19 September 2007 - Stakeholders in Africa's livestock will Thursday hold a one-day general meeting seeking to attract more interest of policy makers and investors in a sector believed to have untapped potential of improving rural economies and eradicating poverty from the continent.

To be held under the auspices of the African Union (AU) Commission, the third ordinary general assembly of the African Livestock Development Platform, known as 'ALive Platform' in a play on its acronym, will review recent developments in the livestock sector in the continent.

Somalia 's Prime Minister Mohammed Gedi will make a keynote address at the opening session, underlining the importance of the livestock sector in meeting the growing demand of animal products in Africa and its contribution to poverty alleviation.

ALive is a regional partnership based on a multi-stakeholders' platform to reposition the African livestock sector into the development agendas of national, regional and international policy makers.

Through partnerships with governments, multilateral and bilateral donors, farmer associations, research institutions and not-for-profit organizations, ALive supports the efforts of parties which share its objective of fostering livestock management and development for sustainable economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sponsored as a concept by the World Bank in 2002, Alive has since benefited from the input of many African stakeholders, particularly the AU.

According to the AU Commission, participants at the meeting include livestock and agriculture ministers of AU Member States, representatives of regional economic communities, the European Commission, the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the African Development Bank as well as livestock research and training organisations.

The general assembly will decide on a work plan for the next three years, during which the ALive secretariat will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, under the charge of the AU's Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR).

Source: Africa News