available from regional and global livestock markets, mainly due to persistent constraints in market integration, infrastructure, trade facilitation, value addition, and investment flows.
Janet Edeme, head of the rural development division at the AU Commission, described pastoralism as "a strategic economic, social, environmental and cultural asset."
She emphasized that the 55-member continental organization recognizes the sector's vital economic, social, environmental, and cultural significance as part of its 50-year continental development blueprint, Agenda 2063.
To unlock the sector's "enormous potential," Edeme called for stronger regional market integration, improved market infrastructure, robust animal-health systems, increased value addition, digital innovation, and expanded access to finance.
Echoing this sentiment, Fikru Regassa, Ethiopia's state minister of livestock and fishery in the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that despite pastoral communities' significant contributions to food production, national economies, and regional trade, pastoralists still face significant difficulties stemming from inadequate foundational infrastructure, weak market information networks, and limited financial access.
He underscored the imperative for practical outcomes that effectively connect local pastoral producers directly with international investors while also significantly expanding their access to broader, essential regional markets.
"Policies and investments must reflect the knowledge, priorities, and realities of pastoral communities, including women and young people," he added.
Discussions during the forum will focus on livestock trade and market integration, financing and capital mobilization, enterprise development, market infrastructure, digital systems and traceability, and the role of water and rangelands as productive assets that underpin sustainable livestock economies, it was noted. ■