Kenya, 27th-30th October, 2003

Pastoralists and other indigenous livestock breeding communities have developed a large number of farm animal breeds with unique genetic adaptations. In times of wide spread and indiscriminate cross-breeding or substitution with exotic breeds, these marginalised people have acted as custodians of pure breeds that represent the result of many generations of traditional knowledge and active genetic manipulation for certain culturally defined criteria. It is now acknowledged that these breeds are often endowed with very desirable genetic traits, such as for disease resistance, fertility and general fitness, which are not present in the genetic make-up of high performance animals.

In general, these breeds are not protected by any intellectual property regime and this renders them vulnerable to bio-piracy, since scientific and commercial interest in their genetic components is set to intensify. Breeding for disease resistance and genetic disease control is regarded as a promising new avenue in livestock production in view of the fact that many disease causing organisms - worms, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa – are becoming increasingly resistant to drugs and vaccines.

Indigenous livestock breeders, as rights holders over these biological resources, thus represent prime stakeholders in the emerging debate about legal and regulatory frameworks for the sustainable use of farm animal genetic resources, including a “Breed Treaty”, as pendant to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. There is a need for these communities to become aware of the issues at stake, to develop a strategy for safeguarding their rights, and to make their voices heard.

“Livestock Keepers’ Rights”

Article 8j of the Convention on Biodiversity calls for recognition of the vast amount of in-situ conservation carried out by traditional communities. In the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) this call is reflected in its Part III on “Farmers’ Rights”. The concept of Farmers’ Rights is based on the past, present and future contributions of farmers in conserving crop genetic diversity. This provision entitles farmers to the right to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed, to participate in decision-making and in the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of plant genetic resources.

In the envisioned Animal Treaty, the equivalent to Farmers’ Rights would be “Livestock Keepers’ Rights”. This term was proposed and discussed during the NGO/CSO Forum for Food Sovereignty held parallel to the World Food Summit in June 2002.
For this purpose, ITDG –East Africa and the League for Pastoral Peoples are facilitating a four-day workshop for representatives of indigenous livestock keeping communities.

Objective

The overall objective is to move towards official recognition of the enormous contribution of indigenous livestock breeding communities for future food security and acknowledgement of the significance of their traditional knowledge for upholding farm animal genetic diversity. In the interest of global justice, their proprietary rights as well as privileges according to the Convention on Biological Diversity must be safeguarded..

Goals

• To raise awareness among indigenous livestock breeding communities about international developments and the global agenda with respect to livestock
• To document the links of indigenous communities with particular livestock breeds (to demonstrate that benefit-sharing is possible and pre-empt the predictable excuses that it is difficult to identify communities)
• To showcase the importance of cultural diversity and diverse agricultural production systems for farm animal genetic diversity
• To discover commonalities and differences, and maybe a common identity, between the various livestock dependent groups
• To develop strategies for influencing the international discussions on animal genetic resources from the grassroots perspective
• To articulate the linkage between the sustainable use of livestock breeds and access to grazing and pastures

Participants

The workshop is targeted at representatives of Indigenous livestock breeding communities, and at NGOs working with these groups.

Process

• All participants are requested to come with visual materials about their respective breeds and be prepared to give a small presentation about the cultural and social meaning of livestock for their societies and about the special attributes of their breeds.
• The number of participants will be strictly limited to ensure time for quality discussions.
• Case studies about possible cases of bio-piracy and of breeding programmes with adverse effects on local breeds will be solicited.

Workshop Programme Elements

• Short presentations by livestock breeders
• Background papers by resource persons
• Brainstorming sessions and working groups
• Elaboration of a joint statement and a definition of Livestock Keepers’ Rights
• Field visits to local livestock producers and keepers of rare breeds
• Interaction with media

Expected Outputs

• Representatives of indigenous livestock breeding communities are informed about international developments regarding livestock research and intellectual property
• Linkages between representatives of indigenous livestock breeding communities as foundation for exchange of information and networking are established.
• Elements of “Livestock Keepers’ Rights” are defined.
• Strategies for lobbying at national and international level are identified
• Joint Statement for submission to upcoming international meetings at the FAO (Intergovernmental Technical Working group on Animal Genetic resources, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, etc.) is prepared
• Coverage of meeting in national and international media.

Venue
KCB Management Centre, P.O. Box 24030, Karen, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 882354 or 880221, Fax: 884393, E-mail: managementcentre@kcb.co.ke

Organisers and Contact Addresses
Intermediate Technology Development Group East Africa (ITDG-EA)
PO Box 39493, PO Box 00623, Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel. 00254-2-2713540; Fax 00254-2-2710083, www.itdg.org
Contact person: Jacob Wanyama (Jacob.wanyama@itdg.or.ke)

League for Pastoral Peoples (LPP)
Pragelatostr. 20, 64372 Ober-Ramstadt, Germany. Tel/fax 0049-6154-53642. www.pastoralpeoples.org
Contact persons: Susanne Gura gura@dinse.net , Ilse Köhler-Rollefson gorikr@t-online.de/ilsekr@rediffmail.com