On 28 March, the FAO Liaison Office in Geneva organized an event at the Palais des Nations to present the World Livestock Report 2018 “Transforming the livestock sector through the sustainable development goals”. Representatives from the Permanent Missions to the United Nations and to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, United Nations specialized agencies, International organizations and civil society organizations took part in a lively discussion on transforming the livestock sector to enhance its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event offered the opportunity to look beyond policies and investments specific to livestock. The discussion highlighted the role of the livestock sector in economic and social development at country level and was the occasion to share concrete examples of how countries are addressing sustainable development challenges in the Livestock Sector.

Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Director of FAO Liaison Office in Geneva opened the event highlighting that the Livestock Report is intended to serve as a reference that Member States and stakeholders can consult as they move towards realizing the livestock sector potentially major contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. “The report calls for an integrated sustainable development approach for livestock and highlights the effective translation of the SDGs into specific and targeted national policy and actions as the major challenge ahead”, Director Rodrigues-Birkett said.

Julio Pinto, Animal Health Officer at the FAO Office in FAO Office in Geneva and Alejandro Acosta, Livestock Policy Officer, FAO headquarters, gave a comprehensive presentation of the report. They highlighted some of the key messages of the report while briefly exploring the opportunities, challenges and trade-offs. Livestock systems make a major contribution to national economies worldwide and livestock production accounts for 40 and 20 percent of the total agricultural output in developed and developing countries respectively. However, beyond livestock production, services and associated industries represented in value chains also participate in the sector’s contribution. As a result of population, income, and urbanization growth, meat production will increase by nearly 20 percent by 2030, with 77 percent of this increase produced in developing countries. As for the supply of milk, it is likely to increase by 33 percent in the same period. The livestock sector can contribute to the achievement of each of the SDGs. However, the achievement of some of the targets could conflict with the accomplishment of others. It is therefore likely that policy makers will have to trade off gains in some areas with losses in others.

H.E. Mr. Lundeng Purevsuren, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mongolia stressed that the livestock sector is crucial to Mongolia’s economic growth as it accounts for  up to 10 percent of the country’s exports. He recalled that the livestock sector is linked to Mongolia’s national identity as one-third of Mongolian families still live a nomadic life. In this regard, the Ambassador underlined that the traditional nomad knowledge is very important to combat poverty and hunger and achieving the SDGs.

With an export value of about 90 billion euros, the Netherlands is the second largest export of agricultural commodities, said Mr. Marcel Vernooij, Head Economic and Development Affairs of the Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The country has mastered how to produce more with less with the cooperation of the public and private sectors and recently started a program which changes the agricultural sector from a linear economic model into a more circular economic system, where farmers lead the way in developing practical solutions. Mr. Vernooij also emphasized that the Netherlands has implemented many sustainable agricultural techniques to address environmental challenges that threaten the livestock sector, such as the surplus of manure, environmental pollution, and animal diseases. Marcel Vernooij described the FAO Livestock report as ‘good, positive, forward looking and timely as its contribution to address social, economic and environmental challenges’.  

Mrs. Marlynne Hopper, from the Standard Trade Development Facility (STDF) of the World Trade Organization shared some experiences on how STDF is working to improve access to trade, and support people in developing countries to transform the livestock sector to better contribute to the SDGS. She explained that STDF is a global partnership – established by FAO, OIE, the World Bank, WHO and the WTO – that supports developing countries in building their capacity to implement international sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS), guidelines and recommendations as a means to improve their human, animal and plant health. Ms Hopper further stressed that the Public-Private Partnerships at the international, regional, national level is critical to address specific SPS challenges. She congratulated FAO for the quality of the report and the emphasis on partnership and collaboration between actors to transform the Livestock sector and achieve SDGs.

“Many people are unaware of the role that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plays in the agricultural sector, but the organization has been involved in many livestock interventions”, said Mr. Guido Govoni, Economic Security Unit at ICRC. Indeed,within its global Economic Security approach in conflict-affected countries, the ICRC implements Relief, Livelihood and Rehabilitation Programs to improve, restore and maintain food and economic security at the household level. Thus, given that the dynamics of conflicts have changed with the multiplication of protracted conflicts, ICRC is moving beyond solely providing emergency assistance to focus on building long-term resilience. Livestock interventions conducted by the ICRC include vaccination campaigns, veterinary treatment programs, capacity building, awareness, etc. “If we want to reach the SDGs, governments and all stakeholders should be committed to technology, innovation and policy”, stressed Mr. Govoni. 

In the ensuing discussion, Member States and international Organisations thanked FAO for the timely, detailed and comprehensive report and useful discussion on the challenges of the livestock sector to achieve SDGs. Representatives from Brazil, Jamaica, Vanuatu, the South Center, and WHO expressed their appreciation to FAO for organizing this event in Geneva, where a strong expertise on the SDGs is found across various UN and international organizations. Many participants emphasized the critical importance of SDG 17 and of building partnerships and collaboration at every level to achieve collective commitments. These efforts must concentrate on translating the role of livestock in the SDGs into national policies and strategies. Trade reforms, investment in infrastructure, better access to financial resources, technology and innovation, implementing One Health approaches and increasing the role of small producers and farmers in food production were the main recommendations that came out of the discussion.