ROMA: PRIME Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba has urged African countries to strengthen regional cooperation and increase domestic financing to establish sustainable systems for controlling livestock diseases, warning that the movement of animals across borders is advancing faster than political integration.
Dr Nchemba made the call on Tuesday while participating in a high-level Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) panel on investment in rinderpest eradication and Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) control.
The panel was held in Rome on the sidelines of an international conference focused on the One Health approach.
“As East African Community member states continue discussing when to enter into the federation, animals have already united faster than we have,” Nchemba told international delegates, emphasising that transboundary animal diseases do not respect national borders.
He urged regional member states and international partners to shift from fragmented, short-term campaigns toward permanent regional frameworks, emphasising that national ownership and domestic budget allocations must form the core of the effort.
He urged regional member states and international partners to shift from fragmented, short-term campaigns toward permanent regional frameworks, emphasising that national ownership and domestic budget allocations must form the core of the effort.
“We want to see stronger, predictable and sustainable investment,” Nchemba said. “National ownership and domestic financing must be the foundation, supported by FAO, WOAH, the African Union, regional communities, international financial institutions, development partners and the private sector.”
Nchemba emphasised that mass vaccination alone cannot control livestock diseases without fully functional diagnostic laboratories, real-time surveillance systems, reliable vaccine distribution networks, animal identification tracking and trained veterinary personnel stationed along shared borders.
The high-level discussion coincided with a major European Union funding pledge aimed at sustaining long-term eradication efforts across the continent.
EU Ambassador to Rome and Permanent Representative to UN Agencies, Dr Martin Selmayr, announced that the bloc is finalising a 50-million-euro (55.7 million US dollars) commitment for the second phase of Africa’s rinderpest eradication programme.
Selmayr said the investment is designed to mobilise matching national resources and strengthen broader veterinary services rather than fund temporary, one-off immunisation drives.
“The European Union believes that this investment should not end with another vaccination campaign, but should also help strengthen veterinary services, vaccine production and quality, private-sector cooperation and joint measures to address transboundary diseases,” Selmayr said.
FAO Deputy Director-General, Godfrey Magwenzi, backed the initiative, calling animal health a strategic investment in regional food security, economic resilience and agricultural development.
Supporting the appeal, Chad’s Minister for Livestock and Animal Production, Prof Abderrahim Awat Atteib, warned that predictable financing remains vital to prevent eliminated diseases from re-emerging in cleared zones.
Director of the Livestock Team at the Gates Foundation, Dr Samuel Thevasagayam, added that long-term success requires active participation from livestock keepers and the private sector alongside evidence-based planning.
