SA PPLPP’s Community of Practice appreciated at State Level Policy Seminar in Madhya Pradesh

The aim of the seminar was to harness policy recommendations of livestock officers and technical experts including members of SA PPLPP’s CoP4LPD (http://cop.sapplpp.org/cop/index_html/test_cop/howItWorks/index_html ). The state livestock policy is expected to be a guiding ship for the department and will be accompanied by a medium term implementation plan.

Setting the stage for this ASCARD funded seminar the Chief Information’s Officer of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dr Rakesh Sharma proposed, ‘’we need a policy owned by our officers and stakeholders and not a board room policy. Thus our main agenda is to have critical debates on livestock issues affecting MP’.  This seminar which was expected to propose recommendations for a Madhya Pradesh Livestock Policy saw over 150 participants representing the livestock department, civil society protagonists, Veterinary College and Milk Federation coming together for the first time to listen to senior technical experts on aspects related to Disease Control and Health Coverage, Appropriate Breeding for all species, Feed and Fodder availability, Poultry, Pig, Small Ruminant and Dairy sector Development, Extension Services, Human and Institutional Development and MIS on the first day. Based on the debates arising, the participants worked in 12 sub-sector groups to draft policy recommendations on the second day. 

During this event, members of the CoP4LPD participated actively as presenters, panel members and facilitators of group discussions. The SA PPLPP Regional director, Ms Lucy Maarse who was the chief presenter for the session on Poultry Development showcased Four Good Practices in Smallholder Poultry harnessed by SA PPLPP for the benefit of the participants. Other CoP members Dr B.R. Patil, Dr D.V.Rangnekar, Mr. Sandeep Khanwalkar, Dr Vivek Sharma and Shefali Misra encouraged vibrant discussions on building local feed and fodder initiatives emphasising the importance of silvi pasture development, tree fodder and agricultural by products, the need to ensure access to service delivery to the poorest, the need for inter-departmental coherence on livestock and the need to build institutional capacities to respond to emerging livestock challenges.

At the closing ceremony the Additional Chief Secretary Mrs. Ranjana Chaudhury flagged the need to develop a two pronged policy strategy viz: one for the rural centric small farmer and another for the urban centric farmer catering to first and second tire towns. She based this need on the premise that over 67 lakh small and marginal farmers and 74 lakh landless labourers depended heavily on livestock for sustenance and thus needed special mention in the policy. 

Special mention was also made of the background support and participation of the SA PPLPP Community of Practice for Livestock Policy Development by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Dr Ram Krishna Kusmariya who flagged the need to ensure that the policy benefits the poorest in Madhya Pradesh and complemented the efforts of the SA PPLPP CoP in supporting the state government by actively participating in the event. Similarly, the Additional Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary Mr. Manoj Goyal greatly appreciated the long standing guidance and participation of the SA PPLPP CoP in the MP Policy development process.

Contributed by -  Coordination Team