What FAO has done: Launched in 1994, FAO’s Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme FAO marked an international effort to control Rinderpest in a systematic and comprehensive way. It followed on a decades-long programme of scientific research, field surveillance and vaccination of animals in the field. FAO worked closely in partnership with key international organizations including the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR). FAO provided the coordinating Secretariat and channeled significant technical assistance to countries to cope with outbreaks and then put in place the systems and measures needed to stay Rinderpest-free.

Through a joint programme with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), FAO developed and transferred new diagnostic technology, and together with OIE established performance indicators to assess the programme’s progress.

FAO estimates that additional production due to Rinderpest eradication in India alone from 1965 to 1998 amounted to US$289 billion. The benefits in Africa have been estimated at around US$1 billion per year over the same period.

What Next? EMPRES Animal Health needs voluntary contributions for the following key activities:

·         support for regional animal health centres and FAO-Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease (ECTAD);
·         enhancement of disease early warning and detection systems;
·         strengthening of capacity for surveillance and response;
·         identification and assessment of disease drivers in food animal production and natural resource management
·         strengthening of the capacity of public veterinary services in preparation, prevention and response to animal disease occurrence;
·         assessment of the social and economic impact of diseases;
·         associating private sector stakeholders with public sector action in livestock and wildlife health.

What FAO has done: In response, FAO mounted its Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Global Programme, which was implemented through 170 projects in more than 130 countries, and raised more than US$350 million to finance it. The Organization helped national veterinary services to develop preparedness and contingency plans, improve surveillance systems, acquire laboratory resources and diagnostic capacity, and develop effective response capabilities.

The programme limited the impact of the disease, and established stronger national systems and regional coordination for disease preparedness, prevention and control.

What Next? EMPRES Animal Health needs voluntary contributions for the following key activities:

·         support for regional animal health centres and FAO-Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease (ECTAD);
·         enhancement of disease early warning and detection systems;
·         strengthening of capacity for surveillance and response;
·         identification and assessment of disease drivers in food animal production and natural resource management;
·         strengthening of the capacity of public veterinary services in preparation, prevention and response to animal disease occurrence;
·         assessment of the social and economic impact of diseases;
·         associating private sector stakeholders with public sector action in livestock and wildlife health.

What FAO has done: FAO’s EMPRES Desert Locust Programme has been working to strengthen the preventive Desert Locust management capacity of 18 locust-affected countries in Africa and the Near East. Results have been excellent, with the response time to the onset of locust emergencies cut by 60 percent -- translating into more effective prevention at much reduced cost.

In 2007-2009 countries in the Red Sea region which had spent US $20 million in locust crisis preparedness successfully prevented a Desert Locust plague. Countries in North and Northwest Africa which had made no such investment when an upsurge started in 2003 ended up spending around US$400 million to bring the locusts under control in 2005.

FAO has also been promoting the use more environmentally sustainable biopesticides to replace harmful chemical agents in controlling locust populations.

The Desert Locust Programme is reinforced by FAO’s Desert Locust Information Service, which monitors locust and environmental conditions on a daily basis and provides forecasts, alerts and early warning to member countries.

What Next? EMPRES Plant Health leads international and national efforts in country preparedness and management of transboundary plant diseases critical to food security. At the national level, EMPRES encourages coordination of plant pest preparedness and field management activities.

What FAO has done: First, the two agencies convened an expert meeting that developed and in 2010 published the FAO/WHO framework for developing national food safety emergency response plans. A workshop for Southeast Asia followed, training food safety authorities from 13 countries. FAO is helping several countries develop and implement food safety plans. FAO and WHO also manage the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN), which provides early warning of food safety threats.

What Next? EMPRES Food Safety needs voluntary contributions for the following key activities:

·         developing systems for emerging food safety issues (include in kind contributions and capacity development to generate food safety surveillance data and early warning in developing countries);
·         strengthening INFOSAN, including its information technology platform, to provide early warning of international food safety threats.