FAO in Egypt

Supporting Livestock and Animal Health Policy review in Egypt

From policy design to policy implementation: an evidence-based multi-stakeholder dialogue

03/12/2020

Cairo, Egypt - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MoALR) conducted a technical workshop to review the existing regulatory framework that supports biosecurity practices along the livestock value chain and to agree upon an approach to facilitate its implementation on the ground.

The workshop was organized by the Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 Project (ASL2050), implemented in Egypt by the FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD).

A total of 42 participants attended the workshop representing the General Organization for Veterinary Services and the Animal Production Department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR), the ASL2050 national steering committee, the Ministry of Health (MOHP), the local veterinary and agriculture services in the governorates of Qaliubia, Menofia, the administrative veterinary services in districts of Qewesna, Ashmoun, Banha and Kafr Shukr, the Agriculture Economic Research Center, the Egyptian Poultry Association (EPA) and FAO.

“ASL2050 is cooperating with Government of Egypt (GoE) to design policy instruments that allow livestock-related stakeholders to adopt good practices that both ensure compliance with the existing legislative framework and reduce public health threats. These instruments will complement, reinforce and be synergetic with other actions taken by public health, environmental and other One Health stakeholders” said Ugo Pica-Ciamarra, the ASL2050 Global Coordinator.

ASL 2050 will facilitate an evidence-based dialogue among livestock, health and environment stakeholders at local identify and test appropriate policy instruments that are implementable within the current institutional and economic framework. In the medium to long-term, the widespread implementation of this approach to operationalize the One Health legislative framework will improve the capacity of stakeholders to design actionable policy instruments that significantly reduce public health threats along the livestock value chain.

The successful implementation of the current policy framework will improve people’s livelihoods, through the provision of income, food and employment; it will improve public health, through one-health investments that tackle the emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance; it will address environmental degradation and climate change, and sustain biodiversity.

ASL2050 is a cross-country project that supports a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approach to facilitate the implementation of existing public health laws and regulations in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.