About Us
The South Asia Pro Poor Livestock Policy Programme (SA PPLPP) was established in 2006 with the objective of facilitating and contributing to the development of pro-poor livestock policy and programme implementation in three selected South Asian countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan and India. SA PPLPP’s interventions in these countries were implemented through programme partners – BRAC in Bangladesh, the Department of Livestock Services in Bhutan and BAIF Development Research Foundation in India. The programme mandate included the identification of good practices that had demonstrated sustainable benefits to smallholder livestock rearers, documentation of these practices, collating lessons learnt and using these lessons to advocate for a more conducive policy and programme support environment for smallholder livestock rearers in the South Asia region. Good practice documentation currently focuses on three core sectors – common lands and the impact of development and regeneration of these lands on smallholder livestock rearers; smallholder poultry rearing; and small ruminant rearing. The programme is funded by the National Dairy Development Board and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The first phase of the programme (which concluded in March 2009) focused on the establishment of a regional coordination office in New Delhi, constitution of country teams in the three programme countries, and finalisation of the mandate and terms of reference, identification of good practices, building the capacities of country teams to undertake detailed documentation as per agreed guidelines and documentation of good practices. Phase 2 designed for a three year period (until March 2012, and extended by three months until June 2012) was mandated to complete the identified good practice documentation, collate and bring together lessons learnt, and initiate and take forward policy dialogue and advocacy to benefit smallholder livestock rearers.
Based on the experience gained, the third phase of the programme that commenced in July 2012, focuses on building collaborations and partnerships to strengthen field implementation and state / national policy frameworks for smallholder livestock development programmes (primarily smallholder poultry rearing and small ruminant rearing), and facilitate an improved translation of policy and programme design ‘on the ground’. The identification and documentation of field practices that have demonstrated positive outcomes on the livelihoods of the rural poor, disseminating and sharing lessons learnt from field implementation, sector studies including reviews and analysis of smallholder livestock related value chains, and the monitoring and impact assessment of livestock policies and programmes are related priority activities. The focus of activities will be primarily in India, where SA PPLPP has undertaken studies on small ruminant rearing and smallholder poultry rearing.
While the earlier institutional structure comprising country teams has concluded, SA PPLPP will continue with initiatives to identify successful smallholder livestock rearing interventions from the South Asian region, and document these for wider dissemination.
