Livestock/Meat

With more than 60 million head of cattle and 160 million goats and sheep, livestock in West Africa plays an important role in poverty reduction and rural food security.  It’s an asset, a store of value, collateral for credit, and in the most dire circumstances, a crucial safety net. The sector also provides income-generating opportunities for women.  

A potentially profitable market for Sahelian live animals and meat exists in the expanding coastal markets of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.  There are also opportunities for more competitiveness in the chilled and frozen meat segment market by offering fresher, higher quality Sahelian meat.  The livestock sector could contribute more positively to West African society, but significant policy and institutional changes are needed. In the area of improving the competitiveness in the livestock/meat value chain, USAID ATP uses the following strategies:

• Improve the cost-effectiveness of cattle fattening and provide training in technical and business practices;
• Increase feed production capacity through training in timely forage mowing, storage and processing;
• Assist developers in manufacturing and distributing quality concentrated feeds;
• Train retail slaughterhouse butchers on good practices in cutting, boning, processing and packaging;
• Support slaughterhouses in upgrading their infrastructure and reinforce staff skills to meet market demand and requirements;
• Provide opportunity to develop business relations and support for contracting;
• Inform and train meat exporters on regulatory and legislative provisions related to intra-regional trade in live animals and red meat.

The project works primarily with two professional organizations:  COFENABVI (Confédération des Fédérations Nationales de la Filière Bétail/Viande), which is positioning itself as the West Africa umbrella organization for national professional organizations in West African ruminant livestock industries; and the Ashaiman Livestock Breeders and Traders Association, which promotes trade between the Sahelian countries and Ghana.

In all our interventions, we are committed to gender equity and to mitigating potential adverse environmental effects.