FAO's Inception Workshop paves the way for Livestock Extension Policy and sustainable methane management

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held the Inception Workshop on Livestock Extension Policy and Methane Management Framework in Dhaka. The Director General, Department of Livestock Services (DLS) Dr. Md Emdadul Haque Talukder chaired the Inception Workshop; S M Rezaul Karim, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, was the Chief Guest. Dr. S M Jahangir Hossain, Director General, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI); Abdoulaye Seck, Country Director (Bangladesh & Bhutan) of the World Bank; and Arnoud Hameleers, FAO Representative ad interim in Bangladesh were guests of honor.

FAO is providing technical assistance on the implementation of Livestock and Dairy Development Project (LDDP) being implemented by the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) of the Government of Bangladesh.

The aim of this workshop was to introduce various stakeholders to the process of formulating livestock extension policy and the design of a national methane framework for the livestock sector. Experts from FAO and DLS presented the process that is followed to formulate the livestock sector. This includes drafting of the policy briefs for 18 issue-specific policy domains that define the livestock extension services; the upcoming peer review of these policy briefs; regional consultative process to gather views from broad stakeholder in sector, drafting of the livestock extension policies, and validation workshop to pave the way for further action by the ministry. The policy process involves over 250 participants across 35 organizations including ministries, institutes, organizations, private sector as well as resource partners.

At this workshop Dr. Julius Muchemi, FAO Livestock and Dairy Development Project (LDDP) Team Leader welcomed the participants; Dr. Md. Golam Rabbani, LDDP Chief Technical Coordinator shared the scope of the Policy initiative in the LDDP, DLS; Dr. Md. Shahinur Alam, Director (Extension), DLS highlighted the formulation process of the Livestock Extension Policy and Manuals and Dr Khan Shahidul Huque, FAO National Consultant in Bangladesh presented the National Methane Management Framework and Policy.

Arnoud Hameleers, FAO Representative ad interim in Bangladesh said, “FAO is committed to continuing its technical cooperation with the Government of Bangladesh in its journey towards a sustainable and climate-resilient livestock system.”

The Inception Workshop will be followed by three key activities in coming weeks: National Stakeholder Consultative Workshop on Livestock-Environment-Climate Nexus Actions; Hands-on Training on tools to assess greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector and Peer Review Workshop on Livestock Policy.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock existing policies include the Livestock Development Policy of 2007, draft Livestock Extension Policy of 2013 which is now being updated. The Ministry of Environment, Fisheries, and Climate Change prepared the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the period 2021 to 2025 to reduce the methane emissions from the agriculture sector including crop and livestock systems. FAO, jointly with DLS, MoFL is actively involving over 70 subject matters specialists and country-wide consultations to inform the drafting of i) the National Livestock Extension Policy and Manual, ii) FMD control and PPR eradication strategies, iii) Animal Breeding and Artificial Insemination Policy, iv) the Poultry Hatchery Act, v) Livestock extension manual, and vi) guidelines for sustainable methane management in the livestock sector.