Veterinary science, transboundary animal diseases and markets: pathways for policy in Southern Africa. (360G-Wellcome-079350_Z_06_Z)

Key to the future of livestock production in Africa - and constraints on meeting the high hopes of a 'livestock revolution' as a spur to stagnant agricultural sector growth - are the presence of transboundary animal diseases and the consequent escalating costs of regulation and meeting export standards. Focusing on the case of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in southern Africa - and specifically Botswana, Nambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe - this research will explore the economic, social and political trade-offs arising from disease control strategies focused on promoting commercial beef exports which are premised on the ability to separate a 'disease free' commercial sector from endemic areas through strictly enforced buffer and surveillance zones, and movement control. The key question is: given limited resources and capacities and growing costs, does it make sense to persist with this status quo and ensure disease freedom? Or are there alternatives that benefit a wider group of producers, are easier to implement, yet maintain access to important export markets and so foreign exchange revenues? Four country-based teams, coordinated by IDS and supported by project advisors, will investigate the policy processes in each country: how choices are made and by whom and with what criteria, to uncover the different scientific and economic arguments, policy actors and interest positions involved. The project will then bring the different players together in a series of policy dialogue workshops to explore different future policy scenarios (and their trade-offs), through a deliberative and participatory process. The main audience for both the analysis and methodological approach will be national and regional (SADC) level policymakers working on the intersections of animal health/disease control and marketing/trade policy. The policy dialogues will engage diverse stakeholders - livestock producers, regulators, processors, exporters and scientists - with a view to encouraging dialogue across usually divided sectors and across the region.