7. APHCA: 00/6 - Proposed Long-Term Activities

A) HOPE-A
B) SA-FMD Control Unit
C) ANGRASIA

A) HOPE-A

Proposal 2000

Animal Production and Health Commission for Asia and the Pacific (APHCA)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Regional Office for Asia Pacific

Householder Poultry Enterprise - ASIA (HOPE-A)

Introduction

Improving poultry production at the householder level will improve food security and assist with poverty alleviation. The majority of householders in Asia live in rural environments and raise poultry, usually chickens which are relatively cheap to buy and require very little inputs. In many cases, little or no supplementary feeding is given and the birds roost in trees or the owner’s home. Village chickens in particular fulfil a wide range of functions, e.g., the provision of meat and eggs, food for special festivals, offerings for traditional ceremonies, pest control, and petty cash. They require minimal external inputs, minimal human attention and cause minimal disruption to the environment. Village poultry are also the livestock most likely to be owned and cared for by women and children. Other poultry raised on a small scale with similar requirements are pigeons, quails, turkeys, ducks and pheasant.

HOPE-A is designed to assist and encourage village poultry production in Asia including intensification if the conditions are right, with the aim of assuring food security and income generating in case of surplus production, benefiting the rural poor, especially woman and children.

It is proposed that HOPE-A be established as a sub-commission of APHCA, as an initiative of the members at their 25^th Anniversary Session to be held in Bangladesh in November 2000.

The objectives of APHCA have always included the development of livestock as an integral part of agriculture. The strategy for achieving this goal has been founded on collective self-reliance and mutual assistance between the developing countries, and this successful model will be followed with HOPE-A.

“A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintains or enhances its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base." From DFID Sustainable Livelihood Approach”

HOPE-A will therefore be an active enterprise, of and for APHCA member countries with the specific aims of:

• promoting joint action, cooperation, coordination and information exchange among the members for better householder poultry production;
• overcoming existing constraints to householder poultry production in Asia to the extent achievable;
• developing appropriate agricultural education and research that relates to Asian householder poultry systems;
• seeking cooperation and assistance from relevant UN and other international and intergovernmental organizations to help implement HOPE-A activities;
• carrying out the above functions so as to raise the output and income of farmers, by developing profitable village poultry production.

For HOPE-A, poultry production assistance has a broad meaning. It includes research, development, extension, training and support activities relevant to the production, marketing and management of village poultry in Asia.

HOPE-A will not directly undertake all the above-mentioned activities but will commission groups in Asia such as private, public and non-governmental organizations and individuals to carry out this work under umbrella partnership agreements.

HOPE-A, as a legitimate sub-commission of APHCA, will operate within the framework of the APHCA constitution, established 25 year ago, which stipulates management by the members and annual international audit of accounts. APHCA presently consists of 15 member countries; Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Any country, which is a member of FAO, can easily join APHCA and therefore become a part of HOPE-A by requesting membership in writing, and acknowledging the existence of and willingness to follow the articles of APHCA.

HOPE-A’s postal address is: HOPE-A Sr. Animal Production and Health Officer, Secretary of APHCA FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) Maliwan Manion 39 Phra Atit Road Bangkok 10200, THAILAND

The Challenge

By the year 2020 it is expected that the population in Asia will represents 57% of the world’s population and rural poverty is expected to increase.

Food security has been defined in a number of ways, but in any discussion on food security it is inferred that all people at all times need and deserve access to enough safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy active life. Food security in practice, however, depends in activities carried out at various levels of aggregation such as the global, regional, national, household and individual. At the national level, food security has often been equated with the maintenance of a balance between availability of food and requirements for adequate nutrition (based on assumed needs per individual), known as the food balance. Food balance at any level, however, is not an adequate criterion for defining food security, because poor distribution and lack of purchasing power means not all of the national population would always have access to sufficient food, even though the food balance may be adequate.

Household food security relates to the ability of a household to meet its requirements from a variety of activities including food production, income generation, and gifts or assistance that can be used to provide the household with food. However, meeting household needs does not ensure individual food security because within a household food distribution may be based on social status, age and sex, rather than need, which makes estimating individual food security an extremely complex task.

Only through sustainable rural development and by developing sustainable ways of using natural resources will it be possible to meet the challenge to provide food security for the world’s hungry millions: 790 million in the developing countries.

OUR MISSION

To improve food security and ameliorate poverty of householders in Asia, by means of sensible interventions, involving participatory decision-making, in sustainable, affordable, village poultry production.

OUR GOALS

The governing principle behind our mission is the same as for all principled development endeavours: taking seriously the priorities, knowledge and realities of people living in rural areas of Asia who wish to improve their own lives, that of their communities, and the coming generations.

Our principal goals are:

• reduce poverty, enhance food security and conserve the natural resource base;
• analyse and respond to local needs and resources;
• assist development planners and government officials to match their plans and expectations to these local priorities and resources;
• allocate sufficient time to investigating local farming systems and the social and cultural contexts in which poultry production is carried out in each country in the region;
• promote and support community-based food security and nutrition programmes that encourage self-reliance, utilizing participatory planning and implementation processes;
• foster the growing appreciation in the region of the benefits of indigenous breeds and the inefficiency of improved breeds in resource-poor environments;
• encourage rural households and communities to adopt low-cost technologies and innovative practices for improved poultry production;
• promote policies and programmes which encourage appropriate input technologies, farming techniques, and other sustainable methodologies associated with local integrated poultry production;
• promote, concurrently, regional collaboration in poultry disease control and sharing of information;
• give assistance to national policy-makers and regional bodies involved in the development of legal, institutional and economic mechanisms which affect poultry production;
• support applied research including the continued collection, analysis and dissemination of data already available in numerous locations to foster greater regional and world understanding of agro-ecosystems;
• undertake studies based on economic principles to demonstrate the benefits gained from activities undertaken with donor financing;
• encourage participatory studies of women's involvement in poultry production training programmes to determine constraints to their involvement; development of planning procedures and training approaches which improve women's involvement in poultry production.

Livelihoods are sustainable when they: Are resilient in the face of external shocks and stresses Are not dependent upon external support (or if they are, this support itself should be economically and institutionally sustainable) Maintain the long-term productivity of natural resources and Do not undermine the livelihoods of other people, or compromise the livelihood options open to them. From DFID Sustainable Livelihood Approach

STAKEHOLDERS

HOPE-A's primary investors are FAO, APHCA and its member countries who contribute to the APHCA trust fund as well as members of the international donor community who may be encouraged to invest in this initiative.

HOPE-A’s partners include those invited national and international agricultural research centers, scientists and administrators in national governments, policy and planning groups and agencies, non-governmental organizations and private individuals that can assist us in our mission.

HOPE-A's main beneficiaries are the rural and semi-rural poor in Asia, and, by future extension, of other countries in Asia and the rest of the world, when the advantages of HOPE-A’s integrated communicative participatory approach to solving the difficult problems of food security in the region are seen.

Food security is a multi-dimensional development issue that requires intervention in an integrated fashion.

OUR VISION AND VALUES

HOPE-A’s vision as part of APHCA is expected to be recognized as an organization that:

- Contributes to improvements in food security and the lives of the people in rural communities in Asia;

- Assists with poverty alleviation in Asia;

- Is a partner in facilitating collaboration in the aid community in overcoming the problems of the future; and

- Acts as an information source for the region and the world.

• encourage administrative processes driven by flexibility and desired outcomes;
• ensure projects are developed to benefit the target group(s);
• encourage innovation in the pursuit of our stated goals; and
• encourage autonomy and results and not be merely driven by the process.

Asia and the pacific as a whole has about 70 percent of the world’s severely stunted, underweight and wasted children. these daunting statistics underscored the scale and depth of the food insecurity problem in Asia.

OUR CRITICAL OPERATIONAL ISSUES

When examining the possibility of productivity gains in household poultry through better feeding, improved genetic material, health care, extension, the provision of credit and marketing, value adding to poultry outputs, and the encouragement of private sector investments in inputs and output processing, we are aware of critical operational issues such as:

• Reflecting the identified needs and priorities of our target group(s);
• Recognising that possible solutions for problems within any community may differ from those applicable to others, and the importance of local ownership of, and devolution of, decision-making;
• The importance of delivery of solutions to problems to the sufferers;
• Ensuring implementation of programmes planned, with sensitivity and timeliness;
• Involvement of the private sector;
• The effects of national macro-economic policies on small-scale poultry production and concomitant food security;
• Local area, national, and regional human capacity building needs;

OUTCOMES, INDICATORS AND STRATEGIES

Outcome 1. Productive and sustainable village poultry production in Asia is enhanced

Indicators

Evidence of HOPE-A activities providing:

• increased levels of village poultry outputs
• reduction in the costs of production
• adoption of appropriate technologies
• improved policy adoption relating to the above-mentioned, and
• significant social, economic and environmental benefits for target group/s in participating countries.

Strategies

• Seek funding for, and commission bilateral projects that address the constraints to rural householder poultry production.
• Broaden the information base and develop effective decision-making tools.
• Promote appropriate technologies.
• Develop effective interactions and communication.

Outcome 2. Efficient, transparent, accountable utilization of donated resources.

Indicators

• HOPE-A’s stated project objectives achieved within budget.
• Regular meaningful reviews of progress published.
• Appropriate levels of stakeholder interactions.

Strategies

• Seemly problem identification and addressing.
• Programme completed on time and within budget.
• Pertinent delivery of benefits of research and development technologies.
• Implementing communication network.
• To attract external resources for funding initiatives under HOPE-A

APHCA has, for almost 25 years now, provided a new direction for planning in rural development by advocating technical cooperation and development assistance appropriate to the real basis of Asia’s farming traditions. mutual exchange of experience and expertise between the farmers themselves from countries with common problems enabled the identification of development alternatives.

THE FUTURE

Food security is an important issue and agricultural production including livestock production plays an important part in providing food security for small-scale farmers in Asia.

Advances in human-environment understandings made in recent times mean that it is no longer enough for us to say “We are increasing livestock (poultry) production” or “We are preventing or controlling (poultry) diseases” and to be content that these activities are by definition good things. It is now necessary for us to provide evidence of the sustainable benefits to the whole environment to be derived from our actions in livestock production and animal health. The need to determine these benefits actions is an imperative throughout the world, and livestock production specialists are not alone in having to come to grips with the problem of defining their role within this context. HOPE-A participants need to be aware of this, and to review progress, and commission cost-benefit analyses both ex-ante and ex-post of activities.

Food security is one aspect of livestock production and livestock production is one aspect of food security. Livestock production needs to be viewed in the broader context of sustainable rural development and food security is part of that broader context.

Through time, the focus of food security has shifted from national and international food security concerns (food supplies) to individual and household food security (access, vulnerability, entitlement).

Sustainable livelihoods framework

B) SA-FMD Control Unit

South Asia FMD Control Unit

Possible Mandate of the South Asia FMD Control Unit (SA-FMD-CU)

The main functions of the SA-FMD-CU are:

• To stimulate regional interest and cooperation on control of FMD;
• To formulate FMD control/eradication strategies in South Asia;
• To seek and provide technical support to the member countries in South Asia;
• To coordinate epidemiological studies of FMD in the region;
• To coordinate FMD control activities in the region;
• To assist in improvement FMD surveillance and reporting systems in each country;
• To assist in improvement of FMD diagnostic services in each country;
• To coordinate research and training activities related to the FMD campaign;
• To provide technical advice to national FMD campaign coordinators.

Plan of Action of the SA-FMD-CU

In order to carry out its mandate to coordinate and harmonise the FMD control and eradication activities in the South Asian region, the CU will work in close collaboration with all the national coordination units. In doing so, the CU will implement the following activities:

• Arranging consultancy/technical visits by the regional coordinator(s) and consultants recruited by the Unit/APHCA;
• Organizing international workshops and training courses that are relevant to the regional FMD activities;
• Assisting the national FMD control activities that require international inputs (such as virus typing, consultancy/technical services, emergency assistance, etc.);
• Assisting/promoting bilateral negotiations on the control of FMD along national borders;
• Contributing to the development of national strategies for the control of FMD in the member countries;
• Harmonizing technical and strategic processes to be adopted in the member countries;
• Assisting in support solicitation for national activities from national and international sources and coordination of international assistance by other aid agencies;
• Preparing annual progress reports for submission to the authorities concerned;
• Liaison with OIE, FAO-EMPRES, IAEA and other similar authorities/bodies.

Location of the RCU

The SA-FMD-CU will be provisionally located in Bangkok attached to the APHCA Secretariat.

Suggested Organisational Chart for South Asia FMD Control

C) ANGRASIA

Animal Genetic Resource Management for Asia - ANGRASIA

Introduction

Livestock production in Asia and the Pacific region has been increasing dramatically. Figures for 1988-98 (FAO RAP 1999/34) show an increase in the Gross Livestock Products index (1989/91 level set as 100) to 154.9 in Asia, compared to the world figure of 113.8. During this period Asia had a four-fold increase over the rest of the world.

A study of the individual species shows that for almost all the annual rate of increase is much higher than the rest of the world. This suggests that much of the increase has been through increased numbers rather than better efficiency and, therefore, it is likely that environmental pressures are greater and food security is at more risk. Certainly a study of environmental aspects would confirm the increased degradation and therefore the lack of sustainability of some of the livestock production now practised

Predictions suggest that the increase in demand for livestock products will continue and that the major region for this demand is Asia. The problem, if not addressed urgently, is likely to get worse rather than better thus increasing the risk to food security as environmental damage undermines sustainable production. There is need to increase efficiency of production and not to increase numbers of animals per se. The most likely improvements in efficiency will come from the better use of local resources rather than greater reliance on imported feedstuffs. This can be exemplified by those industries totally reliant upon imported materials, feed, etc., such as the poultry industries of Indonesia and Laos, which collapsed during the Asian economic crisis. Given that the better use of all local resources is crucial and that most livestock production in Asia takes place at the small farmer level generally in a mixed farming system, then better use has to be made of those resources adapted to the local conditions.

One of the basic resources crucial to livestock production is the genetic one. In the majority of countries in Asia, agriculture is a major use of labour and this will continue for many years. Livestock are a means of adding income as well as providing many other benefits such as food, fuel, fertiliser, hides, skins, savings bank, draught power. Various different species and breeds/types provide a means to alleviate poverty in many situations. It is crucial to have the correct genetic base to achieve the outputs required with acceptable efficiency in use of all other resources and in a sustainable manner.

Twelve Asian countries took part on a Trust Fund project (GOJ Supported) and these possess about one third of the world’s known farm animal breeds (the addition of the rest of Asia would add a small proportion to this). Much has been achieved in Asia over the last few years in terms of awareness of the potential problems and of the need to establish national plans for the optimal use of all genetic resources available - indigenous and exotic. Eleven of the twelve participants in the pilot scheme produced National Animal Genetic resources Management Action Plans (NAGMAPs) while the twelfth already had produced a similar publication just as the project started. There has been a realisation that several indigenous breeds are at risk of extinction - indeed the global figures suggest that about one third of the known resources are at risk. Given the need to exploit the adaptive abilities of the local breeds as well as the improved output offered by some exotic breeds.

ANGRASIA aims to continue the process started by this initial ‘pilot’ scheme through APHCA which took over the co-ordinating role when the original project finished. It is designed to assist Asia in the management of its animal genetic resources so as to maximise the effective use of resources in a sustainable manner whilst adding significantly to the financial improvement of small farmers. Given that, at household level, most livestock are cared for by women and children, it is anticipated that they will be the major beneficiaries.

The intention is to formally adopt ANGRASIA as a sub-commission or working group of APHCA at the 25^th Anniversary Session in November 2000 to be held in Bangladesh. Such an activity fits well within the objectives of APHCA and would enable countries to be better involved with all activities given that they are directly involved under the umbrella of APHCA.

The Specific Aims of ANGRASIA - APHCA will be:

• To promote joint action, cooperation, cordination and information exchange among members to improve the use and maintenance of the genetic resources for food and agriculture by various methods including improved networking
• To assist in the prioritisation of all aspects of the management of genetic resources including research (this in cooperation with ILRI)
• To provide means of communication between members and to assist members in the development of communication strategies within their own country
• To enhance capacity building by developing and assisting in appropriate training programmes at all levels
• To assist in the development of appropriate breeding strategies and breed improvement programmes
• To seek support and assistance from all relevant agencies in the implementation of the various aspects and activities of ANGRASIA
• To provide the background administrative support under the UN/APHCA umbrella to allow the full range of activities to be implemented
• To commission any individual, group or organisation to undertake all or part of activities supported under ANGRASIA

These objectives will contribute in a significant manner to the urgently required “State of the World for Animal Genetic Resources” which has been recommended by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to FAO as a major priority to be achieved by 2005.

As a result of the earlier regional ‘pilot’ project, ANGRASIA already has the Programme Document prepared by the twelve National Coordinators in conjunction with the Regional Coordinator and an outside consultant as a useful guideline of the future needs and priorities within the region. These will clearly require further debate with donors and the members prior to development of any project as part of ANGRASIA.

The membership of APHCA covers 15 countries within Asia and the Pacific region of which ten are common with the 12 participants of the regional AnGR project to which reference has been made. The two not in APHCA are China and Vietnam while the present APHCA members not in the project are Australia, Bangladesh, Iran, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka. Several of these together with others expressed their interest in becoming involved in a project on Animal Genetic Resources Management.

The Challenge

The region has the largest proportion of the world’s population (over 50%) but 30% of arable land. Asia has the largest and fastest growing livestock industry of any region but the sustainability of this position is in doubt unless there is much improved efficiency. Rural and urban poor populations are likely to increase. At the same time, a large proportion of the animal genetic resource base is at serious risk, which if lost will seriously reduce the possibilities of achieving sustainable agriculture.

Food security has been defined in a number of ways but all infer that people need and deserve access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to develop and maintain a healthy, active life. At the basic level, food security aims at each individual but, in practice, the lowest grouping that can be effectively addressed is that of the individual household.

Given the rapid increase in food output from livestock, it is important to note that this has been mainly from increases in livestock population and changes to the population type/breed. Over the last 25 years or so, there has been a great deal of ‘exotic’ material introduced in an effort to increase output. Some of these introductions have been successful but, unfortunately, the majority has also created new difficulties - often not obvious until many years after the original introduction. These difficulties range from large increases in feed for maintenance requirements (as well for the extra production), lower reproductive rates, greater disease and stress susceptibility and, in many cases, debts for the local farmers who then were unable to pay off the loans given to acquire the exotic material. The introduction of exotic material usually was as semen and crossbreeding with local breeds took place. The resultant first crosses were generally highly successful and resulted in further back-crossing to the exotic which then created a level of indigenous genes which was too low to provide the adaptation requirements for that environment/management system.

The most effective strategy both for the nation and the individual farming household has to be developed to provide adequate food to meet demand from sustainable production while providing a proper income for the farmer.

Rationale

Failure of the region to address the problems outlined will seriously impair the region’s ability to provide adequate food, reduce economic opportunities in the longer term and create serious environmental damage which itself will further exacerbate the situation. The ‘Asia and Pacific’ region contains about 70% of the severely stunted, underweight and wasted children.

• The loss of genetic material needs addressing urgently - this will need to include proper genetic characterization at a level which allows the development of a strategy to maintain genetic diversity - not necessarily all breeds.
• The lack of management capacity must be resolved by proper training programmes at all levels
• Breeding strategies with both the short and long term implications identified and agreed need developing
• An awareness programme is a crucial element especially as the proportion of the population in agriculture is reducing
• Increased communication between all levels and all involving the farmers and consumers must be achieved urgently if policy and planning is to provide the sustainability required to provide food security
• Improved co-ordination and co-operation between countries, sub-regional groups and within the region must be achieved if the most effective actions for the maintenance of the region’s genetic resources and diversity are to be maintained in order to ensure long term achievement of the goals of sustainable, intensive production to meet demand

BOX

“Livestock are central to the livelihood of the rural poor in developing countries in at least six ways (Livestock in Development 1998, DFID UK). First, they are an important source of cash income. Second, they are one of the few assets available to the poor, especially poor women. Third, livestock manure and draught power are vital to the preservation of soil fertility and the sustainable intensification of farming systems in many developing areas facing increasing population density. Fourth, livestock allow the poor to exploit common property resources, such as open grazing areas, in order to earn income. Fifth, livestock products enable farmers to diversify incomes, helping to reduce income variability, especially in semi-arid systems characterized by one cropping season per year. Sixth, livestock provide a vital and often the only source of income for the poorest and most marginal of the rural poor, such as pastoralists, sharecroppers, and widows” (p.40 Livestock to 2020 The Next Food Revolution, IFPRI)

OUR MISSION

To improve food security and to ameliorate poverty in households of Asia by means of realistic interventions and assistance agreed by participatory decision making in the management of all the animal genetic resources available.

OUR GOALS

The governing principle is the same as for all principled development endeavours - to take seriously the priorities, knowledge and realities of rural households and urban livestock keepers who wish to improve their lives and those of the whole community both at present and for the coming generations.

The Principle goals are to:

• reduce poverty and enhance food security
• conserve the natural resource base
• foster the appreciation of the contribution of local breeds to sustainable production and develop strategies and schemes for livestock breeds
• assist development planners and government officials to match their plans and expectations with those of the local resources and priorities
• allocate sufficient time and resource to investigating local farming systems and the social and cultural contexts in which livestock are used in each country
• promote and encourage participatory processes to achieve community based food security and nutrition programmes
• give assistance to national and regional policy makers and planners in developing the most effective management and maintenance of genetic diversity of farm livestock
• provide assistance to those involved in the development of legal, institutional and economic mechanisms which affect livestock production
• promote research and data collection and analysis into the livestock systems and the specific role of different genotypes to foster better understanding and more effective methods of maintaining biodiversity with respect to farm animals and in line with the requirement of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD).

BOX

Livestock and livestock products are essential elements in the food and agricultural sector in the Asian region. Over thousands of years, a diverse array of animal breeds has been developed in order to take advantage of a wide range of production environments. Over 1300 breeds have so far been identified representing approximately 30% of the world’s known breeds. These resources not only contribute to food and agricultural production in the region, they have been shared around the world enhancing global food security.

The next five years is a critical period for livestock production in the Asian region. Poorly planned animal breeding strategies and the loss of many indigenous breeds threaten the region’s ability to meet future demands, reducing food security. Countries and the region as a whole must immediately begin to increase understanding of the role and value of the full range of their AnGR, and develop comprehensive and effective strategies to ensure their wise use and conservation. (Programme Document for Farm Animal Genetic Resources in Asia, 1997. FAO RAP, Bangkok.)

OUR PLEDGE

ANGRASIA-APHCA will:

• Encourage administrative processes driven by the desire to achieve the stated outcomes while retaining full accountability
• Provide full, independent auditing and transparent accounting procedures
• Ensure that projects are developed with full participatory procedures
• Maintain links with global sources of information and provide an open base for accession of these
• Cooperate and liaise fully with all who have similar aims and objectives
• Constantly maintain contact with all interested agencies with a view to obtaining support as required to achieve the prioritised objectives
• Provide reports and reviews on all activities on a regular basis

OUTCOMES

1. A mechanism for developing regional animal genetic resource policies and an interface between the region and the Global Focal point for Animal Genetic Resources

2. Enhanced management capacity for the use and maintenance of farm animal genetic diversity at regional, sub-regional and national levels

3. Improved margins for farmers coupled to long term system sustainability

4. Improved communications, data collection and sharing among farmers, scientists, managers, countries and interested organizations

1. Operational ANGRASIA within APHCA - governed under the constitution of APHCA

2. Completed training courses, fully evaluated by participants, comparisons of capacity prior to and after (this would be a component for the State of the World Surveys)

3. Study of breeding strategies, programmes and National Action Plans and the ability of a country to observe the CBD

4. Direct studies of systems and financial margins when FULLY costed together with measures of sustainability (agreed with experts from relevant organizations)

5. Studies of network size and usage, publications, guidelines and common documents translated for use in each country. Measures of information provided to the State of the World Survey and to outside organizations/people on request.

ANGRASIA’s present primary stakeholders are FAO and the member countries of APHCA who contribute to the APHCA Trust Fund. Those agencies who invest in this initiative will also become direct stakeholders.

ANGRASIA’s partners include those invited international and national agricultural research centres, scientists and administrators involved in the agricultural policy and planning agencies, interested non-governmental organizations and invited private individuals who can contribute to our mission.

ANGRASIA’s beneficiaries are:

• farmers, rural communities and urban livestock farmers in Asia and the Pacific region through enhanced management capacity to use the resources available
• policy makers and planners by improved mechanisms for identifying policy issues, needs and the implications of any potential solution
• scientists, managers and extensionists by further training and improved communication between all levels - especially with farmers
• improved access to quality information and assistance in developing co-ordinated programmes at the regional and sub-regional level
• The countries which have ratified the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD)

BOX

For billions of people, the regular consumption of a range of animal products provides almost complete protection against a variety of nutritional disorders. The three major human nutritional problems that the world still faces are iron deficiency, Vitamin A deficiency and protein-energy malnutrition. An increased consumption of a relatively small amount of animal product in populations at risk would substantially and efficiently ameliorate all three diseases. Animals provide the draught power for about 28% of the world’s arable land, and will be the most economically realistic and socially appropriate technology for many regions of the world into the foreseeable future. Estimates suggest that about 22% of total nitrogen fertilisation and 38% of total phosphate be of animal origin. There is a wide range of other important products from animals. (Vizard, A.L. 2000 Animal Contributions to Human Health and Well-being. Asian-Aus. J. Anim. Sci. 13 Supplement, July 2000 A: 1-9.)

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