EU support to African veterinary services brings an end to Rinderpest, a devastating livestock diseas

Almost 50 years of continued collaboration between the EU and the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) to eradicate Rinderpest is about to achieve its ultimate goal, with the official declaration of global freedom from Rinderpest foreseen for 2011.

Building on such successful work, the Commission granted on 22nd of December  2010 EUR 30 million to further strengthen African Veterinary Services. The programme, adopted in the framework of the Intra-ACP cooperation Annual Action Programme, aims at further reinforcing veterinary governance in Africa. It will improve institutional environment at national and regional levels to provide better animal health services.

The eradication of Rinderpest, one of the major transboundary animal diseases affecting Africa, was achieved thanks to a campaign which began in the 1960s. The European Union has been a major contributor to the worldwide eradication of Rinderpest with more than EUR 203 million for Africa since then. The EU continues its support for veterinary services in the continent through the adopted programme, as further improvements in animal health in Africa are still needed to boost livestock development, and in turn increase food security and new trade opportunities, lifting livestock keepers in Africa out of poverty.