European Union supports 500,000 vulnerable rural smallholders and pastoralists who depend on livestock production

11.11.2019
Khartoum

person speaking

50 participants from the Federal Ministry of Animal Resources in North Kordofan, West Kordofan, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, White Nile, Sennar, Gedarif and Kassala, Departments of Animal Resources, veterinary quarantines departments and veterinary Research laboratories participated in an Induction workshop of Livestock Epidemio-Surveillance Project to Support Livelihoods of vulnerable rural smallholders and pastoralists (LESP-SLSP).

The aim and objectives of the induction workshop is to improve the capacity building of the Sudanese experts with the systems and procedures followed by IFAD and the EU.

The European Union has been the single major supporter to the development of the livestock sector in Sudan since 2003; The current project builds on the previous EU-funded projects in support of trans-boundary animal disease control in Sudan during the period from 2003 to 2017. The project value is EUR 9,000,000, financed by the EU Trust Fund on Migration. The duration of the programme is 48 months. The geographical focus of this project is at State level in South Eastern Sudan and will benefit approximately 500,000 vulnerable rural smallholders and pastoralists who depend on livestock production for their subsistence.

Ambassador Robert van den Dool said the following speech at the opening of the workshop:

Distinguished guests and participants,

Support to the Livestock sector has a high priority for the European Union and we all know that epidemiological surveillance plays a key role. In this regard, I am delighted to see so many distinguished veterinary experts attending this workshop here in Khartoum.

This workshop is an occasion to exchange information, to strengthen implementation and promote coordination between all partners.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Animal Resources for the organisation of the workshop.

Livestock is the largest subsector of the Sudanese domestic economy and is a growing contributor to exports. Live animals are now the one of the largest non-oil export sector in Sudan; the traditional links with Arab countries guarantee Sudan a captive market in the Red Sea and Gulf area.

EU has been the single major supporter to the development of the livestock sector in Sudan mainly through funding support to the Pan-African Control of Epizootics "PACE" project (2003-2006) and the Livestock Epidemio-Surveillance programme (2007-2012), and the Livestock epidemio-surveillance project in East Sudan (2015-2017), all involving an amount exceeding 13 million euro.

The current project builds on the previous EU-funded projects in support of trans-boundary animal disease control in Sudan during the period from 2003 to 2017. A final evaluation of these projects showed that the control and eradication of a trans-boundary animal disease is possible. It requires sustained funding and the use of a coordinated and harmonized approach across the region.

The current action will rely on close collaboration between the veterinary authorities of South Eastern regions and possibly with the authorities in South Sudan and Ethiopia. It will consolidate the achievements made from national to state and locality levels, in particular to reinforce diagnostic and disease reporting capacities at grassroots levels to directly benefit poor smallholder livestock producers.

The project is based on the Short Term Strategy 2016/17 in favor of the people of Sudan. The objective of the project is to support the trade and export of livestock. This will help to increase the incomes and the resilience of vulnerable smallholders and pastoralists in the target areas. The project value is EUR 9,000,000, financed by the EU Trust Fund on Migration. The duration of the programme is 48 months. It is implemented in South-Eastern Sudan, and will benefit approximately 500,000 vulnerable rural smallholders and pastoralists who depend on livestock production for their subsistence. The states which will benefit from the project are Gedaref, Kassala, Sennar, Blue Nile, White Nile, North, South and West Kordofan.

Over the past couple of months, Sudan has been facing transboundary animal disease outbreak, namely the Rift Valley Fever. The European Union acknowledges the substantial efforts made by the Government in the response to this. The European Union is very interested to learn more about the animal diseases strategies and policy priorities of the new government. In particular we are concerned about Saudi Arabia's and other countries' ban on importing livestock from Sudan in response to the announcement of World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) concerning documented cases of Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Sudan. The economic impacts of this ban are likely to be massive and severely affecting the livelihood of pastoralists and trade reductions.

We look forward to continue contributing to the improvement of livelihoods and resilience of vulnerable rural smallholders and pastoralists in the main livestock production area in Sudan.

I wish you all a fruitful meeting.

Khartoum 4 November 2019