STATEMENT BY
DR PREGA RAMSAMY
THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY (SADC)
CONVENTION CENTRE,
GRAND PALM HOTEL GABORONE, BOTSWANA
25 September 2003
Honourable Minister Jonnie K. Swartz
Minister of Agriculture from the Government of Botswana;
Honourable Ministers from SADC Member States;
Your Excellencies, Heads of Diplomatic Missions;
Distinguished Delegates;
Invited Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Let me first of all express my sincere gratitude on behalf of all SADC Member States to you, Honourable Minister Swartz, and through you to the Government of the Republic of Botswana for having agreed to play host for this crucial Appeal for support to combat Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and other Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) in the SADC region.
Livestock is an important sector of the agricultural production in SADC accounting for some 20 to 40% of the agricultural GDP and having a high social value in the livelihoods of rural communities of the region. It is estimated that about 60% of the SADC population depends on livestock and there is an increasing demand for livestock and livestock products in the region. It is estimated that over the next 10 to 15 years the average annual consumption of meat and milk will more than double from 7 to 15 kg of meat per capita and 20 to 50 litres of milk per capita.
Several of the SADC Member States have a thriving export to the international meat markets, due to a favourable animal health situation and all SADC Member States have ambitious plans for the livestock sector as a major factor in both their poverty reduction and food security strategies. However, these ambitions may not materialise if we do not tackle the problem of TADs.
In the past, most Member States of SADC were able to promptly deal with incursions of transboundary animal diseases. However recently (2001 - 2002) the region has experienced severe and persistent droughts, which have limited areas of grazing and thereby leading to wildlife-livestock competition for grazing and watering points. In addition, a chronic shortage of resources and social changes (including land disputes) on top of the crippling HIV and AIDS pandemic have resulted in reduced capacity for coping with outbreaks of TADs. Outbreaks of FMD in the last two years in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa are in particular of major concern, which compels us to rethink our regional approach for effective prevention and progressive control of these diseases.
Our Regional Indicative Strategic Development Programme (RISDP) now approved as a blue print for development in the region, singles out Food Security as an issue, which should have overriding priority importance in the SADC Plan of Action. To reflect this, SADC's Livestock Programme will be restructured in the coming years to focus on Livestock Health and Production in three main areas. The first is livestock production systems both mixed, peri-urban, and agro-pastoralism. The farming systems approach makes our livestock programmes relevant to Food Security with particular emphasis on the role of the short-cycle livestock, e.g. small ruminants, pigs and poultry. The second domain deals with the management, conservation and utilization of the farm animal genetic resources in the region. The third area is livestock health, which includes organization of the veterinary services and progressive control and effective prevention of Transboundary Animal Diseases. In fact this third area is the subject of our Appeal today.
The objective for the intervention is to facilitate Emergency FMD and CBPP control and surveillance at an estimated cost of USD 14 million in order to stop the current tide of these diseases spreading in the SADC Member States.
Once the current spread has been stopped, the emergency interventions will roll over to a recovery programme aimed at a regionally coordinated strategy for effective prevention and progressive control of FMD and CBPP as SADC's strategic animal diseases and to strengthen the regional capacity for surveillance and preparedness against the tactical and high risk exotic diseases. The SADC Plan of Action against TADs will form part of the Global Plan of Action against TADs spearheaded by the Food Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
Our Member States fully appreciate the magnitude of the problem and are using substantial amounts of their scare and limited resources for control and surveillance of TADs. They have undertaken the responsibility to enforce livestock movement controls, which is a major factor in the transmission of TADs within and outside national borders. In addition, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are engaged in repairing their cordon fences to prevent buffalo-cattle interactions, which are often the primary source of FMD outbreaks.
South Africa and Botswana, apart from allocating adequate resources to their National Veterinary Administrations, have helped neighbouring Zimbabwe with vaccines and technical assistance. Zimbabwe on her side has so far committed a lot of resources to fight FMD including over Z$ 150 million for the repairs of National Park boundary fences. Tanzania has embarked on a plan to establish zoo-sanitary inspection and border control posts to regulate animal movement and has declared CBPP to be a national disaster. Both Tanzania and Zambia have drawn up comprehensive National CBPP control measures.
Let me take this opportunity to illustrate further the impact of TADs and in particular FMD in the region in terms of trade. Last year (2002), the FMD outbreak in Botswana resulted in temporary suspension of imports of livestock and livestock products to South Africa and the EU and as a result the country lost more than US$ 37 million of export revenue. Zimbabwe, now under export ban following FMD outbreaks since 2001 is losing, on average, US$ 50 million per annum from its beef commercial exports. We cannot afford to lose export earnings especially at a time where we are facing so many economic and social challenges.
One of the lessons that we have learnt in the process of responding to food security and humanitarian crisis in the SADC region is the need to re-shape our food security policies and strategies in order to effectively deal with the vulnerable groups such as orphans, women, HIV and AIDS affected families and school children. The challenge before us is to implement a livestock programme that will assist the SADC region to deal with the animal health emergency needs as well as the long-term development needs.
We look forward to the support of our International Cooperating Partners to reduce the impact of Transboundary Animal Diseases at source and in particular in addressing the current FMD crisis. Your support to SADC Member States to deal with this crisis, which has significantly affected the livelihoods of rural communities, will greatly be appreciated. We believe that together with our Development Partners, we can successfully deal with this crisis.
I thank you.