97562
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Emergency Recovery Project                            September 21, 2010




 FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE EMERGENCY RECOVERY PROJECT

 Contain and mitigate the impact of a devastating
 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak




Overview
The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Emergency Recovery Project has contributed to the
overarching goal of sustaining Uruguay's development and growth in the agricultural sector by
assisting in enhancing animal health control and surveillance, including the establishment of a
cutting-edge, innovative Animal Tracking System. Since August 2001, no new cases of FMD
have been recorded in the country, allowing Uruguayan producers to regain and expand
access to markets that had been closed after the 2001 outbreaks.


Challenge                                             MULTIMEDIA
Uruguay's rural areas and overall economy were
largely dependent on the livestock sector,
comprised of 12.0 million head of cattle and 13.0
million sheep, raised in over 50,000 farms that
covered 94 percent of the total agricultural land.
The livestock sector represented 6 percent of
the total gross domestic product (GDP),
employing about 141,000 workers. In May 2001,
an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)
spread to the entire country, affecting almost
one million head of cattle. The outbreak brought
the rural areas and meat industry to a standstill,
left an already financially embattled sector of
producers facing increased costs, reduced
revenues and uncertainty, and generated a
major fiscal deficit.                                              More Results

Approach
The design of the project was realistic, simple and pertinent
given the emergency affecting Uruguay's most crucial
economic sector. The operation was rapidly prepared as a          MORE INFORMATION
timely response to a highly sensitive crisis striking at the core
                                                                   External project website
of the country's economic engine, in the midst of an
economic recession that was affecting the entire country. Its
design was also consistent with the borrowers' institutional
capacity to react, prepare and implement urgent remedial
actions, both to address the emergency as well as the
subsequent need to reduce the vulnerability of the country's economy and producers to animal
diseases.
Results
The project supported a comprehensive set of inputs (including vaccinations, training and
awareness campaigns, improvement of laboratories, strengthening of border controls, and
development of a tracking system) that resulted in improved overall herd sanitary status and
the development of modern and effective surveillance systems. As a result of these actions,
FMD was eradicated in the country, the rural economy was reactivated, high quality beef
exports were re-established, and Uruguay has positioned itself as a globally recognized model
for effective food safety and surveillance through the establishment of their innovative Animal
Tracking System. In 2008, the value of livestock production more than doubled to US$1,268
million, a growth of 124 percent compared to 1996, confirming the success of the project in
helping restore the country's presence in premium markets: higher export volumes and better
prices obtained from more differentiated products in those markets.


Bank Contribution
The original FMD Emergency Recovery Project (total cost of US$24 million) was implemented
with the support of a US$18.5 million International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD) loan that financed the containment of the outbreak, and the overall improvement of the
country's monitoring and surveillance systems. Through the subsequent additional financing of
US$6.5 million, the Bank contributed to the scaling-up of key activities of the original project,
mainly the validation, expansion and consolidation of the individual animal tracking system to
the entire national herd. In addition, the project also included support to strengthen Uruguay's
participation in the regional animal health initiative supported by the World Bank, and to
combine regional efforts in combating transboundary animal diseases within Mercosur
countries.


Moving Forward
Fully funded by government of Uruguay (GOU) resources, the livestock registration and
tracking system will be completed during 2010. The Ministry of Agriculture is planning to
expand the registration to other animal species, further address food safety issues by
consolidating the links with the meat processing industry, improve the utilization of information
by livestock producers for risk reduction and decision making, and scale-up the scope of the
information system. Moreover, GOU and the World Bank have agreed to collaborate through
technical and financial assistance to upgrade and expand the information system in the context
of a new program focused on improving farmers' resilience to adverse sanitary and climate-
related events, as well as promoting initiatives to replicate Uruguay's experience in animal
tracking to other beef-exporting countries.


Beneficiaries
About 50,000 livestock farmers, including over 30,000 small and medium family producers,
have directly benefited from the project's efforts to eradicate FMD from the country and to
regain the FMD-Free Status that Uruguay enjoyed before the outbreak. Farmers and industry
have been able to maximize the value of their slaughtered animals through the diversification of
their exports according to the particular demands of the different beef importing countries.