Committee (IPC)
Rome, 30 October2 November 2006
pated on behalf of LPP and LIFE. IPC is operating since the World Food
Sovereignty Forum in 2002 and is the principal interlocutor between NGOs
and FAO. IPC has been asked by FAO to coordinate the NGO preparations
for Interlaken. A pastoralist focal point was created (Maryam Rahmanian,
CENESTA, Iran), and it was decided to set up an Interlaken Steering
Committee. LIFE Network and LPP are members. Susanne, who has
worked with IPC since 2002, is the main liaison person.
Genetic Resources
Rome, 1315 December 2006
ken conference. It was attended by Susanne Gura, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson,
and Isaac Kosgey, a professor of animal breeding from Egerton University
in Kenya. The draft Interlaken documents were negotiated in the plenary.
Due to many contentious issues, the Chair Harvey Blackburn, USA, de-
cided to set up a Friends of the Chair Group to re-draft the documents for
the next negotiation step in June 2007. LPP organized a side-event in
which Susanne presented the results of a study on concentration in the
livestock sector. In another side-event, Ilse discussed an FAO-initiated
study on the exchange, use, conservation and regulation of animal genetic
resources, bringing livestock keepers' and NGO viewpoints into the discus-
sion.
Oxfam Novib Biodiversity Fund to strengthen the LIFE Network in Africa
(Uganda) and Asia (India).
NGOs, Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan (LPPS) in Rajasthan, and SEVA in
Tamil Nadu. These NGOs have been actively involved in the loosely knit
LIFE Network since its very beginning in November 2000. LPPS and SEVA
have different approaches. LPPS is closely associated with the Raika
camel and sheep breeders of Rajasthan, and initially provided them with
animal health support. Over the years, this service-based approach
changed to a rights-based line of attack, in which LPPS encourages pas-
toralist to get organized and supports them in the fight for their rights.
breeds of livestock, such as the Umbalacherry, Pullikulum and Malaimadu
cattle, Toda buffalo, and Kachakatty and Vembur sheep.
breeds depend ultimately on continued access to common property re-
sources, such as grazing land and water. Because of India's rapid popula-
tion and economic growth, pastoralists and the associated livestock biodi-
versity are under enormous pressure. Hence the prime thrust of the LIFE
Network's argumentation has been to emphasize the interconnectedness
between the survival of breeds, livelihoods, and access to resources. The
network provided inputs to the Forest Rights' Bill and to the National Draft
Policy on Farmers.