Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 11, 2006 – Pastoralists in the Horn of Africa are calling on governments to introduce policies to better facilitate the movement and sale of livestock, according to a report released this week. Saudia Arabia's ban on live animal imports from the Horn is also criticized.

The ban has been in place since an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia in 1997. But delegates from all three countries said there was no longer a problem and the ban should be lifted.

Peace, Trade and Unity - published by the UN OCHA Pastoralist Communication Initiative - details discussions that took place at the Horn of Africa Regional Pastoralist Gathering 2006 and contains testimony from pastoralists who say a potentially thriving livestock export business is being held up by unnecessary barriers to trade.

Somaliland Minister for Pastoralist Development, Environment and Wildlife, Fu'ad Adan Adde, said the countries of the Horn used to export several million animals but today their herds are believed to be affected by disease by many traders in the Middle East.

"When we go back to out countries we are planning to hold a meeting to look for ways to lift the ban, which is really political," he said.

The report, which is in magazine format, outlines how, after fourteen years of fighting and thousands of deaths, the Lou and Jikany Nuer from Sudan and Ethiopia began a peace process around a campfire at the event that it is hoped will lead to a lasting calm.

Ethiopia's Mursi explain how they used the gathering to discuss community involvement in tourism and national parks. The Kereyu, also from Ethiopia, tell of their plan to resist the expansion of a sugar plantation that took nearly half of their traditional lands thirty years ago. Both groups are using their traditional governing institutions to address their goals.

The report also contains many stories of pastoralists coming together to build alliances. All five countries that make up the points of the Somali star were represented. "We are not here to discuss politics but the common issues we all face as Somalis and pastoralists," said one. Cheese producers and milk bottlers from Mali, Mauritania and Kenya attended to share the secrets of their potentially lucrative trade.

Over 350 pastoralists representing 60 groups and 18 countries attended the eight-day meeting in the Ethiopia. They were joined for the last two days by delegates from 10 governments as well as high-level representatives from leading UN agencies and NGOs.

Source: The Reporter