NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 3-African countries are stepping up efforts to transform livestock production and reduce the continent’s heavy dependence on food imports, with ministers warning that unlocking the sector’s potential will require coordinated investment, trade and animal-health systems across borders.Ministers and representatives from eight African countries committed to scaling proven livestock innovations, strengthening value chains and expanding regional markets during a high-level roundtable at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday.The push comes against a stark productivity gap: Africa spends an estimated $70 billion to $100 billion annually on food imports, despite holding about a fifth of the world’s cattle.The continent produces only about five per cent of global milk, while demand for animal-source foods is projected to rise sharply by 2050.Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said Africa already had many of the technologies and knowledge required to transform livestock production, but lacked the scale needed to close the gap between domestic production and imports.“Clearly Africa doesn’t lack solutions for its livestock sector. What it lacks is scale and productivity,” Djikeng said.He said closing the production-import gap would be critical to unlocking Africa’s broader agribusiness potential, estimated at $1 trillion annually.“Closing this gap between what Africa produces and what it imports is the key to delivering on the promise of the continent’s $1trillion annual agribusiness potential,” he said.The roundtable brought together ministers and representatives from Nigeria, Uganda, Niger, Mali, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia, alongside former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi.The meeting was convened by ILRI and the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and hosted by AGRA.Animal healthThe ministers focused on how to move livestock interventions, from improved genetics and animal feed to vaccination and animal-health programmes, from successful pilots into large-scale national and regional systems.Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda said Africa’s biggest livestock challenge was no longer recognizing the sector’s importance but delivering coordinated interventions at scale.“Africa does not lack livestock potential. We do not lack animals. We do not lack farmers. We do not lack science and technical knowledge. We certainly do not lack demand,” Sibanda said.“What we have lacked is the ability to connect all these pieces and deliver at scale. Africa’s livestock priority is no longer recognition. It is delivery,” she added.The private sector also urged governments to treat animal health as a long-term system rather than a series of emergency campaigns.Mucai Kunyiha, Group CEO of CKL Africa, said sustainable investment in livestock vaccination would require governments, producers, manufacturers, veterinarians, communities and regional institutions to work together continuously.“Vaccination is a system, not an event,” Kunyiha said, arguing that such an approach would help create the conditions for greater private-sector investment.Ethiopia production blueprintEthiopia’s dairy sector provided an example of the gains possible when government programmes, production and market development are combined.The country increased milk production from 7.1 billion litres in 2022 to 15.7 billion litres in 2025/26, representing a 122 per cent increase.The growth was supported by the Yelemat Tirufat, or “Bounty of the Basket”, initiative, which has established more than 36,000 new dairy villages and 5,000 dairy clusters, alongside new cross-border trade agreements.However, Ethiopia’s experience also exposed a major constraint facing the continent: feed availability. Despite feed production more than doubling during the period, officials said inadequate feed remains a major barrier to further growth.Five prioritiesThe ministers identified five areas requiring urgent action, including financing suited to livestock production cycles, easier cross-border trade and stronger disease-control systems.They also called for better livestock data, including animal identification and traceability; greater recognition of livestock within national government structures and budgets; and stronger peer learning between African countries.The discussions will feed into the proposed Integrated Regional Livestock Value Chain (IRLVC) programme, a 10-year initiative running to 2035 and led by AU-IBAR.The programme is already supporting more than 30 regional projects, including dairy market development in East Africa and poultry health initiatives in West Africa.Dr Huyam Salih, Director of AU-IBAR, said Africa needed to shift from isolated national interventions towards coordinated regional action.“We already know what works. The task now is coordinating policy and trade across borders, so proven livestock solutions can scale from one country to a continent,” Salih said.The ministers backed proposals to institutionalise the livestock ministerial platform as a standing political and learning mechanism for implementing the IRLVC programme, with progress reported through the African Union’s CAADP Biennial Review.The platform is also expected to build towards the first African Union Summit on Animal Resources Transformation.Djikeng pledged that ILRI would continue working with governments beyond the annual Africa Food Systems Forum to ensure commitments translate into implementation.“It is my pledge that our institution will continue to participate in this — in between, not just when we meet at the next forum,” he said.