The Andean region has seen significant growth in industrial poultry and pig production around its rapidly-growing urban centres. National policies to promote growth in export earnings from livestock products and industrialisation of the livestock sector are common in the region, and often work to the detriment of small-scale livestock keepers. However, many livestock products, including milk and dairy products, small-ruminant meat and camelid fibre, continue to be supplied by small-scale producers, and livestock remain central to the livelihoods of a large portion of the rural poor living in the higher altitudes unsuitable for sustained crop production.

The Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative (PPLPI) operates in the Andean region through the Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina (CONDESAN). In partnership with the Initiative, CONDESAN has conducted country case-studies and stakeholder dialogues on livestock sector poverty dynamics and policy and institutional frameworks in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. This process culminated in the preparation of a detailed proposal for pro-poor livestock policy activities in the Andean Region, but despite significant donor interest, funds to implement the regional proposal have not been forthcoming and, since mid 2004 PPLPI has restricted its regional operations to Peru.

In Peru, the Initiative has focused on developing partnerships and networks. In particular, it has focused attention on the camelid sector and, to a lesser extent, on the dairy sector, both identified as having significant potential for poverty reduction through policy change. PPLPI has signed a number of collaborative agreements with the main actors in these sub-sectors and has influenced policy dialogues in both sectors, with major progress having been achieved in policy development for the camelid sector.

The Initiative has been instrumental in raising awareness about the importance of livestock to the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the highland regions in a number of political and development fora. To ensure that political and institutional changes, and the accompanying investment strategies, adequately reflect population and sector needs, the PPLPI contributes to strengthening local sector capacity by facilitating interaction and dialogue with policy makers and practitioners.