Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Hope the attached document developed by Heifer International will provide some insights into this consultation process. 

-Development and production of feed additives like vitamins, carotenoids, trace elements, enzymes and organic acids.

-Customer-centric solutions: Training/knowledge transfer and innovative digital support to support efficient and sustainable animal protein production.

-Smaller footprint using better feeds (cattle feed containing seaweed) to reduce methane generated during digestion.

-Partnerships with public, private, and local organizations, to better address smallholder farmers’ needs holistically.

Building awareness tools could also be added to the objective section. It is important to have a regular training opportunity for small-scale household farmers, as most of the training is dedicated to commercial farmers. Also, it is very important to let small-scale producers know their worth in the complex livestock value chain so that they can share their problems and challenges with policy-level stakeholders. 

I'm attaching an example of the rural level training program for the small and middle scale farmers under the One Health Poultry Hub, Bangladesh research program. Poultry farmer training in Bangladesh: An initiative to explore farmers’ knowledge | One Health Poultry Hub

Feedback from Switzerland – Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture

Switzerland supports the development of a “voluntary guidance tool for the sustainable enhancement of small-scale livestock productivity”. The worldwide relevance of small-scale livestock producers underlines the importance of such a guidance.

Objectives

The objectives proposed are relevant and therefore worth striving for. They are also comprehensive. 

As the voluntary guidance tool mentions the “sustainable enhancement”, a suggestion would be to add a bullet point where the three dimensions (ecological, social and economic) of sustainability are clarified in the context of this guidance.

We would also add a further bullet point, where animal health, breeding and feeding are correlated to good livestock productivity. Although we don't know if this goes under the point “Identifying actions and practices …”.

The point “Identifying themes that would benefit from multi stakeholder engagement at national, regional/ or global level” is appreciated. It is however important to ensure proper and inclusive representation, particularly of producers (women and men), including those which are not well connected (socially, but also in terms of digitalization, fluxes of information).

Nature and scope

As there are major differences between regions of the world, we would recommend to clearly specify it. For example, in Switzerland, most small-scale livestock productions are a secondary activity, whereas in other parts of the world they are a primary activity.

Process

It is positive to undergo an inclusive and participatory process, where all stakeholders are involved. In this case we would like to suggest involving especially the producers as directly as possible and see concretely what their needs are first hand. They are those primarily concerned.

Regarding the process, we would recommend to pay attention to include those stakeholders who do not have access for example to digital tools for participate at an e-consultation or a virtual meeting, and to pay attention to both gender inclusion as well as proper youth representation.   

El contexto y detalle de las contribuciones hemos podido expresarlas en la entrevista virtual. Muy agradecidos por la oportunidad.

Dejamos sintéticamente algunos de los puntos:

• Contar con un Instrumento de carácter voluntario nos parece muy importante. Se podría buscar que en el marco del Acuerdo de País y las acciones de baja en la emisión GEI, la ganaderia viene siendo cuestionada. Como hacer que estas directrices protejan y promueva con mayor peso una ganaderia en linea con estos acuerdo y metas globales. Tienen que se mas exigible hacia los gobiernos
• Estamos de acuerdo con los Objetivos
• Tener en cuenta que la ganaderia es un subsistema de una forma integral de la vida y economía del agricultor familiar. No son productores ganaderos solo…..de la misma manera que no son productores apícolas solamente, sino que desarrolla una producción diversificada
• Decir pequeña escala es relativo en diferentes contextos culturales, regionales, ecológicos, etc…tampoco es definitorio
• Que el instrumento se focalice a países ingresos bajos y medios, deja de lado sectores importantes de agricultores familiares que hacen ganaderia como en Argentina y tampoco se los consideraría a los agricultores familiares europeos que están haciendo conservación de razas nativas con muy poca superficie, aunque sus ingresos (subsidiados) son mejores
• Considerar la participación directa de los agricultores, su voz, en la elaboración del instrumento
• Estamos de acuerdo con los problemas explicitados y ponemos énfasis en las burocracias gubernamentales, el poco desarrollo de los mercados locales y el desconocimiento de los gobiernos sobre la ganaderia
• Finalmente, esta excelente iniciativa se tendría que medir en el marco de aportar a frenar la desaparición de agricultores familiares que se esta evidenciando de manera global

Procesos interesantes y de impacto:

• Sistematización de saberes campesinos y académicos sobre manejo de cabras y utilización de fitofármacos
• Cría de cabras I,II,III https://incupo.org.ar/publicaciones/
• Planes de manejo de Bosque nativos de la región chaqueña, agricultores familiares y pueblos indígenas, con ganaderia (mayor y menor) que hace uso de los frutos del bosque y pastizales nativos
• Declaración de Viena-Austria fruto de diálogos globales de agricultores familiares sobre la producción de proteínas y el cambio climático https://incupo.org.ar/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Declaracion-Alianza-Espanol.pdf

Dr. Godfrey Z. Magoke (PhD), Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA).

I propose additional objectives below;

-Understand local knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices towards livestock rearing activities to identify areas for improvement and for formulation of locally adaptive technologies.

-Create awareness to practices that are adaptive to global climatic changes of weather.

-Pioneer accessibility to cost-effective veterinary inputs and extension services.

Overview of practices and experiences;

In Tanzania, population growth in towns and cities has resulted in high demand for chicken meat and eggs that has attracted increased investment in small-scale, backyard production of commercial chickens (layers and broilers) for income generation. This production system is prone to several challenges ranging from housing and nutrition issues to infectious diseases that are largely implicated to inadequate biosecurity and poor hygiene and sanitation in chicken rearing environments.

The rearing of village chickens is commonly practiced in majority of Tanzania rural areas. Village chickens are mainly reared through free-range system with no to little input in terms of disease management. One of the major constraints to village chicken productivity in Tanzania is high mortalities resulting from Newcastle disease virus infections. Through the Australian funded ACIAR project we were able to reverse the trend through mass Newcastle vaccination campaigns in one of the districts resulting to high number of chickens and eggs for household consumption and sale.

The increased demand for pork meat has also resulted to intensified small-scale, backyard pig rearing activities in urban and peri-urban areas in Tanzania. In some parts of rural Tanzania pigs are reared under free range system, and in those areas there is also a high prevalence of zoonotic infections with pig tapeworms due to poor hygiene and low use of latrines.

In Tanzania, majority of cattle are traditional and are mainly reared in villages by individual farmers and pastoralists. However, high demand of milk in towns and cities has led to increased rearing of cross-bred exotic cattle in farms and in the backyard of urban and peri-urban settlements for commercial milk production.

 Due to intensive rearing, biosecurity issues and low disease resistance, exotic milking cattle are frequently susceptible to a number of disease pathogens.

On the issue of Voluntary guidance tool for the sustainable enhancement of small-scale livestock productivity – Need, scope, nature, and development process. 

Introduction : Livestock production plays a key role in smallholder farmers' livelihoods who  do mixed farming activities where they grow crops and keeps animals at the same time. In Malawi about 60% of the food crops grown in the country come from the smallholder farmers who own less than an acre per household. However, with a changing environment in terms of climate change coupled with issues of greenhouse gases its becoming tough to sustain livestock productivity due to many challenges which include lack of start up capital, lack of proper breeds for improved productivity, improper feeding practices and disease control.

Improvements: As a country we have relied much on importation of exotic breeds to improve small-scale livestock productivity and cross breeding programs where indigenous breeds cross with exotic breeds both in dairy and beef cattle, goats and sheep as well as in poultry.  However, these initiatives have not improved smallholder farmers livelihood and animals productivity due to the fact that the exotic breeds are bigger than the indigenous and less adaptive to the local environment which make them not to thrive under small scale livestock production. In the due cause it has been discovered that to help these small scale livestock farmers there is need to use simple tools like selecting within the indigenous breeds economic and productive traits for the males and female animals through community based breeding program (CBBP), use of proper balanced feeds which can be done through capacity building for both livestock farmers and livestock extension workers. To have a proper breeding program there is need to characterise the existing animals, map out the common feed types used by different livestock species then continuously check the changes in the contribution of each feed type like natural pastures, crop residuce,  agro-industrial by-products e.tc. In addition need to document reproductive parameters like birth weights, mature weight, milk yields, calving or kidding intervals. All these will help the country like Malawi to develop their own improved breeds which  are of high productivity and adapt well to the changing climate.

Process:  For all these to work well there is no one size fits all program or process. The low income countries like Malawi can not have the same tools to develop small scale livestock productivity like those so called small scale farmers in developed countries where the use of technologies are high than in third world countries. and also the use of exotic breeds which drain farmers energy and resources in the end getting the same yield like those local breeds.

As a regional trade union organization representing small and marginal farmers and farm workers engaged in livestock production, the IUF Asia/Pacific welcomes the proposal for a Voluntary guidance tool for the sustainable enhancement of small-scale livestock productivity.

We propose that the OBJECTIVES of a dedicated voluntary guidance tool include the following:

• Defining sustainable enhancement and developing a common understanding that incorporates economic, social and environmental sustainability;
• Exploring ways to integrate small-scale livestock productivity into climate mitigation and adaptation strategies and provide support for just transitions to enhance sustainability;
• Identifying the role and needs of women and vulnerable groups, particularly indigenous people and their communities, and how small-scale livestock productivity is linked to improving their incomes, livelihoods and wellbeing;

In terms of the SCOPE of the tool, we propose that it addresses gender equality, the role of women and vulnerable groups; builds upon One Health as an integrated approach to human, animal and environmental health; and considers climate mitigation and adaptation as part of sustainability.

We support the focus of the tool on "production systems that rely mainly on the family labour of both women and men and are integral to household livelihoods and consider both pastoralists and small-scale intensive and extensive farmers." In this context it is important that we develop an understanding of sustainable enhancement that incorporates the elimination of child labour (as part of family labour); and ensures that households led by women have access to the resources, State support measures, tenure rights and services that male-led households have. This includes the rights of women as widows.

Through recognizing the role of women in the small-scale livestock subsector requires recognition of the role of women-led households, and organizations freely formed by women farmers and farm workers to represent their interests. The tool should support a rights-based approach that would enable women, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups within the small-scale livestock subsector to participate in decision-making through collective self-representation and ensure access to the resources necessary for the sustainable enhancement of livestock productivity.

in 2022, we conducted a number of surveys of our women members engaged in small-scale livestock production in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The focus was on animal health. One of the findings was that although the majority of women tended livestock, they were excluded from decision-making and the management of resources in their household and village. This exclusion undermined the capacity to monitor animal health effectively and limited women's ability to act appropriately to animal illness and disease.

The situation was compounded by a lack of access to government/public veterinarian services and treatment. Even where public veterinarian services were available - including essential animal vaccination - there is a tendency for informal costs or fees to be imposed. Due to these higher costs there is a widespread practice of giving human medicine to animals because it is cheaper.

While education, awareness and training are important, there is a need to revitalize and restore publicly funded animal health services and to ensure equitable access. The link between animal health, human health and the environment is critical in this regard.

This should be part of a wider policy discussion on the public infrastructure and services that States should provide to support sustainable (healthy) small-scale livestock productivity in particular and small-scale agriculture in general. This may be further linked to food security and the right to food and nutrition. The focus of the tool on family farming within the small-scale livestock subsector suggests a need to consider access to food and nutrition (and not just incomes) as part of the benefit of productivity gains.

Further consideration should be given to the role of traditional knowledge, especially indigenous knowledge. It cannot be assumed that only modern science and new scientific techniques will delivery productivity gains. Serious consideration should be given to the role of traditional knowledge and indigenous knowledge sustainably enhancing productivity, while reducing both economic and ecological costs.

Given that climate change policies will directly or indirectly redefine sustainability and productivity in the livestock sector, it is important to incorporate this into the tool.

It is possible if not likely that climate policies will inadvertently favour large-scale producers despite being among the biggest polluters. Large-scale producers have access to more financial resources (including the ability invest in carbon and methane offsetting; new technologies to reduce methane emissions; clean energy investments), government resources (subsidies; tax breaks), and more scope to diversify and appear to meet climate targets.

In contrast, small-scale producers will face tremendous pressure to meet climate targets and do not currently have access to these resources. This is especially the case for small and marginal farmers in the informal economy who lack the resources and state support adapt to new requirements. These small-scale producers are more institutionally vulnerable to being targeted with emission reductions and drastic changes to livestock feed and rearing, regardless of their actual aggregate impact on methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

At the same time, increasing small-scale livestock productivity without taking into consideration new policies and legislation on climate-friendly or "green" production would undermine its sustainability and longer-term viability.

Therefore it is important that the tool provides a pathway (or multiple pathways) for the small-scale livestock subsector to make this transition.

Related to this is the need to give greater visibility to efforts to reduce emissions and successful climate mitigation and adaptation practices in the small-scale livestock sector. We have good examples of this based on the experience of our membership in the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India.

We are yet to define the scope of small scale farmers, businesses and Aquaculture. This problem has over taken all efforts made to streamline support and informations made to promote Small Scale businesses. We at Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers thinks that Small scale farming are meant for women and youths and these groups support feeding of families and the poor. But in financial support disbursement, we see the middle class benefiting and out smarting the poor. How can we really redefine and support food growing and poverty eradication through a better alignment and support system.

 L'outil d’orientation facultatif destiné à améliorer durablement la productivité du petit élevage, pour ma part est un élément capital qui doit impérativement être mis en place, compte tenu du fait que le petit élevage dans les pays de développement est d’une importance capitale pour la sécurité alimentaire.

En effet, le petit élevage constitue une grande part de source d’approvisionnement en protéines animales pour les populations des zones urbaines et péri-urbaines, tant sur le plan qualitatif que quantitatif. Ainsi, l'outil d’orientation facultatif destiné à améliorer durablement la productivité du petit élevage contribuerai non seulement à assurer la sauvegarde des moyens de subsistance des petits éleveurs, mais également à la réduction de la pauvreté en milieu rural ainsi que la création d’emplois stables.

L’outil devra ainsi permettre à travers un diagnostic transversal d’adresser les questions en lien avec les principales contraintes qui entravent le développement des petits élevages. Ce diagnostic devrait en bout de processus permettre de proposer des solutions en termes de :

            - Accès au intrants de production de qualité (matériel génétique) ;

            - Maitrise des techniques d’élevage ;

            - Logement des animaux, matériels et équipements d’élevage ;

            - Alimentation des animaux ;

            - Santé des animaux ;

            - Commercialisation des produits d’élevage, etc.

Cet outil devra intégrer une approche holistique de diagnostic des petits élevages et devra être facilement adaptable et manipulable tant pas les agents d’encadrement des petits éleveurs que par les petits éleveurs eux-mêmes.