Transboundary animal diseases and market access the future of

							                WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS
                Transboundary animal diseases and
Pretoria
April 08


                market access: the future of beef marketing
                in southern Africa
                www.steps-centre.org/ourresearch/vetscience.html


    Cooperation, innovation and diversification are the keys to a bright future for the red meat industry in southern
    Africa. This was the message emerging from a workshop “Transboundary animal diseases and market access:
    the future of beef marketing in southern Africa” that was held in Pretoria, South Africa from 7 - 8 April 2008. The
    workshop was organised by the Institute for Development Studies of the University of Sussex (IDS) and was supported
    by the Wellcome Trust and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). It was the culmination of a
    project that explored ways to overcome the impact of endemic foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on market access
    for red meat in four SADC countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe). The workshop was attended
    by a wide spectrum of delegates representing the European Commission, the World Animal Health Organisation
    (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Livestock Research Institute,
    the regional economic commissions for eastern and southern Africa (COMESA and SADC), Animal Health for the
    Environment and Development (AHEAD), the national veterinary services of the four project countries, as well as
    Swaziland and the UK, the wholesale meat industry, NGOs and producer organisations.


Workshop presentations                    to the EU, secondly on the situation in    • Disease epidemiology and ecology –
Presentations provided the                South Africa, which has the potential      and the changing dynamics of disease
foundations for intensive and             to export but is in fact a net importer,   under conditions of rapidly changing
animated discussions                      and finally Zimbabwe, which has lost       production and land use systems
• The opening address by Dr Babagana      its historic export market.                • Technology – and the potentials of
Ahmadu, Director for Rural Economy                                                   new vaccines and the problems with
and Agriculture, African Union            Recurring issues                           existing ones.
Commission was delivered by Mr            All presentations highlighted how          • Capacity of veterinary services –
Martin Bwalya (NEPAD) and asked how       contexts for both disease control          especially following economic reforms
can Africa benefit from the livestock     and market access have changed. A          and the decline in state support.
revolution? The welcoming address by      number of factors were repeatedly
Dr Emily Mogajane, Deputy Director for    emphasised                                 Such changes, it was agreed, suggest
Agriculture, South Africa, highlighted    • Political challenges to colonial land    the need for a rethink. The status quo
the constraints placed by disease and     use – and especially the demand            – where area-based disease freedom
other factors on livestock production     for land and markets by historically       was combined with export to a limited
and marketing.                            marginalised groups.                       array of markets – was challenged. If
• Other invited presentations em-         • Markets and trade agreements – and       the southern Africa red meat industry
phasised the challenges posed by          the challenges faced following the         is to respond to the new contexts it
FMD in the region, options for disease    end of preferential trade access and       must adapt and diversify options. This
control, changes in international trade   the growth of competition from Latin       means expanding horizons both on
standards (both public and private) and   America, alongside the potentials          approaches to disease control and
the implications of ending preferential   opened up by growing demand for red        market access strategies. Fortunately
trade agreements with the EU for          meat in urban Africa and Asia.             there was good news presented to
southern Africa.                          • Public and private standards –           the workshop. New options exist and
• Papers by the project researchers       and their fast-changing, and often         are being actively explored. No single
explored the foot and mouth disease/      confusing, nature.                         solution was seen to be ideal across
red meat industry situation in each       • Changing structure of the livestock      all southern African situations. The
of the four countries, reflecting         industry – especially following            challenge was to combine options to
firstly the situation in Namibia and      liberalisation and the growth of private   meet strategic needs – and so move
Botswana, both of which export beef       sector players.                            beyond the status quo.
For    example,     commodity-based        The costs of the status quo through       Key recommendations
trade (CBT) was seen as an important       maintaining disease free zones            Key recommendations by the working
potential option, among others. Other      are high and, with ever-increasing        groups were:
options discussed included the existing    demands for higher standards,             • Consider the widest possible
area-based approach with or without        escalating. Alternative options which     combination of production, market
vaccination,    compartmentalisation       guarantee safe trade (such as CBT         and disease control options to ensure
and managing endemic disease.              and compartmentalisation) are not         a flexible, equitable and resilient
                                           well elaborated, and there remain         livestock industry.
Commodity-based trade                      (often unfounded) fears about such        • Choice of options should be subject
During an informal session, delegates      alternatives.                             to feasibility studies, risk assessment
viewed a DVD which examined the            • Compliance with international           and cost-benefit analysis and lessons
concept of CBT, i.e. ‘Trade in defined     trade standards (SPS requirements)        from pilot projects.
products sourced from healthy              is undermined by the inability to         • Commodity-based trade and
animals providing an appropriate level     supply credible assurances owing          compartmentalisation,          alongside
of protection (ALOP)’. This was followed   to inadequate veterinary and food         area-based disease freedom (including
by discussion with a panel consisting of   safety regulation capacity in some        through vaccination) in southern
the EC, OIE and DEFRA (UK Department       countries.                                Africa, should be piloted.
for the Environment, Food and Rural        • A lack of competitive edge in a         • A more aggressive, forward-looking
Affairs) representatives, who provided     growing global market is due to low       and innovative marketing approach,
the following pointers regarding           product volume (low production and        branding the positive features of
acceptance of the approach:                seasonal effects) and lack of effective   southern African red meat, should be
• DFID, DEFRA and OIE have                 marketing     techniques     (including   developed. A regional approach would
conceptualised a project proposal to       branding, niche identification, market    substantially enhance effectiveness.
assist African countries to meet OIE       information and intelligence).            • Regional negotiating and lobbying
sanitary standards for international       • There remains poor negotiating          capacity to improve influence on
trade in animal commodities.               capacity in standard setting fora and     standard-setting at the OIE, WTO,
• The OIE has adopted a positive stance    new markets owing to a lack of regional   Codex and other bodies needs to be
on CBT and a working group will meet       and continental coordination.             strengthened.
in July to consider how to incorporate     • Policy and planning in the livestock    •         Livestock production and
it in the OIE guidelines.                  and wildlife sectors is often poorly      wildlife conservation and sustainable
• The EC gave the assurance that           coordinated. Conflicts between wildlife   use must be seen as complementary
standards should facilitate and not be     and livestock production are likely       and not competing activities, with
discriminatory, and that assistance is     to be exacerbated by transboundary        integrated policy and planning.
available to countries to achieve EC       conservation areas.
standards.                                                                           Each recommendation is relevant
                                           Exploration of issues                     across national authorities, regional
Future challenges                          Faced with these daunting challenges,     economic groupings such as SADC and
A number of future challenges were         working groups explored:                  COMESA, as well as Africa-wide efforts
identified by the workshop:                • Access to EU and other emerging         coordinated through the African
• There is a need to improve rural         markets in Africa and Asia.               Union and NEPAD. It was agreed
livelihoods and alleviate poverty          • Commodity-based trade as an             that the workshop findings would be
through the integration of poor            alternative approach to ensuring safe     forwarded to all relevant bodies.
livestock     producers    into    the     trade.
mainstream red meat industry. There        • Combining disease control options
is a continued marginalisation of          to ensure widened market access.
livestock producers living in FMD          • The role of wildlife in the livestock
control zones. Trade options for           production equation.
such producers are critical if poverty     • Enhancing small-scale producers’
reduction goals are to be met.             access to markets.



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    This project was funded by the          STEPS Centre,                            Download papers and briefings
    Livestock for Life programme of         Institute of Development Studies,        in the series ‘Veterinary Science,
    the Wellcome Trust and DFID and         University of Sussex,                    Transboundary Animal Disease and
    was co-ordinated by the Institute of    Brighton, BN1 9RE, UK                    Market Access: the case of foot-and-
    Development Studies, UK.                T: +44 (0)1273 606261                    mouth disease in southern Africa’:
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