Africa-Press – Ethiopia. Ethiopia remains fully committed to advancing the implementation of the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance to sustainably address the challenges facing pastoral communities in the region, State Minister of Agriculture Efa Muleta Boru affirmed.
During the IGAD Ministerial Meeting on Transhumance and Livestock Development held in Addis Ababa today, IGAD Member States have signed the first Ministerial Communique on Transhumance and Livestock Development.
Opening the ministerial meeting, the state minister stressed the need to advance on collective, coordinated, and regionally aligned solutions as the challenges facing pastoral communities transcend national borders.
“The challenges facing pastoral communities transcend national borders. Our solutions must therefore be collective, coordinated, and regionally aligned, ” he underlined.
For the State Minister, safe, predictable, and well-regulated transboundary mobility is essential for maintaining herd productivity, managing rangelands, and sustaining livelihoods.
In this regard, the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance, signed by Ethiopia in 2022, is a landmark regional instrument, he affirmed.
The Protocol offers a coherent, rights-based, and forward-looking framework for enabling orderly mobility across member states, he elaborated.
Most importantly, he added the protocol promotes peaceful coexistence, economic cooperation, and livelihood security among communities that share rangelands, water resources, and markets.
Ethiopia remains fully committed to advancing its implementation in alignment with the Prime
Minister’s broader vision for regional integration, shared prosperity, and African solidarity, he noted.
“Our government has firmly integrated pastoralism and livestock development within the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, the Ten-Year Development Plan, and our national agricultural transformation strategy,” the state Minister further reiterated.
Ethiopia has adopted a progressive national policy framework on Pastoralism and has continued to hold national pastoral expos to promote the untapped sociocultural and economic wealth in pastoralist communities, it was indicated.
IGAD Deputy Executive Secretary, Mohamed Abdi Ware, said for his part that the IGAD protocol on transhumance is pivotal in ensuring that mobility across borders is safe, orderly, predictable and dignified.
Today’s agenda is part of a wider dialogue on the full adaptation of the transhumance protocol and shared regional aspiration, he underscored.
The IGAD Ministerial Meeting on Transhumance and Livestock Development is a forum for IGAD member states to discuss strategies for managing transhumance pastoralism and advancing the livestock sector.
The meeting sought to encourage investment in pastoral areas and support the development of complementary livelihood resources for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities.
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