FAO reviews stakeholder dialogue in support of sustainable livestock development

Last week, the Committee on Agriculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) discussed options for “stakeholder dialogue in support of sustainable livestock sector development” as a contribution to the so-called “Global Agenda of Action in Support of Sustainable Livestock Sector Development.

The Global Agenda of Action focuses on the improvement of resource-use efficiency in the livestock sector to support livelihoods, long-term food security and economic growth while safeguarding other environmental and public health outcomes.

Download the Committee document

Read a statement on the proposals by the League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development

 

Changing the face of agriculture in Africa–one (emerging woman) leader at a time

CGIAR AWARD Fellow Sheila Ommeh, working at ILRI-BecA, gives a presentation on the importance of conserving and better using Africa’s native chicken breeds for World Bank vice president Rachel Kyte on 2 Feb 2012 at the World Agroforestry Centre (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan).

The Huffington Post this week carries a blog by Sir Gordon Conway, professor of international development at Imperial College London, who says that African governments and those that work with them need to make women a much higher priority. As an example of how much difference African women can make, he cites recent statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the work of Sheila Ommeh, an AWARD Fellow and chicken geneticist working at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa Hub (BecA Hub) of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya.

Sheila Ommeh is passionate about poultry. A PhD fellow at the International Livestock Research Institute, based in Nairobi, Kenya, Sheila hopes to introduce a disease-resistant chicken using indigenous breeds that can be easily produced by women farmers.

Sheila has a home grown understanding of the importance of poultry farming to the rural poor. Her mother and grandmother raised chickens to support the family’s children. But disease prevalence was high and the flock was wiped out on occasion. When the chickens died, money for food and school fees was in short supply. Sheila grew up determined to help find a solution.

‘The majority of those who produce, process, and market food in Africa are women. Furthermore, according to the FAO’s 2010–11 State of Food and Agriculture report, women make up, on average, 50 percent of the agricultural labor force in sub-Saharan Africa.

‘Nevertheless, only one in four (25 percent) agricultural researchers in Africa is female. Even fewer, one in seven (14 percent), hold leadership positions in African agricultural research institutions.

‘So how can we ensure that Africa’s agricultural science and research is really focused on the needs of those who feed the world?

‘African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) is a ground-breaking career-development program that helps female agricultural researchers to build their technical and leadership skills. The 250 women in AWARD come from 11 different countries, and share one common goal: to change the face of agriculture in Africa. . . .

‘In 2008, Sheila won a fellowship from AWARD to help realize her ambitions. On March 7—on the eve of International Women’s Day—you can hear more of her story, alongside other speakers from AWARD, the International Institute for Environment and Development, Oxfam GB, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Agriculture for Impact is working with AWARD and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development to convene the panel discussion on “Effective Solutions for Agricultural Development through Empowered Women Scientists.” . . .

Read the whole blog post at the Huffington Post: Who feeds the world? (Girls), 2 Mar 2012.

Read about Ommeh’s presentation in Feb 2012 to World Bank vice president Rachel Kyte: World Bank vice president Rachel Kyte in Nairobi town hall on ‘big picture agriculture’, 2 Feb 2012.

About Sheila Ommeh
Thirty-four-year-old Ommeh grew up on the slopes of Mount Elgon in western Kenya where indigenous chicken is a popular staple food for the rural community and where local breeds are reared mostly women and children. Newcastle and other viral diseases and the looming threat of bird flu threaten livelihoods of these small-scale poultry producers, and can lead to increased hunger and poverty. The focus of Ommeh’s recent PhD was a search for candidate chicken genes controlling for resistance, tolerance or susceptibility to chicken viral diseases such as bird flu and Newcastle disease, which to date have no cure or vaccine. Her long-term aim is to help build a genetically improved chicken breed that will be resistant to disease and easily adopted by the rural community.

In August 2008, Ommeh was among 60 African women scientists selected from more than 900 candidates in nine countries to receive an “African Women in Agricultural Research & Development” (AWARD) Fellowship for 2008–2010. AWARD is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and managed by the Gender and Diversity (G&D) program of the CGIAR.

 

Priorities for researching livestock diseases in Africa

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Oumar Diall, of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reflects on ILRI’s animal health work in West Africa …

In past years, most livestock research centered on three pillars: Animal health, animal reproduction and genetics, and animal nutrition. Fewer livestock studies were done on socioeconomics (e.g. market studies) and the environment.

In the field of animal health, ILRI and one of its two predecessors, the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD), concentrated its research on two priority diseases—trypanosomosis and East Coast fever—aiming to produce effective vaccines. Although these goals were not fully achieved, ILRAD then ILRI contributed in improving fundamental knowledge and technologies on these topics and trained many young African scientists in different aspects of those two diseases. Much progress was made in the knowledge of bovine immunology and in establishing trypanosome in-vitro cultures.

Later on, these specific scientific themes were overtaken by attention to socioeconomics, in such a manner that research on trypanosomosis and East Coast fever has been reduced to an absolute minimum. But it is noticeable that ILRI has, in the last 10 years, successfully researched parasite resistance to trypanocidal drugs used to control trypanosomosis in the cotton belt of West Africa, generating very interesting tools to minimize the development of drug resistance.

Research priorities
After the eradication of rinderpest, parasitic diseases like trypanosomosis remain a priority. Another high-priority disease is contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, mainly for the development of an effective vaccine, in which ILRI and its Biosciences eastern and central Africa initiative are expected to play a major role.

In the near future, ILRI will have to find the right balance between the hard and social sciences, as the number of hard scientists there becomes rarer. And ILRI should find a mechanism by which it could capture research priorities of Africa via regional research organizations such as the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research for Development. It is also important to re-deploy more scientists in West Africa and to stop relying on scientists coming for a few days’ missions (a phenonmenon now being called ‘scientific tourism’). ILRI should also attempt to better integrate its programs into country or regional programs such as the Centre international de recherche-développement sur l’elevage en zone subhumide, the International Trypanotolerance Centre, the Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Center, the Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Campaign and the Africa Union-Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources.

Contributed by Oumar Diall, former coordinator of an ILRI research project to reduce trypanosomosis and trypanosome drug resistance in West Africa and currently Animal Health Officer at FAO, Ghana.

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On 9 and 10 November 2011, the ILRI Board of Trustees hosted a 2-day ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ to discuss and reflect on livestock research for development. The event synthesized sector and ILRI learning and helped frame future livestock research for development directions.

The liveSTOCK Exchange also marked the leadership and contributions of Dr. Carlos Seré as ILRI Director General. See all posts in this series / Sign up for email alerts

 

Keeping famine at bay in the Horn of Africa

A young boy herds a flock of goats on the road to Wajir from Garissa in northeastern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN).

Debora MacKenzie writes in New Scientist this week that low-key projects keep Horn of Africa famine at bay.

‘Drought in the Horn of Africa threatens 13 million people with starvation and is driving half a million to famine camps. In the past week the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said things are worsening in Sudan. . . .

‘But the region is by no means a lost cause. Recently I talked to two Africa experts at the FAO. “Of the rural people at risk in Somalia, 10 per cent need food assistance,” said Rodrigue Vinet. “That means 90 per cent are coping, and with a very bad situation. That’s really quite amazing.”

‘The Somalis’ success is not accidental, though. The FAO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others have been helping the region’s farmers and herders build drought resilience. A seed network in Somalia selects local varieties of drought-tolerant maize, sorghum and sesame and sells farmers good seed. A veterinary network allows herders to sell enough animals to keep the rest alive. Cash pays for roads, storage for crops, and tanks to trap and store storm water. This all costs a lot less than emergency aid—and, says Vinet, communities that benefit from such projects are coping.

‘His colleague Jean-Alexandre Scaglia says nomads long ago found the best way to live off this dry land: they herd sheep, goats, cattle or camels between patches of thin, sporadic greenery that appear at different times, never overgrazing any one patch. But there are two problems that threaten this strategy, and their existence.’

He says climate change is making the available pasture unpredictable and better health is making the human population boom.

Read the whole article at New Scientist: Low-key projects keep famine in the Horn of Africa at bay, 10 Oct 2011.

 

Strengthening laboratory capacity in response to emerging pandemic threats: FAO, OIE and WHO working together

Early detection of zoonotic pathogens emerging in wild and domestic animal populations before they become a threat to human health is a priority for the public health and animal health sectors. An effective and credible laboratory service is an essential component of such early detection systems.

As part of the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are collaborating on a project known as ‘IDENTIFY’ that strengthens national laboratory capacity for rapid and accurate detection of targeted diseases in the Congo Basin in central Africa and in countries in South and South-East Asia.

Download a leaflet on laboratory capacity building (PDF)

More on the IDENTIFY project

 

Standard-setting organizations for safe livestock trade need to evolve and collaborate more closely to meet new challenges

A new paper by by GK Bruckner, of South Africa, Ensuring safe international trade: how are the roles and responsibilities evolving and what will the situation be in ten years’ time?, outlines the changing and evolving roles and responsibilities in ensuring safe international trade in animals and animal products.

Bruckner’s abstract follows.

‘The roles of the international standard-setting bodies that are mandated to facilitate safe trade, such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International Plant Protection Convention and the World Trade Organization, are well documented, as are the roles of the international organisations responsible for global health issues: the OIE, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

‘However, developments in international trade, such as accelerating globalisation and the frequent emergence and re-emergence of diseases affecting both humans and animals, have brought new challenges and the need to reconsider the future roles of such organisations. New participants and new demands have also emerged to challenge these mandates, leading to potential areas of conflict. The need for countries to establish themselves as new trade partners, or to strengthen their positions while still maintaining safe trade, poses a challenge to standard-setting organisations, which must meet these demands while still remaining sensitive to the needs of developing countries. In this paper, the author describes and discusses some of these challenges and suggests how international organisations could evolve to confront such issues.’

Among the conclusions of the paper are the following.

‘While the responsibilities of the main international organisations, such as the OIE, Codex, IPPC and WTO in facilitating safe trade, and the OIE, WHO and FAO in promoting global disease control, are reasonably well defined, changes in the international scene have brought new challenges and a need to reconsider the future evolution of the missions of these organisations. In the past, it was probably easier for these organisations to function in parallel with each other, while maintaining clearly demarcated mandates. Issues such as those emerging in the interface between humans, animals and ecosystems, trade globalisation and the rapid and unprecedented global spread of diseases have all contributed to softening the borders between these organisations.

‘Recent disease outbreaks, such as the H5N1 pandemic, have highlighted the many areas of mutual concern that require the attention of more than one international organisation. The number of private organisations becoming involved in safe trade issues has also increased. Linked to this is the reality that more than two-thirds of the Members of these international organisations are developing countries that do not have the ability either to negotiate or compete with the established participants in international trade. These countries will, for the foreseeable future, remain dependent on international organisations to assist them in achieving their trade needs.

‘In recognising the fast-changing international trade environment, and the challenge that this poses to international organisations, it is equally important that the international organisations should continue to strengthen their mutual roles to act as the arbiters between purely trade-centred needs and the requirement to ensure safe trade in animals and animal products.’

Read the whole paper at Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz. by GK Bruckner: Ensuring safe international trade: how are the roles and responsibilities evoling and what will the situation be in ten years’ time? 2011, 30 (1), 317-324.

 

FAO to finance national projects enhancing livestock diversity

Livestock genetic diversity is key to global food security; this is the native black pig of the mountainous region of northern Vietnam (photo on Flickr by Rock Portrait Photography).

‘Germany, Norway and Switzerland have contributed a first donation of $1,000,000 to a new, FAO [United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization]-managed fund designed to help developing countries conserve and sustainably use their livestock breeds.

‘The fund will provide financing for individual projects submitted by countries in support of the internationally-agreed Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. The plan, adopted by all FAO member countries in 2007, has become a key instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of animal genetic resources at global, regional and national level.

‘Any developing country may put forward projects for financing by the fund, which is due to become operational in September. “The money will be disbursed on the basis of letters of agreement between applicant countries and FAO, following an innovative, transparent and impartial selection process led by FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,” says Linda Collette, the Secretary of the Commission.

‘Some 21 percent of the world’s more than 8000 livestock breeds are classified as at risk of extinction. But since the Global Plan of Action went into force, countries’ reporting on breeds’ population status is improving and points to a slowing of the reported rate of extinction. . . .

‘A wide portfolio of animal genetic resources is crucial to adapting and developing agricultural production systems to meet the challenges of climate change and growing world population. Other contributions to the fund will be needed from different sources, including from the private sector.’

Read whole article at the Media Centre of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization: New fund for livestock biodiversity management at FAO: Will offer grants to developing countries, 21 Jul 2011.

And watch a new 15-minute film by ILRI: Livestock under threat: Managing the future of native West African ruminant livestock, 29 Jun 2011.

 

Backyard poultry keeping and poverty reduction in South Asia: Good practices and good returns

A chicken forages beneath a farm cart in Brahampur (Arwa Village), in West Bengal, India, near drying patties of cow dung that will be used as cooking fuel (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

A South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme, a joint initiative of the National Dairy Development Board of India and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, has identified and documented a range of good practices along the poultry supply chain in Bangladesh, Bhutan and India. These include interventions related to the provision of inputs, management and improved husbandry practices, health service delivery and the marketing of live birds and eggs.

This paper reviews and draws lessons out of 11 good practices on small‐scale poultry farming, documented by the programme in collaboration with a variety of public and private actors, including national and state governments, non-governmental organizations and private companies. The document attempts to identify gaps—in the current policy and institutional framework in Bangladesh, Bhutan and India—to enable improvements in smallholder poultry rearing.

The economics of South Asia’s backyard and small-scale poultry farming are interesting. Among other matters, we learn from this publication:

‘Returns on a one‐year investment in one single hen in scavenging and semi‐scavenging systems are handsome, averaging about 285 per cent and providing an average annual net income of about US$ 40 in India, that is, about 34 per cent of the national rural poverty threshold. These include eggs laid and consumed/sold, chicks hatched and birds consumed and sold.

‘In backyard production systems, investments in nondescript and indigenous birds, such as the Aseel and the Kadaknath, provide higher returns than investments in exotic ones, because of the high cost of feed for exotic birds (which are not good scavengers) and the lower market price of exotic meat and eggs (which are not preferred by rural consumers). . . .

‘The larger the flock size, the smaller the return on investments and the profit per bird, most likely because of the growing feed and animal health costs, which are minimal, if any, in backyard poultry farming system. In effect, commercial and semi‐commercial poultry enterprises are characterized by high‐volumes and low‐profit margins per bird. The implication is that backyard and small‐scale poultry farms are viable enterprises only as far as the scavenging base is sufficient to feed the birds.

‘Keeping a few exotic birds makes little economic sense because it is more profitable to raise a few nondescript or indigenous birds that can thrive almost on their own. At the same time, when the scavenging base is limited, it is sounder to keep just one or a few local birds rather than a flock of say ten local hens because the cost of additional feed will be higher than the returns from the hens. . . .’

Read the whole publication at the website of the South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme.

 

Massive livestock deaths in drought-ravaged Horn of Africa increase conflicts and close schools

Food shortages are affecting some 10 million people in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa in July 2011;  Oxfam reports that in some parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, 60 percent or more of the livestock herds have perished (image credit: UNHCR and USAID).

>>> The humanitarian news service IRIN reports yesterday on the severe drought ravaging the arid and semi-arid parts of the Horn of Africa, ‘with massive livestock deaths recorded amid an increase in deadly conflict over resources.

‘Pastoralists depend on livestock for all their basic needs and any losses undermine their economic and food security. Livestock sales are often used to buy grain and lack of milk and meat contribute to high malnutrition levels.

The value of livestock—people’s main assets in many of the worst affected areas—has plummeted and livestock markets have collapsed, so people have much less purchasing power than before. People’s livelihoods have already been decimated, but there is now also a real risk of large-scale loss of life,” warns Oxfam in a 1 July statement, adding that in some parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, at least 60 percent of the herds have perished.

‘The perception that emergency relief often does not appreciate the importance of saving livestock assets in emergencies has prompted the development of initiatives such as the Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS), the equivalent of SPHERE in humanitarian circles. LEGS aims at improving relief programming with communities that rely heavily on livestock for their social and economic well-being.

‘According to a December 2010 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) report, interventions to support livestock, such as supplementary feeding and commercial destocking (among recommended actions in LEGS), should be implemented before livestock are so weak they die.

‘In the 2008-2009 Kenyan droughts, truckloads of dead and dying heads of livestock were common.

Supplementary feeding needs to target breeding stocks with sufficient time so that they stay healthy,” states the ILRI report. “Conflict resolution to enable pastoralists to move to key grazing areas needs to be done in advance, before large numbers of animals need pasture. Late interventions are costly and unhelpful.”. . .

‘Northern Kenya, Somalia and southern Ethiopia, which are predominantly pastoral regions, are among the areas most affected by the drought. In Somalia, at least 65 percent of the population depends on the livestock sector; because of the effects of the drought, more people are sliding into food hunger and poverty.

‘FSNAU estimates that at least 2.85 million people are facing food insecurity in Somalia, a 19 percent increase from January. In Kenya, the food-insecure population is estimated at 3.5 million. . . .

‘In some areas, pasture, grazing land and migration routes that have traditionally been used in emergencies are no longer available, having been sold off, or allocated for tourism and large-scale agriculture. This has undermined pastoralists’ ability to cope with recurrent drought, notes Oxfam. . . .

‘Conflict- and drought-related displacement has also affected education. At least 10 schools in Isiolo, Samburu and Turkana areas in the north have been closed. . . .

‘With drought known to be an ever-present hazard in the dry lands of East and Central Africa, relief programming should focus on the whole drought cycle, including normal and recovery periods, rather than just alert and emergency, states the ILRI report. This is because “any given area or community is… always in some phase related to current, recent or impending drought”.’

>>> On 3 July 2011, the BBC reported that the UK ‘pledged £38m ($61m) in food aid to drought-hit Ethiopia—enough to feed 1.3m people for three months. . . . The African country faces its worst drought for a decade with an estimated 3.2m people in need of emergency aid. The UN has called for international aid across the Horn of Africa where 10 million people are affected. Some areas have suffered the worst drought in 60 years and the UN now classifies large areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as in a crisis or an emergency.’

Read the whole BBC News article: Ethiopia drought: UK pledges £38m in food aid, 3 July 2011.

Read the whole IRIN article: Kenya-Somalia: Drought decimates livestock, hits incomes, 4 July 2011.

Read the ILRI report cited in the IRIN article: Livestock drought management tool: Final report for project OSRO/RAF/915/RFF PR 44865, submitted by ILRI to the FAO Sub-Regional Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer for East and Central Africa, by Polly Ericksen, Jan de Leeuw and Carlos Quiros, ILRI, 10 December 2010.

Read a previous ILRI report on drought: An assessment of the response to the 2008/2009 drought in Kenya: A report to the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Kenya, by Lammert Zwaagstra, Zahra Sharif, Ayago Wambile, Jan de Leeuw, Mohamed Said, Nancy Johnson, Jemimah Njuki, Polly Ericksen and Mario Herrero, ILRI, May 2010.

 

Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to review progress in animal genetic resources

The Thirteenth Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture will be held at FAO Headquarters in Rome from 18 – 22 July 2011.

It will review progress made in the implementation of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. The following agenda items / documents are of particular relevance to animal genetic resources:

• Climate Change and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
• Status and Trends of Biotechnologies Applied to the Conservation and Utilization of Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and Matters Relevant for their Future Development
• Biotechnologies for Agricultural Development
• Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries: Options and Opportunities in Crops, Forestry, Livestock, Fisheries and Agro-Industry to Face the Challenges of Food Insecurity and Climate Change (ABDC-10) – Report
• Access and Benefit-Sharing for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
• Report of the International Technical Expert Workshop: Exploring the Need for Specific Measures for Access and Benefit-Sharing of Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
• FAO Progress Report on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, on the Funding Strategy, and Report of the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
• Progress Report of International Organizations on the Implementation of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources
• Status and Trends of Animal Genetic Resources – 2010
• Draft Guidelines on Surveying and Monitoring of Animal Genetic Resources
• Draft Guidelines on Phenotypic Characterization of Animal Genetic Resources
• Draft Guidelines on Molecular Genetic Characterization of Animal Genetic Resources
• Draft Guidelines for the Cryoconservation of Animal Genetic Resources
• Draft Guidelines on Developing the Institutional Framework for the Management of Animal Genetic Resources