Increasing Incomes for Pastoralists by Strengthening Export of Safe and Quality Livestock and Meat from the IGAD Region to Mitigate Impact of COVID-19 - TCP/SFE/3803

Abstract

By October 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic represented an unprecedented emergency and protecting public health was a priority. Governments, policymakers and the international community attempted to mitigate the immediate negative impacts of the pandemic, as well as the potential impacts on key sectors contributing to food security, nutrition and livelihoods. In Eastern Africa, the livestock sector is a key contributor to these areas, especially for the most vulnerable populations. In 2020, the effects of COVID-19 on the livestock sector had already severely disrupted national and regional livestock value chains. Lessons from past epidemics indicated that these disruptions, along with their socioeconomic consequences, were likely to grow. The IGAD region has a population of 205 million people, of whom 70 percent depend on livestock for their livelihoods and food security, and a land area of about 5.2 million km2, of which two thirds is arid and semi-arid land mainly utilized for livestock keeping.