African ministers back continent-wide push to scale livestock solutions

Ministers and representatives from eight African countries met in Kigali to align on financing, trade and policy changes aimed at scaling livestock innovations and reducing food import dependence. The roundtable also pushed to formalize a standing platform to help turn proven livestock ideas into regional delivery through 2035.

Why it matters: - Africa imports $70 billion to $100 billion in food each year, while livestock productivity remains far below its potential. - Africa has about one-fifth of the world’s cattle but produces only 5% of its milk. - Animal-source foods are the most expensive food group for many Africans, and demand for healthy diets is projected to rise 280% by 2050. - Ministers framed livestock growth as central to food security, jobs and economic transformation.

What happened: - Ministers of livestock and agriculture, and their representatives from eight countries, met in Kigali, Rwanda, during the Africa Food Systems Forum. - The session was convened by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), and hosted by AGRA. - Participants came from Nigeria, Uganda, Niger, Mali, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia, along with former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi. - The group pledged to work together to strengthen livestock value chains, unlock investment, expand market and trade, and build partnerships to scale livestock solutions across the continent.

The details: - Ministers reviewed interventions including livestock genetics, quality feed and animal health programs. - The discussion focused on what large-scale delivery requires and what is needed to move from livestock plans to implementation. - Mucai Kunyiha, Group CEO of CKL Africa, said ruminant vaccination scale depends on a durable system involving governments, producers, manufacturers, veterinarians, communities and regional institutions. - Kunyiha said, “Vaccination is a system, not an event.” - Appolinaire Djikeng, ILRI Director General, said Africa’s challenge is scale and productivity, not a lack of solutions. - Djikeng said closing the gap between production and imports is key to unlocking Africa’s $1 trillion annual agribusiness potential. - Ethiopia’s dairy sector served as the lead example for the roundtable. - Ethiopia raised milk production from 7.1 billion liters in 2022 to 15.7 billion liters in 2025/26, a 122% increase. - The growth was linked to the government’s Yelemat Tirufat, or “Bounty of the Basket,” initiative. - Ethiopia added more than 36,000 dairy villages and 5,000 dairy clusters, and signed new cross-border trade agreements. - Ethiopia’s representative said feed production has more than doubled but remains the main bottleneck to further growth. - Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda said Africa’s livestock challenge is no longer recognition, but delivery. - AU-IBAR said transformation depends on production, trade and governance advancing together. - The Integrated Regional Livestock Value Chain (IRLVC) program already supports more than 30 regional projects. - Those projects include a dairy market program in East Africa and a regional poultry health program in West Africa. - Partners in the program include the European Union, IFAD and the World Bank. - Dr. Huyam Salih, Director of AU-IBAR, said the program is designed to help proven livestock solutions scale across borders. - The roundtable recommended institutionalizing the Ministerial Platform as the political and learning platform for the AU’s IRLVC program through 2035. - The program will report through the CAADP Biennial Review and is anchored in the annual Africa Food Systems Forum. - The platform would also build toward the First African Union Summit on Animal Resources Transformation.

Between the lines: - The Kigali meeting signaled a shift from policy discussion to execution, with ministers pressing for a standing mechanism rather than an annual conversation. - The focus on trade, harmonized standards and disease control suggests livestock growth is being treated as a regional systems issue, not just a national agricultural issue. - Ethiopia’s dairy gains showed what coordinated policy can deliver, while the feed constraint showed how quickly supply-side bottlenecks can slow momentum. - The call for patient capital reflects a sector that needs financing matched to biological production cycles, not conventional short-term lending.

What's next: - The Ministerial Platform is expected to continue and be formalized as part of the AU’s ten-year livestock delivery agenda to 2035. - Countries will work on livestock financing, cross-border trade rules, data systems, government representation and peer learning. - ILRI said it will stay engaged between forums and continue working with AU-IBAR on implementation of the roundtable commitments. - The next milestone is the First African Union Summit on Animal Resources Transformation, which the platform is intended to support. - The session also established a shared baseline from Kigali for tracking herd data, identification and traceability.

The bottom line: - African livestock leaders are trying to turn proven innovations into coordinated regional delivery, with self-reliance as the goal and scale as the missing piece.