ADB Supports Livestock Health and Value Chains in Lao PDR to Boost Trade

VIENTIANE, LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (13 December 2024) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $42.9 million financing package to improve cross-border livestock health, enhance value chains, and boost trade of livestock and livestock products, driving inclusive growth in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Cross-Border Livestock Health and Value Chains Improvement Project will build climate-resilient livestock infrastructure, strengthen institutional and technical capacity to boost production of healthy livestock, and enable policies to improve health, safety and trade in livestock and livestock products. At least 30,000 households in the provinces of Bokeo, Louangnamtha, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Savannakhet, Xaignabouli, and Xiangkhouang will directly benefit from the project.

“Domestic demand for livestock exceeds supply in the Lao PDR, while growing export demand for live animals and processed meat by neighboring countries is hindered by underdeveloped livestock production,” said ADB Country Director for the Lao PDR Shanny Campbell. “ADB will support the Lao PDR government’s efforts in strengthening livestock health, productivity and trade.”

Around 80% of farming households keep livestock as their main asset. However, the sector is still underdeveloped, with smallholder farmers holding about 95% of livestock. Transboundary animal diseases, zoonoses, and antimicrobial resistance pose serious threats to livelihoods and food security, hampering productivity and disrupting markets. Livestock value chains are fragmented and inefficient due to poor infrastructure, weak disease monitoring, and lack of breeding centers, feedlots and certified facilities. Small-herd farmers, especially women, lack access to services and markets. 

The project will establish a livestock disease control zone and a National Cattle Breeding Center, and upgrade the Veterinary Vaccine Production Center, provincial animal health laboratories and at least six traditional wet markets. The project will build capacity for managing infectious livestock diseases and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and develop a smallholder-focused forage development program covering 30,000 hectares. It will also enhance cross-border livestock trade policies, regulations, and standards to ensure healthier livestock and improve trade.

The project’s financing package agreement, signed by the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the government and ADB, will include a $12 million grant from the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s poorest and most vulnerable developing member countries, and a $900,000 grant from the Climate Change Fund.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.