[:fr]Strengthening sanitation systems and building livestock markets on the menu of three audiences granted by the Minister of Livestock to representatives of AFD, IDB and FAO yesterday.

The Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (Minepia), Dr Taiga, granted three audiences yesterday in Yaoundé. He received in turn the Director of the French Development Agency (AFD), Benoit Lebeurre, a delegation from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) headed by Sabiu Auwal, and a mission from the FAO led by its new representative, Athman Mravili. With the FAO, they discussed support for the Global Security Program in the fight against zoonoses and the strengthening of animal health in Africa. To this end, the FAO handed over laboratory equipment for the national veterinary laboratory. According to Athman Mravili, this equipment, valued at $220,000 (around 120 million F), will be used to strengthen animal health surveillance and laboratory systems, as well as to improve human resource capacity to respond to animal health events, and to support emergency response to zoonotic infections and other transboundary animal diseases. As for the IDB’s mission, Minepia spoke of two major projects set up by the government and the Islamic bank. The first is a livestock and fisheries development project in the North-West region, worth some thirty billion francs and currently being implemented. The second, currently underway, is a project to develop livestock marketing and infrastructure, financed to the tune of 27 billion F, which aims to build livestock markets in the northern regions.

For his part, Benoit Lebeurre, who recently arrived in Cameroon, came to meet the head of this ministerial department and find out about the issues at stake in the cooperation between his institution and the ministry, particularly as regards vocational training and advice to farmers. “We have a huge number of operations underway, and it’s always important to know whether these projects are meeting people’s expectations”, he concluded.