This activity consists of:

• expanding animal health services for disease prevention and protection;
• implementing vaccination programs;
• strengthening laboratory and diagnostic services;
• expanding animal health infrastructure.

COMMENTARY

1. Not on the basis of pastoral systems. The general description of Sectoral Strategy 1 promises ‘mobile health services’ in ‘moisture stress lowland pastoral areas’ (p.34). This is the only implementation activity under this strategy that is concerned with animal health. Yet neither ‘pastoral mobility’ or ‘mobile services’, or indeed ‘pastoral areas’, are mentioned. Instead of focusing on supporting and strengthening pastoral systems, this activity is described as a means to ‘speed up the transition from agriculture to industry’ (p.35).
2. No economic contribution from livestock without industrialization? This implementation activity represents the contribution of animal production to economic development as possible only through its industrialization: a ‘transition from agriculture to industry so that the animal production sector will contribute to economic development’ (p.35). An implication of this argument is that animal production does not contribute to economic development at the moment, but that it will only do so once it has been industrialized. This is in direct contradiction with Part Two of the policy, where it is stated that ‘The livelihood and source of income of more than 80% of the pastoral population in Ethiopia is their livestock wealth which is also a large contributor to the national economy’ (p.27). It is also in contradiction with Part One, where it is acknowledged that ‘90% of the revenue generated from the livestock export in Ethiopia comes from the mobile livestock production in the pastoral areas’ (p.14). Therefore, not only is the animal production sector already contributing to economic development, but a key element of this economic contribution comes from that part of the livestock sector that is supposed to be the least industrialized: pastoralism. The policy acknowledges this, but translates the opposite into actions.

b. Protecting and improving livestock breeds (p.35) »