The Livestock sub-sector in South Sudan is currently poorly understood and articulated as a result of lack of reliable livestock data which has undermined strategy development, planning, investment and coordination at all levels and across the stakeholders (CAMP Situation Analysis Report, 2013/2015). The AFIS programme of FAO is supporting GRSS institutions and partners to systematically collect and analyze data on Livestock. This activity aims to make better livestock data and information available to the GRSS and partners for the development of the livestock sector and underpinning policy. The system will collect information such as: Monthly Livestock Production trends (Milk, Meat, Calving, Mortality), Livestock Body Condition, Pasture Conditions, Livestock Migration, Livestock Prices and Markets, Livestock Diseases etc.

Capacity development of the relevant GRSS institutions is also a primary AFIS objective, while improving the information quality/quantity and promoting its use by decision makers.

The system is useful to inform Decision Making in the following areas:

1. Development planning The project intends to generate good quality Quantitative and Qualitative statistics and information to inform the agricultural development of the GRSS. This information will help identify the development potential and challenges of different livestock systems countrywide in order to help identify priority programmes/projects and the resources required to implement them.

2. Early Warning and Food Security Monitoring Livestock Information will be incorporated into the National Early Warning Systems (EWS) to provide information that complements other information, and give an accurate picture of the household/local community food security situation. This would enable a much more targeted and timely intervention, because most households’ livelihoods depend on livestock production (milk and meat), market conditions etc.

3. Monitoring and Evaluation of Interventions Good quality statistics are key to agriculture investments and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of results. Livestock information generated here will in future be used to track the impact on household well-being and food security of longer-term interventions (i.e., development projects and programs) and to short-term (emergency) interventions and estimate the expected impact of public service delivery.