This text is the follow-on document to the earlier Brazil consensus that was reached during the first Multi-Stakeholder Platform (MSP) meeting in Brasilia, Brazil from and details the further agreements reached during the second MSP meeting that was held in Phuket, Thailand from 1 to 4 of December 2011.

Endorsement of the Brasilia consensus

The meeting re-endorsed the agreements reached in Brasilia in respect  of the vision, mission, and scope of a Global Agenda of Action for Sustainable Livestock Sector Development (GAA), and thus that (i) the initial focus of a GAA is on the livestock’s sector natural resource use, incorporating the appropriate social and health aspects; (ii) the nature of a GAA is open, consensual, action-oriented, and multi-stakeholder; and (iii) the functions of a GAA are analysis, information, capacity building, piloting, and advocacy with the following specifications and additions:

• Strategic analyses, including policy and institutional analyses, methodology and investment guidelines development in support of sustainable livestock sector development;
• Generation and sharing of local and global knowledge, experiences, and practices through R&D, dialogue, dissemination, communication, and outreach;
• Promotion of capacity building;
• Support to the piloting of new approaches within livestock sector systems, stakeholders, and related value chains to test, validate, and transfer practices;
• Advocacy, including the promotion of sustainable livestock sector development within existing inter-governmental and other processes;
• Promotion of  investment, piloting and mainstreaming

Emphasis

The presentations and discussions at the meeting emphasized the importance of the overarching focus of the GAA, whilst accentuating the vast diversity and local specificities. Concrete GAA action thus needs to be cognizant of the diversity in production systems and respectful of different cultures. The meeting also emphasized the need to focus any actions where a GAA has a comparative advantage and where it will be able to add significant value.

GAA – Value-added

In that respect, the value-added of a GAA was agreed to lie within the specificity of the livestock sector embedded in the vision, mission, and nature of the GAA:

• Addressing controversial issues to find consensus among diverse stakeholders;
• Sharing, development and dissemination of data, knowledge and experiences;
• The totality of the chain can only be effectively addressed by involving all sector stakeholders;
• Strengthens partnerships, interaction, dialogue, learning, sharing, and networking among diverse stakeholders;
• Linkages into the inter-governmental and standard setting processes
• Strength in unity which helps mobilizing resources on a Global, regional and nationals level for evidence-based advocacy and solutions;
• Cohesive action which prevents duplications, presents a unified front, promotes coherence and best use of scarce resources
• The potential to create increased awareness in order to influence agenda setting relating to policy, research, capacity building, investment etc. aiming at harmonization in methodologies, approaches and policies;

Endorsement of selected themes

The meeting also endorsed the three themes proposed by the GAA’s Interim Preparatory Committee (IPC), namely:

• Closing the efficiency gap ;
• Restoring value to pasture ;
• Reduced discharge – manure management ;

The selected themes were subsequently developed further  in working groups to agree on theme focus and priority actions:

Closing the efficiency gap:

The development of metrics to establish baseline data for analyses and to set targets, measure, progress. Need to seek consensus on best indicator(s) to define efficiency and measure gaps (among institutions addressing the issue of metrics):

• Establish inventory of all current measurement ( e.g. LCA, RISE)
• Ensure indicators cover economics, environment and social
• Lead: Academia and International Science Organization (e.g. EMBRAPA, PBL, IDF, SCA, ATB, FAO, SLU, IARI, NZCLCA, CENA)

Knowledge and Dialogue Platform

• Collect good examples of practices, programs, etc. on closing the efficiency gap.
• Organization of platform: FAO and/or ILRI
• Determine the framework of the platform (e.g. metrics/policy; Research/Good Practices/Projects)
• Ensure quality assurance of information shared

Piloting of innovative approaches and methodologies to trial successful pilots and approaches in other areas with similar conditions:

• Stakeholders to share successful projects
• Identify where practices can be duplicated in needed areas
• Identify who can best implement the pilot within the area identified under ( ii)
• Potential Lead:
• Ruminant nutrition in tropics:  IDF (dairy), EMBRAPA(beef)
• Novel Extension for pastoral, peri-urban and urban production system: NGO (?)
• Breeding (reproduction and genetics): Performance recording organizations and Farmers organizations
• Reduction of losses and waste along livestock sector value chain: CP and/or Betagro and/or Private sector (e.g. Dutch Value Chain Initiative)

Restoring value to pasture:

While carbon sequestration is a relevant entry point for restoring the value of grazing lands in more humid areas in the first instance, it will be critical to address a wider range of ecosystems including the arid and semi arid zones. To restore the economic, ecological and social value of grazing lands, it will be necessary to (i) increase the understanding of rangeland ecology in arid and semi arid zones, (ii) create environmental benefits of grazing land restoration beyond carbon ( biodiversity, water etc), including the analyses of the social, economic and cultural dimensions and the  institutions that will deliver the desired outcomes. The following actions are required to achieve this:

• Establish knowledge and dialogue platform for the exchange of information, recommended approaches, lessons learned for local adaptation
• bring together a multidisciplinary team; e.g. ecologists, livestock, agronomists, economists and water specialists, social scientists (also a range of stakeholders; i.e. farmers / livestock keepers, extension agencies, processors, agribusiness commerce, NGOs etc)
• link to existing carbon knowledge institutes, for example the GRA
• develop and apply integrated assessment methodologies to ensure that multiple benefits are accrued to grazing lands ( include definition of biological, social and economic metrics)
• develop selection criteria for sites. In order to ensure proof of concept initial selection must include quick wins
• implement selected pilots, urgently; integrating multidisciplinary approach developed above, on a regional and context specific basis
• link pilots to value proposition (productivity gains, product added value, finance e.g. carbon markets, PES, strengthened rural communities)
• develop a program for capacity building on a regional basis
• develop a decision making toolbox to deal with the tradeoffs involved in the restoration of grazing / grasslands

Reduced discharge and manure management

The broad focus of the theme was decided to Create sustainable conditions for the adoption of nutrient recycling and energy recovery from manure in confined animal feeding operations. The draft Terms of Reference for the group which requested to develop the theme’s action programme prior to the launch of a GAA were proposed to be as follows:

• Draw up a list of networks and initiatives relevant to theme;
• Identify potential champions to take develop the theme further;
• Survey of existing management practices, methodologies and approaches;
• Development of a draft action programme for the initial two to three years

Proposed GAA priority actions – support/promote

The above agreement on the type of initial actions required under each of the selected themes were distilled into the following nine categories of generic activities that a GAA should support and promote:

1. systematic mapping of initiatives and networks  -and their portfolios –relevant to the selected GAA themes;
2. encourage greater engagement by additional stakeholders, networks and initiatives;
3. Further define priorities and focus of the selected themes;
4. establishment of a knowledge and dialogue platform for the collation and exchange of data, information, experiences, recommended approaches, and lessons learned – advocacy and outreach;
5. Development of methodologies, metrics and decision-support toolboxes;
6. Livestock sector systems, policy and institutional analyses;
7. The exploration of opportunities to pilot innovative approaches from within the selected themes and assess the associated training needs;
8. Implementation of selected pilots and training;
9. Investment to enable the mainstreaming of innovative approaches, methodologies, policies and institutional developments.

Key next steps

The following critical steps for the further development of a GAA were agreed:

• Current IPC with the current chair and the current secretariat to shape action programme content  plus budget, (in collaboration with stakeholder group champions and other experts), and a proposal for oversight and form in a consultative inclusive manner with the Multi-stakeholder Platform (from today);
• Flyers / presentations on a GAA to be distributed to MSP (by end  of February 2012)
• Draft action programmes on selected themes and a proposal for oversight and form ready for MSP review (by end  of May 2012)
• FAO secretariat to organise formal presentation of a GAA in its Rome headquarters to member nations permanent representatives, in collaboration with the Committee on Agriculture’s vice-Chair and selected private and civil society multi-stakeholder platform members (before the end of March 2012);
• Individual stakeholder groups, organizations, regional bodies and commissions represented on the MSP to report back to their broader membership for endorsement of the GAA (May/June 2012);
• FAO to submit GAA proposal  - principles, substance, rules of engagement  - to CoAg  for endorsement of FAO’s proposed role in a GAA (May 2012)
• MSP meeting to discuss and endorse finalized selected action programmes (before end of  September 2012);
• Targeted fund raising activities and consolidation of Action programme task forces (from  September 2012 onwards);
• Launch of GAA action programmes (from September 2012 – date will depend on the endorsement  by the MSP of the principles, substance and rules of engagement / process of the GAA).