Ukraine hosts first regional meeting on sustainable livestock development

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia need better engagement in global sustainable livestock processes when developing national policies for their livestock production sectors.

Solving this problem is one aim of meetings begun today in Uman, Ukraine, on the continued development of a Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock, gathering myriad stakeholders able to assist countries in the region with development of their own approaches to improvements in livestock production.

National governments admit that they often have no capacity to provide comprehensive guidance on the policy-making level and require international assistance to ensure that their rapidly changing livestock production systems are properly managed.

The meeting in Uman, which is well-known for its national dendrological park, brings together about 50 participants from 12 countries, including representatives of the ministries of agrarian policy in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine; Ukraine’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources; and research institutions and livestock business associations in Georgia, Belarus and Uzbekistan. Also attending are FAO technical experts and national Global Environment Facility focal points.

One aim of the meeting is to share international experience with smallholders to aid in developing sustainable livestock systems in the context of climate change and the prevention of biodiversity loss. FAO’s multispectral approach covers a wide range of available biotechnologies, including reproductive technologies and modern tools for diagnosis of disease.

Meeting participants have highlighted the importance of bringing the dialogue from the global to the regional level.

“This event is a unique opportunity for all – government, science, business and civil society – to discuss issues of livestock sustainability within the local context,” said Yuriy Nesterov, a livestock production specialist with the FAO Subregional Office for Central Asia. “There has never been such an opportunity in the region for professionals from different sectors to interact directly.”

Stakeholders also discussed and amended an analytical study of existing national policies in the region relevant to animal production, and they signed the “Uman Declaration on Sustainable Development of Livestock in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” indicating the establishment of partnership and increased collaboration in the field.

An additional Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock platform meeting will take place in Mongolia in June 2018, and FAO has encouraged participating countries in the region to attend in order to enhance the exchange of experience and resourcing on the global level.

24 April 2018, Uman, Ukraine