National Agriculture and Livestock Sector Policy 2009-2014.

The National Agriculture and Livestock Sector Policy is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the policy is 5 years between 2009 and 2014. The overall purpose of this Policy is to ensure a socially and culturally acceptable, economically vibrant and ecologically sustainable agricultural sector that will contribute towards poverty alleviation, food security and economic development. The objectives of this Policy are: (I) poverty alleviation, enhanced food security and rural livelihood, (II) sustainable management of natural resources and the environment, (III) readjustment and restructuring of farms, (IV) improved agricultural research and development, (V) food safety and quality improvement, and (VI) reduced dependency of food imports and increased agricultural exports.
This Policy sets targets to guide agricultural development in line with the Government development strategy. In order to make agriculture more productive in an environmentally sustainable manner, soil conservation and management will be enhanced, land fertility and productivity will be increased and land use planning will be improved.
Agricultural extension services will be provided for farmers, including women and youth to stimulate sustainable agricultural growth. Food security, self-sufficiency and community sufficiency in rural areas will be improved through targeted multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral interventions in rural area. Smallholders will be supported by increasing farm productivity through capacity development and appropriate technology transfer and local marketing network. Pro-poor policies and strategies will be strengthened and rural institutions and agricultural services will be promoted to support small scale-farmers. Farm management will be improved through cluster farm, and cooperatives and farmers’ associations. The skills and capacity of farmers will be enhanced to increase the competitiveness.
Agricultural production system will be diversified and agri-business and other alternative activities will be promoted for income generation in rural communities including promotion of organic farming. Data collection systems will be developed at national, regional, provincial and constituency levels provide effective agricultural market information in order to enhance agricultural productivity and profitability. The Agricultural Research and Development will be strengthened to increase number of new crop cultivars, new animal breeds, and new food product development. A certification and traceability system will be developed to improve the quality and standards of agricultural products. The technology transfer and capacity building in food safety and quality improvement, biosafety and biosecurity will be strengthened. Prevention and control system for emerging plant and animal disease will be strengthened to reduce crop and livestock loss due to exotic pests and diseases. The capacity of farmers will be enhanced to increase agricultural exports and reduce the dependency of food imports. In addition to that, quality standards for processing and marketing of agricultural produce and products as well as other standards required by international agreements will be improved for increased export. A National Seed Committee will be established to control matters related to seeds including the development of seed policies and regulations, coordination, monitoring of seed production, quality control and seed certification. Furthermore, this Policy sets sub-sector specific strategies with an emphasis on coconut, oil palm, vanilla, coffee, cocoa, rice, livestock, traditional food crops and fruits and vegetables, and organic and fair trade.
The resilience of agriculture to natural disasters and climate change will be increased through effective disaster and risk management and climate change mitigation.