The IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) held its Strategic Plan Workshop on the 25th and 26th of November, 2013 at the Royal Suites Hotel in Kampala, Uganda.
The workshop was officiated by the Acting Director of ICPALD, Dr Solomon Munyua. In attendance were Chief Veterinary Officers, Focal persons, Directors of Veterinary Services, representatives from the Ministries of Livestock, Rangeland, Fisheries and Marine Resources from the member states; partners from FAO, AU-IBAR, VSF-Germany; representatives from IGAD Secretariat and ICPALD staff members.
The establishment of the proposed IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development (ICPALD) as a specialized institution of IGAD was conceived following the approval of the 45th Ordinary Meeting of the IGAD Council of Ministers held on 11th July 2012 in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. The decision to establish ICPALD was in harmony with an earlier agreement reached on 10th December 2009 by Ministers responsible for livestock to establish a technical institution responsible for regional livestock development.
The ICPALD’s strategic plan was guided by the following principles:
• The Strategic Plan will serve as a foundation for programmatic investments and resource allocations and focus on activities that will enable ICPALD to achieve its mission.
• Broad involvement, participation, commitment and ownership of responsibilities by ICPALD stakeholders in the strategy development and implementation process are crucial from the onset for the achievement of ICPALD’s goals and objectives.
• Establishing realistic ICPALD goals based on evidence and institutional knowledge and utilizing external benchmarks, where applicable, is crucial.
• The planning team recognizes that strategic planning is an on-going process requiring a periodic review and assessment of ICPALD’s goals and progress towards achieving them.
• ICPALDs and staff performance reviews shall recognize contributions to achieving the goals. Successful strategic plans require stakeholders to be knowledgeable of and committed to ICPALD’s mission and goals, to be involved in the plan’s development, and to have an understanding of their responsibilities for achieving the desired outcomes.
• ICPALD is accountable to its stakeholders and needs to ensure that all are knowledgeable of her mission, strategies for achieving the mission, and progress on the success and constraints in the implementation of the strategies.
The key priority areas of ICPALD are;
1.Social Economics, Policy and Marketing
2.Dryland Agriculture and Alternative Livelihoods
3.Livestock Production, Health and Marketing
4.Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Resources Development
5.Climate Change and Adaptation
6.Knowledge Management
After a thorough consultative interactive well attended and represented two day session, the participants identified some gaps and clarifications after which it was agree that the draft strategy will be recasted to incorporate the changes that clearly identify the niche of ICPALD as discussed by the members, after which it will be sent to them together with the workshop proceedings.
