Smart investments in
Africa’s livestock potential
Jimmy Smith, Director General, International Livestock Research Institute
7th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture:
Innovations to Harness the Potential of African Animal Agriculture in a Globalizing World
29 July–2 August 2019, Accra, Ghana

Without livestock:
How many of you would
have gone to school?
Would be married?
Would have your career?
RodWaddington

AACAA
At this meeting:
400+? participants
At the 6th AACAA:
474 participants
101 oral presentations
23 posters
5 facilitated panels
ILRI/ZerihunSewunet

Big opportunities
Africa’s total food import bill in 2016
was USD 55 billion
Imports for milk, meat and eggs in 2016 were
USD 8 billion (11% of all food imports), rising to USD 43
billion (21% of all food imports) in 2050
Africa’s livestock sector will be worth
USD 150 billion in 2050
Livestock contribute on average
40% of agricultural GDP
Over 70% livestock production from farms <20ha
About 250 million people directly engaged in livestock
production
55% of sub-Saharan Africa’s workforce is employed in
agriculture
CIFOR/AxelFassio

If we’re so smart,
why aren’t we rich?
In 2017 of USD 182.5 billion disbursed from
all donors to developing countries,
USD 7.2 billion went for agriculture (4%),
of which USD 195 million went for livestock,
which is just 0.1% of total ODA and
2.7% of agricultural ODA
This is huge under-investment
is an under-investment
in two of Africa’s greatest assets:
African livestock
and
African women
ILRI/StevieMann

smart investment
INVEST IN
AFRICAN WOMEN
The future of Africa
is in their hands
Hand them the resources to fulfil
on their promise
Only 23% of African’s women have access to
credit, and 15% access to land
Sub-Saharan Africa lost $2.5 trillion (11% of
total wealth) in 2014 because of gender
inequality
Current estimates: in Africa by 2030 as many
as 140 million jobs for women in livestock
ILRI/StevieMann

smart investment
INVEST IN POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
• Position livestock
higher up the political agenda
- CAADP
- Ministers of health, finance,
environment—in and beyond Africa
• Address regional trade opportunities
(markets, trans-boundary diseases, etc.)
• Identify country-by-country public and
private sector livestock investment
priorities
ILRI/StevieMann

smart investment
INVEST IN SCIENCE
THAT DELIVERS
ON DEVELOPMENT
• Start with
‘the end in mind’
• Connect the
many actors
ILRI/ZerihunSewunet

smart investment
INVEST IN EVIDENCE-BASED FACTS
• About GHG emissions
- Use real African numbers (data from Kenya
now included as part of IPCC tier 2 for the
first time; emission factors up to 40% less
than IPCC tier 1 for adult cattle)
- Use life-cycle assessments
- Distinguish GHG diversity
and impacts on climate change
• About ways to mitigate GHGs
- Via rangeland sequestration
- Via production efficiencies
• About livestock-derived nutrition:
- Essential for the most vulnerable
- Reduces stunting, enhances cognitive
development
ILRI/ZerihunSewunet

smart investment
INVEST IN YOUNG PEOPLE
In 2018 over 40% of Africa’s 1.2
billion people were under 14
years old
Livestock offer real business
opportunities:
• Require little capital for start up
• Are of high value
• Give fast return on investment
• Apply mobile and other
technologies
ILRI/ApolloHabtamu

smart investment
INVEST IN THE DIVERSITY
of Africa’s livestock systems
• From mixed crop-and-livestock farms to
pastoral herding
• Well managed pastoral systems mitigate
conflicts, improve livelihoods, steward
rangelands, and provide milk and meat to
nourish Africa’s growing populations (a quarter
of Africa’s milk and a fifth of Africa’s ruminant
meat come from grass-based systems today)
of Africa’s food-producing animals
• Conserve Africa’s livestock genetic wealth
• Better use Africa’s native livestock
ILRI/ILBIKenya

smart investment
INVEST IN OURSELVES:
‘The opportunity,
dear audience,
is not in our stars,
but in ourselves.’
INVEST IN AFRICA’S
TWO BIGGEST ASSETS:
Africa’s women
Africa’s livestock
ILRI/StevieMann

This presentation is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
better lives through livestock
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ILRI thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR system