Presented by J.M.K. Ojango, B. Malmfors, J. Philipsson, I. Dror and A.M.Okeyo at the Agri4D annual conference on agricultural research for development Uppsala, Sweden, 25−26 September 2013

1. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT IN ANIMAL BREEDING AND GENETICS – INSIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
FROM A DECADE OF REGIONAL “TRAINING OF THE TRAINER” EXPERIENCES
J.M.K. Ojango, B. Malmfors, J. Philipsson,
I. Dror and A.M.Okeyo
More meat, milk and fish for and by the
Agri4D annual conference on agricultural research for development
Uppsala, Sweden, 25−26 September 2013

2. Why livestock?
 Food Source: High nutrient value and density
 30-40 % of the world s agricultural output
produced by livestock
 Livestock contribute to 70-80% of farm
income in intensive crop–livestock
systems
 Livestock is the fastest growing part of
the agricultural sector, largely driven by the
Livestock Revolution in emerging economies

3. Why is capacity building in Animal Genetic Resource
use needed in developing countries?
 Need to double meat and milk production to meet
demand for products notably in developing countries
→ while minimizing environmental impact
Source: Rosegrant et al., 2009

4. Why is capacity building in Animal Genetic Resource
management & use needed in developing countries?
 Productivity of many livestock populations needs to
improve for food security and environmental reasons
 High genetic variability between and within species
and breeds BUT remains largely unexploited
 Regional markets for livestock products are fast growing
 Platforms for livestock data recording and information
exchange are generally lacking
Shortage of people trained
on AnGR!

5. The Project

6. Capacity Building for Sustainable Use
of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR)
in Developing Countries
Implemented largely through Sida support
ILRI1: J. Ojango, M. Okeyo
1 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – CGIAR institute
2 Swedish Univ of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
SLU2: B. Malmfors, J. Philipsson
ILRI-SLU collaboration
1999-2012

7. Report of the ILRI-SLU
capacity building project
published in Dec 2011
Authors:
http://mahider.ilri.org/handle/
10568/16393
Available also as a pdf file at:
Ojango, J.M.K., Malmfors, B.,
Mwai, O. and Philipsson, J.

8. Main objectives of the ILRI-SLU project
 Strengthen Knowledge and Skills in AnGR among scientists
within National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS)
 Strengthen Teaching and Communication Skills
 Catalyze & Enhance Curriculum Development
 Stimulate & Improve Contacts and Networking
 Develop computer based Training Resource (The AGTR)

9. … reaches colleagues
and a large number of students,
who in turn …
Each NARS
scientist/univ.teacher
trained in the project…
Project Approach Training the Trainers

10. -by region
Training Course
(3 weeks)
Planning Activities
- status and needs
of each regionRegional
Focus
Similar
Challenges &
Needs
Animal Genetics
Training Resource
CD/Web
Main Activities of the ILRI-SLU Project

11. http://agtr.ilri.cgiar.org

12. Planning Activities
- status and needs
of each regionRegional
Focus
Similar
Challenges &
Needs
NetworkingInstitutional
Collaboration
New
Partnerships
Established
Follow-up
workshops
-by region
Developing
Country
Perspective
Practical
Solutions &
Priorities
Project evaluations
Activties to catalyze implementation of Breeding Programs
Capacity for Animal Genetic Resource Utilization in Developing Countries
-by region
Training Course
(3 weeks)
Animal Genetics
Training Resource
CD/Web
Main Activities of the ILRI-SLU Project

13. The training course given 7 times
2000, 2001, 2003, 2006 (2), 2007, 2008
 31 countries in Africa and 15 in Asia represented
 Number trained: 138 animal breeding scientists/teachers
employed mainly at universities & research institutes
Course evaluation by participants: Overall rank ave. 8.5 (scale 1-9)

14. Improved univ
curricula in area
of AnGR
Improved teaching
methods & skills
Increased ABG
interests
Incr. particip. in
devt of National
& Reg. policies
on AnGR
More of regional
collaborative proj.
for AnGR
improvement
New regional
groups on AnGR
in Africa & Asia
Modules with
info for AnGR use
& improvement
developed
Case studies
& breed info on
ANGR in dev.
countries
Animal Genetics
Tr. Resources
Developed
Characterization,
conservation &
design of breeding
programs
Impr. & expand
research on AnGR.
& Science
communication
Impr. practical
Applications
of ABG
Teaching Networking Communication Research
Improved human
capacity base in
AnGR use
Stronger regional
networks of
scientists in AnGR
Increased access
to resources and
info on AnGR
Impr. designs of
breeding strat. for
AnGr cons & use
Key outcomes from ILRI-SLU project

15.  More resources are needed to train people able to translate
new knowledge into actions for sustainable use of AnGR in
developing countries
→ more need to be trained (including extension staff)
 ”Training trainers” enables more efficient knowledge sharing
by international partners from lead institutions in ABG
 Providing information on AnGR together with training on
science communication and teaching methodologies is
strategic for advancing effectiveness of NARS
 Partnerships between universities and national research
institutes in developing countries need to be strengthened
→ collaborations should enable university staff to also
carry out research, and researchers to also teach at
universities
Some lessions learnt

16.  Efforts should be made to continuously develop
& retain a critical mass of qualified
breeders/geneticists to design and sustainably
implement breeding programs
 Empower ”Champions”-(i.e. those showing
leadership) to have impact at scale
 Establish regional AnGR recording and
evaluation platforms to support uniterupted
national genetic improvement programs
 Espouse international collaborations to
stimulate the uptake /adoption of emerging
technologies
Way Forward

17. The presentation has a Creative Commons licence. You are free to re-use or distribute this work, provided credit is given to ILRI.
Thank you