Livestock and Nutrition Activity Stakeholder Consultation Workshops Report: January – February 2020

The workshops aimed to engage stakeholders across the entire livestock sector, including local government officials, academics, private sector actors, representatives from civil society, non-government organizations (NGOs), religious institutions, and livestock farmers. A total of 15 workshops were held in Jashore, Khulna, Barishal, Cox's Bazar, and Dhaka. The objectives of the workshops were to share the successes and lessons learned over the last five years of activity implementation, receive feedback from stakeholders on the situation of the livestock sector, and consult with stakeholders for recommendations for future USAID investments in the livestock sector in Bangladesh. The workshops were attended by a variety of local community stakeholders, including local government officials, academics, private sector actors, representatives from civil society, NGOs, religious institutions, and livestock farmers. Key findings from the workshops included consistent access to profitable markets, safety concerns of livestock products, seasonal fodder availability, and a lack of awareness of the benefits and proper usage of complete feed. Other findings, while discussed in multiple regions, may have specific significance or issues related to a particular geography. For example, low consumption of meat and milk in Cox's Bazar was due to diet preferences and infrastructural challenges, whereas in Khulna, this issue was more related to lack of information and cultural beliefs. The top priority issues identified by the workshops were: farmer access to profitable markets, availability of alternate fodder technologies and products, support services to sustain productivity and market access in challenging regions, new diseases such as Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) affecting the economic viability of livestock farmers, and livestock finance as a major barrier for farmers to increase their farm base. Recommendations from the workshops included promoting dairy processing and preservation at the regional and national level to increase consumption of milk and increase farmers' incomes, promoting productivity-enhancing technology and practices such as alternate fodder and complete feed with the right financial literacy and information to farmers, promoting consumption of fresh, diversified, and safe livestock products, collaborating with responsible agencies to tackle emerging diseases, and using lessons from microfinance and formal financial banks to improve livestock finance. The workshops highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to address the challenges facing the livestock sector in Bangladesh. Addressing one issue may affect others, and only addressing one and not the others may lead to incomplete resolution. The recommendations from the workshops provide a framework for future USAID investments in the livestock sector in Bangladesh, focusing on increasing farmer access to markets, innovative solutions involving new or improved technology, public sector interventions related to regulations, and private sector approaches.