Animal genetic resources (AnGR) refer to all animal species, breeds, and strains (and their wild relatives) that are of economic, scientific, and cultural interest to humankind in terms of food and agricultural production for the present or in the future. There are more than 40 species of animals that have been domesticated (or semi-domesticated) during the past 10,000–12,000 years which contribute directly or indirectly to food and agriculture. Common species include cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs, horses, and buffalo, but many other domesticated species such as camels, donkeys, elephants, various poultry species, reindeer, rabbits, etc. are important to different cultures and regions of the world. In developing countries, AnGR also play an important role in the subsistence of many communities and the sustainability of crop–livestock systems. Within these species, breeds in certain regions and production systems are increasingly endangered and many have been lost, many more are at risk of loss, and the situation has been getting worse over the recent decades. Yet, it is the extensive genetic diversity in these breeds that allows the existence of livestock in diverse environments across the globe, providing a range of products and functions even in the most extreme production environments. African nations are increasingly aware of the need for better understanding and safeguarding the diversity of the continent’s unique AnGR. It is increasingly evident that the most significant threat to indigenous AnGR is the marginalization of traditional production systems and the associated neglect of local breeds, driven by the rapid spread of intensive livestock production, often large-scale, and utilizing a narrow range of increasingly exotic breeds. As the availability of adapted local breeds decreases, these changes are also marginalizing smallholder farmers who depend on the adaptive attributes of indigenous AnGR. Unfortunately, policies and legal frameworks influencing the livestock sector are not always favourable to the conservation and sustainable use of indigenous AnGR. This chapter examines the global policy and strategy landscape on AnGR that is relevant for Africa, past and present initiatives to develop AnGR policies and strategies, the extent to which these are being translated into plans, and institutionalized practices by African countries, and the challenges being faced and opportunities for interventions going forward. It concludes that, while the African Union, through the Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), in partnership with Regional Economic Communities, has created significant awareness in Africa around global AnGR policy frameworks/instruments and actions needed at national levels, these efforts have delivered only limited change—with only a few countries having developed or in the process of developing policies and strategies, but even these largely remain on shelves, with little evidence of implementation.