A Path to Prosperity New Directions for African Livestock

3.2 Building on Success
In the East African dairy sector, small farmers have
become key producers within a profitable supply
chain. Similar examples of small farmer involvement
can be found in export-oriented horticultural and nut
sectors, for example, green beans, baby corn and
cashews. It is unlikely SSA livestock production will
be competitive internationally for some time. Major
challenges in meeting SPS standards still need to
be overcome (see section 6). Successful support to
SSA’s livestock sector in the coming decade needs to
utilise the comparative advantages of small farmers
and improve their capacity to consistently and
profitably produce quality produce, as defined by
African consumers. A dynamic smallholder sector
generates local demand for locally-produced goods
and services. In turn, this can spur sustainable
non-farm employment growth in services,
agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing.
Doing this at scale and to the benefit of the poor will
require improved infrastructure and appropriate
policies at regional and national level. Public policy
has a key role to play in assisting the private-sector
to reduce the transaction costs that increasingly
exclude smallholders from participating in growing
livestock markets. Policies that support the voice and
build the capacity of inclusive farmer organisations to
exert pressure and increase demand for appropriate
research and other services must also be enacted.
The following sections (4, 5, 6) focus on areas
that appear to be some of the “low-hanging fruit,” in
terms of improving production and market access
for small livestock farmers in SSA. These areas
have been identified through consultations with key
informants and literature review. They are areas
that need to be successful if GALVmed is to achieve
its own goal of “making available animal health
products to poor livestock keepers in low income
countries that are affordable and technically
suitable.” The companies needed to invest in the
commercialisation of GALVmed's new products
will continue to shy away whilst the livestock
sector in SSA remains uncompetitive.
As Scoones and Wolmer recently concluded...
There is an enormous amount of policy talk about
what constitutes a “pro-poor,” policy. But much of this
descends into confusion and circularity as everything is
brought into the fold. Nearly everything can be justified
as “pro-poor,” as long as you include some (often
wildly heroic) assumptions about how the benefits
trickle down, link and multiply. What is needed, instead
of these vacuous and generic statements, is a more
rigorous framework for asking what intervention is
likely to have a wide, sustained impact on poverty
reduction and livelihood improvement 27 .
The Impetus Strategy Paper I Page 21