Exploring regional priorities low emissions and climate resilient livestock in Southern and East Africa

In May 2023, the African Climate Action Partnership (AfCAP) Livestock CoP hosted our inaugural regional Livestock Fora in East and Southern Africa The aim of these events was to further understand the challenges, priorities and opportunities that were specific to the regions and to create common messaging within each region.  

The Southern Africa event,  hosted in Johannesburg South Africa, from 24th – 25th May 2023 included representatives from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Also presented were representatives from FANRPAN, FAO, ILRI, IFAD and the UNFCCC RCC Kampala. This event was a key opportunity for many of these countries which had recently completed the update of the livestock tier 2 GHG inventories, to share their experiences and consider how to use this data to support policy processes. 

Following the Southern Africa event, the East Africa forum was hosted in Nairobi, Kenya from 29th – 30th May 2o23. This event included representatives from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. There was also a number of key institutions present at the event including AGNES, ILRI, GASL, FAO, IGAD-ICPALD, ASARECA, RUFORUM, IFAD. The event presented a key opportunity to bring together these different organizations and identify synergies and identify opportunities for collective action. 

During the course of both events delegates expressed their needs, challenges and opportunities for low emission climate resilient livestock.. 

A key issue which emerged from both events was the need for more and improved data. In Southern Africa, it was highlighted that the data needed for inventories was often not available or accessible so it was crucial to facilitate cross sectoral responses to gather data, and develop relevant policies based on this data.  Where, in East Africa a similar challenge was raised but was also placed within the context of mitigation-adaptation co-benefits, and the need to be able to track both mitigation and adaptation actions.

At both events the challenge of the gap between policy and implementation was raised. In some countries there are effective policy development processes with limited implementation, while in other countries policy development lagged behind policy development.  It was highlighted that convening the livestock CoP to enable regular sharing between countries is vital to ensure countries can learn from each other, both in terms of strengthening policy as well as enabling implementation. 

The Southern Africa and East Africa Forums were hosted with the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industry, through the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) 

Detailed outcome reports from both events will be made publicly available in the coming months.