Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL)

IFIF is a Member of the Guiding Group of the FAO-led Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) and has supported the development of the initiative since its beginnings in 2010.

IFIF is a signatory to  the Global Agenda Consensus and actively inputs in the work of the Agenda.

The GASL is a partnership of livestock sector stakeholders supported by the FAO and committed to the sustainable development of the sector. Together we develop and implement an ambitious Agenda to ensure that sector growth contributes to socially desirable objectives The partnership brings together public and private sector, producers, research and academia, civil society, NGOs, and inter-governmental organisations.

The Agenda builds consensus on the path towards sustainability and catalyses coherent and collective practice change through dialogue, consultation and joint analysis.

The partnership unites the forces of the public and private sectors, producers, research and academic institutions, NGOs, social movements and community-based organizations, and foundations.

The GASL works to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the important contribution of livestock to the, including:

  • the vital role of livestock to end poverty and hunger, and to improve food security, nutrition and health;
  • the potential contribution of livestock to the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, to address environmental degradation and climate change, and to improve biodiversity;
  • the role of the livestock sector in promoting peaceful and inclusive societies;

It simultaneously addresses the following issues:

  • Global food security and health: The sector is critical to human health and global food and nutritional security. The Agenda promotes an inclusive approach to managing disease threats at the animal-human-environment interface that involves all sector stakeholders at every level in the development and implementation of animal-disease and food-safety programmes.
  • Equity and growth: Livestock is essential to the livelihoods of an estimated one billion poor. The Agenda supports a viable growth in value chains that have access to all necessary resources and services, and in which the poor can find secure livelihoods and participate in growing markets or take up other opportunities outside the sector.
  • Resources and climate: Livestock production based mainly on materials not competing with direct use as human food, and incentives and rewards for environmental stewardship will allow the sector to transition to existing and new resource use efficient ways of production and a greater contribution to climate change mitigation.

For more information about the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) please visit: http://www.livestockdialogue.org/.