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New Livestock Global Alliance

New alliance has formed to provide safer, fairer and sustainable livestock sector.

Addressing the largest International Livestock Congress in 30 years, Bernard Vallat said he is a firm believer in the global importance of the relationship between animals and humans. The director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) spoke to attendees in Houston, Texas, March 4-5.


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The recently formed Livestock Global Alliance is working to ensure animal health, welfare and productivity by investing in veterinary services worldwide, specifically developing countries, explained OIE Director General Bernard Vallat.

Established in 1924, 20 years before the United Nations formed, the Office of International des Epizooties (OIE) changed its name to the World Organization for Animal Health in 2003. It has 180 member countries and is recognized by the World Trade Organization as a reference for developing intergovernmental standards to animal health and welfare, including diseases transmissible to humans.


Science is a common denominator to adopt standards in animal welfare, Vallat explained. “It’s our job, it’s our passion, and it has become an ever-growing shared responsibility of a global public good,” he said.


Much of the developed world has tarnished the reputation of the livestock industry with exaggerated and nonscience-based accusations, he claimed. Yet the livestock sector is part of a large global picture. More than 1 billion people worldwide depend upon livestock for their livelihood. In developing countries, more than 70% of poor rural households possess and depend on livestock for food, income, employment and social status, he noted. Additionally, livestock corresponds to 30% of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) in the developing world.


With a burgeoning world population, food security is necessary, and livestock productivity must increase globally through use of scientific advances and use of best practices, Vallat urged. In low-income countries, the livestock sector is seriously constrained by animal diseases. He added that experts estimate that morbidity and mortality due to animal diseases cause the loss of at least 20% of livestock production globally.


The OIE represents the national veterinary services of 180 member countries.


“Failure to act in one country may indeed threaten the entire world,” he emphasized. Investments and work in prevention and disease control is crucial. The OIE helps its members improve the capacity to ensure the health and welfare of animals by investing in veterinary services worldwide, most notably in developing countries.


It is not fighting this battle alone, though, Vallat said. The OIE is a founding organization of the Livestock Global Alliance (LGA), along with the World Bank, Food and Animal Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It also has permanent partners with a high stake in the global livestock industry, like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission in France, and the Chatham House Royal Institute in the United Kingdom.


The LGA takes advantage of the existing strengths of its partners to provide a united voice on issues of importance for the livestock sector, he explained. It increases the understanding of livestock’s contribution to global human and animal health, food security, nutrition and poverty alleviation with scientific information.


It aims to provide a voice and garner support of a sustainable development of the livestock sector. It is working to find support from the public sector and boost livestock-oriented programs like research. Engaging policy makers and promoting private-public partnerships are other organization goals.


“The livestock sector is an essential part of the solution to the objective of global food security, increased human health and a better world,” he concluded.

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