The LEGS Steering Group
LEGS is managed by a Steering Group which coordinates and oversees the production and uptake of LEGS. The Steering Group coordinated the production process for the LEGS handbook, providing quality control, facilitating the consultation processes with a wide range of stakeholders, and overseeing the publication process. In the current post-publication phase, the Steering Group contiues to oversee all LEGS activities, including the development and roll-out of the training programme, the maintenance of LEGS core functions and the establishment of a network of interested practitioners.
The following organisations and individuals form the LEGS Steering Group:
Robert Allport Email: Robert.Allport@fao.org
International Consultant for Livestock and Pastoralism, FAO Kenya. Formerly the Regional Programme Manager for Vétérinaires sans Frontières (VSF) Belgium, Robert has 11 years of experience with livestock based NGOs, working in Tanzania with VETAID as their country programme manager and in Kenya, Sudan and Uganda with VSF Belgium. He is particularly interested in the plethora of problems that face pastoralists in the dry lands of Africa and specialises in the creation of innovative projects to support their livelihoods. He has contributed to a wide range of projects ranging from mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS in pastoralist communities to the provision of emergency (resulting from conflict, drought and floods) livestock-based support. Robert holds a BSc in Agriculture from the University of London’s Wye College and an MSc in Tropical Animal Production and Health from the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Andy Catley Email: Andrew.Catley@tufts.edu
Research Director, Feinstein International Center (FIC), Tufts University. Andy worked on community-based NGO relief and development programs in Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda before joining the International Institute for Environment and Development in 1997. He joined the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University in 2000 and was seconded to the AU’s Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources where he worked on policy and institutional reform in the livestock sector. He is now a Research Director at Tufts University, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and focussing on livelihoods-based approaches to humanitarian practice and policy. Andy holds a Bachelor degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of London, Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Edinburgh and is Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health.
Dr. Solomon Hailemariam Email: rambes66@yahoo.com
African Union/Department for Rural Economy and Agriculture, PATTEC- Coordination. Dr Solomon has a veterinary degree from the University of Brno in the then Czechoslovakia and a qualification in Preventive Medicine from the University of Vienna. He has worked as a lecturer at the Veterinary School in Debre Zeit and for the Ministry of Agriculture as Deputy Director of Quarantine and Meat Inspection. Between 1977 and 1983 he was the Director of Veterinary Services, and from 1984 to 1986 the Head of the Notional Artificial Insemination Centre. Dr Solomon was then appointed Coordinator of the Pan African Rinderpest Campaign for East Africa (1987-1996). In 1996 he became the chief Livestock Project Officer for the African Union: Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources. In 2001 he was appointed Coordinator for the Farming in Tsetse-Controlled Areas (FITCA) programme. From 2005 to 2007 he worked with the African Union’s PANVAC, based in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Following some time as a freelance consultant he rejoined the African Union (PATTEC Coordination) as Advocacy Officer.
Dr. Simon Mack Email: Simon.Mack@fao.org
Senior Officer, Livestock Production Group (AGA), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Simon Mack is the Senior Officer of the Livestock Production Group of FAO’s Animal Production and Health Division and has worked for FAO for 14 years. The Livestock Production Group is responsible for providing technical support to FAO’s emergency programme. Simon has undertaken long-term assignments in Kenya (VSO), Solomon Islands (DFID), Colombia (DFID) and Nigeria (ILCA), and for 10 years was a freelance consultant working in Africa, Asia and the Pacific for FAO and private consultancies. Simon qualified from Reading (Agricultural Extension) and Edinburgh (Animal Production) Universities.
Dr. Piers Simpkin Email:spiersent06@yahoo.co.uk
Regional Livestock Adviser, International Committee for the Red Cross. Piers has 25 years of research and development experience in Africa and the United Kingdom, specialising in arid and semi-arid livestock systems and pastoralist livelihoods. His particular areas of expertise include project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; capacity building; emergency response; and camel research and development. Piers has worked for Tufts University (seconded to UNICEF and FAO as OLS Livestock Programme Coordinator), FARM-Africa and Oxfam. He has been a consultant for FSAU and various NGOs, including a contract to write a Code of Conduct for a harmonised animal health service delivery for NGOs and stakeholders in North-Eastern Province, Kenya. For the last 3 years Piers has been the Regional Livestock Specialist at ICRC. He has a degree in Environmental Science, an M. Phil from the University of London and a PhD. from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Cathy Watson Email: coordinator@livestock-emergency.net
Independent Consultant, LEGS Coordinator. Cathy Watson is a social development consultant currently based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and working on pastoral development with a particular focus on pastoral livelihoods, and gender and pastoralism. Her consultancy experience includes participatory research and writing; evaluations; training and capacity building; strategic planning; and workshop facilitation. Cathy’s long-term field work experience includes 4 years with Turkana pastoralists in Kenya; 4 years with Karimojong pastoralists in Uganda; support to small-holder farmers in Zimbabwe and Kenya; and urban poverty and livelihoods in Ethiopia. Her employment experience includes social science support to NGO development worker teams, NGO middle management, and leading research teams. She has a Bachelor degree from the University of Bristol and a Masters degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester.
Funding
LEGS has been funded thus far by the following donors, whose contributions are gratefully acknowledged:
- Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, United States Agency for International Development
- Oxfam GB
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (including support to the development of the LEGS electronic tool)
- IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative (funded by the European Union and operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
- UK Department for International Development (DFID)
- European Union Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO)
- Trocaire
In-kind contributions are also gratefully acknowledged from: AU-DREA, FAO, ICRC, Feinstein International Centre (Tufts University), VSF-Belgium, VETAID, and Vetwork UK