VSF perspectives in livestock issues for the next decades Alessandro Broglia, President of VSF Europe

1. Vétérinaires Sans Frontières
www.vsfe.org
VSF perspectives in
livestock issues for the next
decades
Alessandro Broglia
VSF Symposium, 6th October 2011

2. What do you think
about?
Rich pasture
Healthy cow
Beautiful landscape
Good milk
Food security !

3. What do you think about?
12.3 million people are in need of assistance in the Horn of Africa
146 000 people in Djibouti, 4.5 million in Ethiopia, 3.7 million in Kenya,
4 million in Somalia.
750 000 people in Somalia are at risk of death due to famine

4. Crop failure, farm abandoning, overgrazing, disruption of
nomadic routes, outbreak risks, shortage of food stocks ……..
…Ever heard ??

5. WHY?
not drought but vulnerability during
drought
in the semi arid lands >>> repeated food crises.
in contrast semi arid lands produce most of the
livestock traded in the region

6. Reality - consciousness
one billion people suffer from
hunger today in the world.
two third are living in rural areas
and depend non livestock for
their survival

7. Crises ??
Something to which we must
respond >>> support
Opportunities to promote
long-term preventive measures
>>>> preparedness

8. Other drivers to
CRISIS
26 % higher than in
August 2010

9. in 2010-2011 rising food costs >>>>70 million people into
extreme poverty (World Bank)

10. WORLD FOOD DAY 2011
FOOD PRICES – FROM
CRISIS TO STABILITY

11. concepts

12. Food “S”
Food security
Food safety
Food sovereignty

13. Food “S”
Food security
Food safety
Food
sovereignty

14. Food Sovereignty
Food Sovereignty is the right of every community and
every population to define its own agricultural policies,
regarding the choice of the species to be cultivated and
bred,
the production process,
the quality and safety of foods,
the energetic implications,
the markets,
the access to resources,
the social and environmental impact of production,
the information for the consumers

15. Health
One Health
Animal Eco-Health
Health
Public
Health

16. Eco-Health
We are part of the biosphere rather than the planet
being the house of humans
healthier ecosystems
sustainable human and animal health and wellbeing

17. No borders !!
medicine, health, agriculture,
environment, economics, sociology,
anthropology, geography, …
Interface among
health-environment-society

18. Wind of change…
People Emerging
migration disease
Production
system Arabic spring
Climate
change Consumption
patterns
Drug resistance

19. Why vets ?
Vets think across a wide range of species
Vets synthesize information
•from many sources (economics, zoology, ecology, medicine)
•from many spatial scales (microbial mechanisms, animal
behaviour, agri-food systems structures)
Vets can talk as easily:
•with a farmer
•with a government official
Vets can shift topics from a single clinical case to the
implications of international level

20. Why VSF ?
Healthy animals - healthy people
• improving livelihoods of most vulnerable
means improving livestock condition;
• reducing poverty by increasing food
sovereignty on the planet.
www.vsfe.org

21. World Veterinary Congress
in Cape Town next week
CARING FOR ANIMALS:
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
www.vsfe.org

22. actions

23. Actions in the South
VSF supports rural communities, with
activities in the following areas :
•Animal health services
•Capacity Building
•Natural Resources Management
•Emergency Relief and Preparedness
•Income generation
•Awareness raising www.vsfe.org

24. VSF projects milestones
• Livelihood oriented
• Sustainable development
• Participatory approach
• Involvement in decision-making process
• Raising awareness
www.vsfe.org

25. Some figures
• Today VSF is :
>100 projects distributed over 40 countries
• Human ressources :
50 employees in HQs, 60 expatriates and 360 local employees.
• Total
finances :
> 20 millions
EUROS
www.vsfe.org

26. Actions in the North
VSF implements projects in the North
- Developement education projects
- Knowledge management
- Lobbying
- Veterinary Information Service
www.vsfe.org

27. VSF Europa tasks
• To strengthen VSF members
• To gather and share information regarding results
and experience in the field (knowledge management)
• To sensitize the wider public on the role of the
livestock as key factor for sustainable development.
• Worldwide advocacy
www.vsfe.org

28. Severals VSFs
Vetaid VSF Belgium
(UK)
VSF – TOG
DIO Germany
(NL)
VSF Austria
AVSF France
VSF Suisse
Veterinarios
Sin Fronteras SIVtro – VSF Italy
ESP) (IT)

29. More VSFs….
VSF Canada
VSF U.S.
and newly born: VSF Norway, VSF Czech,……

30. Issues raised in 2009
by VSF
…to be discussed

31. ??????
•Underdevelopment is the consequence of the
over (wrong, unsustainable) development of others
•Vet without borders: development is not possible
until borders remain.
•Commodities move “freely”, people do not.
•Why is development aid not working the way we
want?
•Is there coherence in development projects?

32. VSF Priorities raised in 2009
….to be DONE !!!

33. Priorities
•Supporting small farmers or livestock keepers
associations for better access to local markets
•Locally focusing long term follow-up of development
aid actions
•Sensitize consumers – targeting them, planning
middle to long term impact assessment on food market
– on food sovereignty
•Better coordination among policy makers dealing
with food trade, food security, food safety,
development aid

34. Priorities
•Stress the comparative advantage: report field
experience, facts, working solutions for small
scale farmers
•Actions should highlight integration and
participation of local communities in decision
making and crosscutting multi-disciplinary issues
(animal health, natural resources mgmt, raising
awareness, …, …)
•Provide family farmers with tools, land,
credit, technical support, training
•The keyword is awareness: in the North and in
the South!

35. Priorities - solutions
•From top-down to bottom-up, beneficiaries should
participate in the decision of their own development
policies
•Targeting consumers; strengthen the demand for
local products in the development countries
•More transparency and improving accountability
worldwide

36. Priorities - solutions
•Subsidized economies, unprotected markets,
deregulated trade make development
impossible
•Food safety should be taken into
consideration when intervention of food
security or food sovereignty are planned
•Common good practices and commitments
for all VSF

37. What about today ?
Please say, please do!!

38. Special thanks to VSF Austria
for the Gastfreundschaft !!
www.vsfe.org

39. THANK YOU for your attention
….and for your support !
www.vsfe.org