In the hill areas of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region, farmers rely on a centuries old tradition of integrated and diversified mixed crop-livestock approaches designed to reap the maximum benefit with the minimum of risk from the available resources. Livestock form an integral part of these systems, and for livestock planning to be effective it must be done by those who understand the situation that is by the mountain farmers themselves. This publication summarises the results of collaborative studies carried out by ICIMOD and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to support community empowerment in livestock planning processes, together with the results of a regional stakeholders meeting held in October 2001. It includes the findings of case studies performed in India and Nepal to identify some of the key indicators for planning; of six country case studies of livestock planning processes in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan; and descriptions of the planning process in projects and I/NGOs working at the grassroots level. The goals, objectives, basic components, and draft outline of a suggested participatory policy framework (PPF) for community empowerment in livestock resource planning and decision-making developed by the meeting participants are presented.