The Role of Livestock in
Sustainable Development
in East Africa

• East Africa is the fastest growing region in Africa, and forecast to continue in
short term (East Africa Economic Outlook, AfDB 2018)
• Agriculture the main driver of East Africa’s growth followed by industry
• Household consumption then public investment in infrastructure, mineral
consumption and construction main demand side drivers

Africa’s livestock powerhouse
• East Africa has Africa’s livestock
– Africa has a third of the world’s livestock,
continent with the 2nd largest herd
– Most of these are in the East Africa region
(Distribution of livestock % of total continent)
Region Cattle Goats Sheep Camel
Horn of Africa 50% 39% 36% 72%
West Africa 20% 35% 26% 12%
Central Africa 6% 7% 3% 6%

• Projected to be the only region that will be
self-sufficient in meeting its demand for key
livestock products 2030 - 2050. Continent as
a whole will be importing 16-20% of beef,
pork, poultry, and milk
• Big business: e.g., contributing 13% Kenya’s
GDP, and 30% AGDP (2018 Kenya Economic
survey)

‘East Africa’s high growth has led to
only limited poverty reduction, …
and is not accompanied by a
reduction of unemployment … a
challenge the region shares with
the rest of Africa’ (AfDB 2018)

sustainable development
• Outcome oriented – change in development
indicators, inclusive, transformative
• Social, economic & environmental sustainability
• Embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals
• The Malabo Declaration on Transformation of the
Agriculture Sector: ending hunger, improving nutrition
status, inclusive agricultural growth, job creation
especially for youth and women, enhancing resilience,
and improving production and productivity
• The Livestock Development Strategy for Africa
(LiDeSA): Transforming the African livestock sector for
enhance contribution to socio-economic and equitable
growth

Livestock are the organic footprint
of East Africa
Pastoral livestock were core to and intricately integral to the
genesis of the economies of the region. How the region was
organized and functioned:
• Pastoralist communities make up 12% of the combined
population of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
• A very strong tripartite relationship of people, livestock
and environment
• Governance and social structures/ social networks
• Skills and knowledge systems
• Food and nutrition security
• Vehicles of exchange: currency of the region, trade,
linkages between cropping and livestock keeping
communities
• Conflict and conflict resolution mechanisms etc
The boundaries of the region largely traverse through pastoral
areas, which are in the low areas

• British archives (Veterinary Department Annual Reports, quoted by
Mamdani 1982) show livestock exported out of Karamoja for canning at
Namalu in Karamoja and at Athi River, Kenya
Company Year Head of Cattle
Liebig Ltd, Kenya 1940 1,857
1941 15,597
1942 10,114
1943 10,044
1944 9,000
1945 11,370
57,982
Fresh Foods Ltd (Subsidary
of A. Baumann Ltd
1960 7,145 (out of 21,685 exported
from Karamoja that year)
1961 22,668 (out of 36,217 exported)

• What kind of revenues? (African Local
Government Estimates for Northern Province,
quoted by Mamdani 1982)

How the livestock sector has
evolved is the story of the region
• Specialized dairy models were introduced in
the highland regions: high input-high output,
commercialized, better policy and investment
support
• The start of a ‘dichotomous’ livestock sector
• An enduring structure that permeates the
whole livestock sector

E.A dairy industry
• Contribution of the dairy sector (Table from
Bing and Tondel, FAOStat 2014 data)
Country Milk
(million t)
2011
Milk (%
growth
rate,
2000-11)
% share
of
AGDP
% Share of
GDP
Employment
(No. of small
holder dairy
farmers)
Ethiopia 4.4 14.2 40 12-16
Kenya 4.3 5.5 50 3 2
Rwanda 0.2 5.3 15 6 0.1
Tanzania 1.8 7.8 Na 1.8 Na
Uganda 1.2 8.0 50 7-9 0.7

realities in the region
• 85% of the livestock in the region are
indigenous
• Mostly held by pastoralists: est 100% in
Somalia, 99% in Tanzania, 73% in
Uganda, 70% in Kenya and 24% in
Ethiopia
• Need for inclusive and functional
systems that deliver within the context
and realities

an inclusive multi-strategy
approach delivers
• Uganda four major dairy production systems: free
range grazing, paddocked system, communal grazing,
and zero grazing
• A multi-strategy approach:
– Some area intensification: cross breeding, fencing
– Exit from livestock: sale of grade animals to Rwanda
– Extensive grazing areas with high numbers: installation of
collection centers and processing units
– Milk handling and hygiene
– Product development
• Exponential growth, self-sufficient, no export in 2007
to over US$50 million in 2015 exports to the region and
beyond
• One of the lowest cost dairy models globally

Challenges to enhancing the
role of livestock for sustainable
development

+
• The extensive livelihood based systems have
suffered marginalization that has left them
highly risk prone to climate change and other
threats
• Resilience building increasingly a predominant
investment approach
• But neither are the high input-high out
models fully articulated

Political capital
Political capital: agenda setting
• Valuation of contribution and profiling at national and
regional levels
• Linkages to other sectors: crop, environmental health
• Compare wildlife versus livestock in setting the agenda of
the region in relation to infrastructure and technology/
services developments
– Implications for trade: inter and intra regional trade
– livelihoods and theft of livestock
• Lack robust policy frameworks based on innovative
functional models/ interrogation of assumptions
• Impact of oil and other mineral exploitation on livelihoods
and environmental health

human capital
• Systemic under development and retention of
human capital – people and skills
– The average vet in Africa is above 50 years
– Out of 70 deans of veterinary schools across the
continent only one is female
– Mismatch between industry needs and curricula: silo
approach focusing on technical skills versus socio-
economic and business
– The exit of youth
– Low skills development and support to women
– Need systemic development of capacity and skills

exit of male youths
Age pyramid of Afar region population
(Humanitarian Policy Group)
Age pyramid of Somali region
population

emerging feed industry
• Not fully developed and integrated with the
needs of the livestock sector
• Grain production mostly for human consumption
• Focused on the poultry and dairy sub-sector in
high potential areas
• Not climate smart: highly impacted/ seasonal
• Poor integration with crop sector: low waste
recycling between the two sectors
• Poor capacity development

the neglected and disappearing
rangelands
• Access and security of rangelands for livestock
production and trade
• High and often irreversible impact of negative
policies
• Long term impacts are not interrogated: what
are the impacts on ecosystem health e.g.,
water recharge systems/ percolation of water
(contribution to wide spread flooding/ filling
of reservoirs?)

• 1962 work of J.G. Wilson – the soils of Karamoja, and
the vegetation of Karamoja, provides evidence that
before 1920 the region was predominated by grass
savannah
• Shrub thickets that now cover much of the region were
confined to the exceptionally dry areas
• Settlement and rangeland practices supported
maintenance of the grass savannah
• Loss of land to Kenya, Teso and game reserves led to
increased pressure and invasion that turned land into
marginal areas
• Completely changed the agro-ecology and political
economy of the sub-region

Land Issues
• Access to land for
livestock infrastructure
and production
• Major land use changes
– once pastoral areas
have disappeared –
changing the politico-
economic geography of
the region – no strong
voices for destitute,
landless pastoralists
• Limited dialogue on the
impact of infrastructure
investments on the
sector

immense waste and inefficiencies
• The numbers do not add up: low production and
productivity
• Poorly developed and integrated value chains
– Poor access to inputs and services
– Poor recognition and harvesting of sector products
e.g., hides and skins which are 13-17% of the total
animal
– Low product development
– Poor handling, hygiene and packaging
– What is the cost of wastage and inefficiencies in terms
of human and environmental costs/ the carbon
footprint?
• Poor animal welfare

services of the livestock sector
• Ecosystem functions: nutrient recycling, water
recharge, and biodiversity conservation
• Savings: based on the convertibility/ capacity for
mobilization and transfer of asset value of livestock
• Resilience: coping with and rebounding from shocks,
including for urban and peri-urban areas where entry
into livestock keeping shows strong link to periods of
stress
• Social and political capital
• Social safety nets: redistribution of wealth and
management of risk
• Access to credit
• Peace building and conflict resolution

• The socio-economic, political, governance and
environmental fabric of East Africa is linked to the
livestock sector
• Strong growth in the region, and opening up and
facilitation of inter regional trade across the continent
augers strong economic opportunity for the East Africa
livestock sector – demand will continue
• To ensure growth contributes to sustainable
development requires profiling of the sector,
interrogating assumptions, developing innovative,
disruptive models and being part of setting/ driving
political agendas through evidence based advocacy
• There have been and will be serious consequences for
not harnessing livestock to address the development
issues

Live2Africa
• Sustainable Development of Livestock for Livelihoods in Africa
• Seven Result Areas aimed at contributing to
– (i) stimulating an increase in investment in livestock value
chains
– (ii) improving animal health delivery services
– (iii) enhancing animal production and productivity and
ecosystem management
– (iv) strengthening the resilience of livestock production
systems
– (vi) increasing access to inputs, services, markets and value
addition and
– (vii) strengthening AU-IBAR and implementing partner
capacities

Thank you for your attention