Presented by Tadelle Dessie and Okeyo Mwai at the LIVES Research Planning Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 26-28 March 2013

1. ILRI Ethiopia goat and chicken projects: Potential
synergies with LIVES
Tadelle Dessie and Okeyo Mwai
LIVES Research Planning Workshop
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 26-28 March 2013

2. Outline
 Community based goat breed
improvement
 Identify and provide access to improved breeding
stocks that respond to improved feeding and
management
 Indigenous chicken breed improvement
 Breaking Vicious cycle of high chicken mortality
and low productivity

3. Opportunity exists to drive substantial productivity gains through
implementing breeding programs that are functional and
sustainable – Identification and delivery of genetics
Smallholder Value machines Opportunity
Dissemination of Design and
moderately improved, implementation of
vaccinated chicks participatory and
functional CBBP
Egg production+100% Increased growth rate
Body weight + 100% Increased milk
production
Mortality -70%
Benefit
$XXX $XXX

4. MoARD
Harnessing genetic diversity for improving
goat productivity in Ethiopia and Cameron
EIAR IBC EWCA OARI SARI ARARI TARI

5. Project goals and purpose
 Goals:
 improve productivity and income of
smallholder goat producers
 providing access to improved animals that respond to
improved feeding and management, and
 Facilitating targeting of specific market opportunities
 Purpose:
 Develop sustainable community-based goat
breeding schemes that suit the communities’
conditions and farmers’ needs

6. Project sites and partner projects
 Wag-Abergelle and
Tankua-Abergelle CRP 3.7
 Breed: Abergelle
 North Gonder LIVES
 Breed: Central highland
 West Shoa LIVES
 Breed: Central Highland
 Konso SARI
 Breed: Weyto-Guji
 Bati LIVES???
 Breed: Central Highland

7. Common economically important
traits of Goats
• Production Increased
– Rate of growth Productivity
– Milk production • Increased amount & value
of animal products sold /unit
– Meat quality Selection / value of inputs
– Reproduction improvement • Meat & milk and
• Within-breed selection skin?
• Adaptability
– Temperature Additional value to
smallholders
– Poor feeds
• $XX per animal
– Disease/parasite tolerance • $XX per kid
(incremental value over ruminants
in a traditional system)

8. Phase 1
Path to sustainability
Phase 2 Phase 3 Ongoing
Breeding program per
Targeting and
breed established and Functional CBBP
Analysis
is operational
Key activities
 Target sites identified  Breeding structures • Develop appropriate
and breeds & systems
characterized
developed genotype
 Define breeding  Enabling environment • Develop/refine
objectives - Ranking created delivery options
experiments
 Market analysis to • Evaluation of the
locate and quantify key
areas of demand for breeding program
goat meat and milk
documented and used in • Impact assessment
designing improvement
programs
Outcomes
Sustainable and long term benefit to smallholders
Scalability of a genetic solution - This model can be implemented
simultaneously in multiple geographies

9. Community-based breeding
• Participatory – decentralized
breeding plans and programs
• Improvement programs carried
out by communities of
smallholder farmers often at
subsistence level
• Community based breeding
considers proper consideration
of farmers breeding
objectives,
infrastructure,
participation and
ownership

10. Delivery (Dissemination) of genetic
superiority
• Often a challenge when setting up a new program especially
in developing countries
• Delivering improved seed stock to local farmers needs a
critical thinking
– Involving farmers and other partners
– Breeders association/cooperatives
• Communal use of selected bucks through agreed norms
– Develop /adapt appropriate technologies & their
innovative applications
– Developing simple and effective identification and
recording system
• Needs innovative use of available infrastructure and IT
technology

11. New technologies harnessed
 Testing Open Data Kit (ODK) for field data
collection
 Questionnaire, Phenotypic measurements, GPS waypoints,
pictures, performance records …….
Nairobi
Addis Server
Server
Field enumeration
using ODK
ODK installed
on Galaxy SII

12. Conclusions/ critical issues/
Concluding Recommendations
• Participation required from multiple partners
and input providers in order to achieve long-
term sustainability
• Data capture/results synthesis and feedback
deserves critical attention to ensure
sustainability
• Need for improved market access
• Evaluate smart application of repro & genomic
techs ( estrus synchronization, AI, MAS) and as
potential accelerators

13. Improving village chicken production to elevate
livelihoods of poor people

14. Poultry production in Ethiopia
• Village system responsible for majority of poultry
production (more than 90% meat and egg)
Poultry offers poor people pathway out of poverty
(by and for the poor!!!!!! –real opportunity)

15. Vicious cycle of high poultry mortality and low productivity
requires systemic change
Justification for change
High mortality drives a vicious cycle • Low feasibility of vaccination in
backyard systems (low demand, plus
access challenges) means a health or
Reduced Limited care genetic intervention alone would be
productivity of flock
unlikely to deliver sustainable benefit
• Establishing a breeding program creates
the infrastructure and scale (especially
High for vaccinating chicks) as well as the
mortality
financial incentive for farmers to take
better care of their poultry
• High mortality and low productivity
reduces the incentive for farmers to
• Opportunity to break the vicious cycle,
invest significant effort in caring for
improving both productivity and
birds
survivability through a mix of moderate
• Without basic care and vaccination,
breed improvement, and vaccination
mortality remains high, impacting
productivity.
• Requires establishment of a delivery
• Basic practices such housing, watering,
system that should become self-
egg removal are not applied, further
sustaining in the long-term
impacting productivity

16. What can we offer?
Genetically impoved indignous birds in their 6th generation
(products of within breed selection programs)

17. Overall objective
• To improve production of village chickens
through selective breeding using
participatory approach
Trait preference:
• PRA (participatory rural appraisal)
conducted and farmers identify traits of
preference
• Egg production
• Age at first egg
• Growth

18. Breeding program to improve local chicken breed
(Horro)
Mass selection based on own performance:
– Growth: based on live weight at 16 wks in both sexes
– Age at first egg in females; and
– Cumulative Egg number at 45 weeks in females

19. Genetic improvement in Cumulative egg number at 45 weeks
of age through 5 generations of selection
% increase from
base population Selection effect from:
123.5 Generation 5
114.7 Generation 4
73.5 Generation 3
79.4 Generation 2
41.1 Generation 1
Base (34) Base population
0 1 2 3 4 5
Generation

20. Genetic improvement in Age at First egg (AFE) through 5
generations of selection
Selection effect
Age at First egg from:
148 Generation 5
151 Generation 4
150 Generation 3
147 Generation 2
182 Generation 1
203 Base population
0 1 2 3 4 5
Generation

21. The simplest and lowest cost intervention is to disseminate
improved indigenous chickens, with some improved
management
Key elements
 Establish a supply of Breeding Units Community/Farmers
chickens with improved (Improved Horro)
growth, egg production feed
conversion and disease- Genetically improved hens and cocks
resistance traits
 Potentially within-breed Model breeders
selection
 Multiplier flocks established
Eggs Day-old chicks
and scaled-up via mini-
Mini Hatcheries Farmers
hatcheries
 When target scale is
reached, hatcheries begin Vaccines Eggs
sale of day-old improved Medicines Live chickens
chicks to farmers
 Chicks vaccinated by
poultry workers in the mini- Community/
hatcheries Market

22. Deploying a hardier, more productive chicken will
raise both the income and nutrition of smallholders
Common economically important traits
• Disease resistance
– Marek’s disease Increased
– Parasite tolerance Productivity
• Productivity • Increased egg production
Selection / • Increased weight gain
– Age at first eggs
improvement • Increased hatchability and
– Length of laying series chick survival
• Within-breed selection
– Clutches per year
– Clutch size Additional value to
–
smallholders
Hatchability
– Daily weight gain • $xxxx per hen/year
• $xxx per male/year
– Body weight (8 week, 12-month) (incremental value over birds in a
– Broodiness traditional system)
– Egg weight
• Adaptability
– Plumage color / form
– Heat tolerance

23. Scale can be achieved quickly through
multiplier flocks in village-based mini-hatcheries
Phase 1 Phase 2 2 years Phase 3 Ongoing
Selection / Dissemination / Supply to
development multiplication smallholders
Key activities
• Research project identifying and • Establishment of multiplier flock. • Ongoing supply of chicks from the
testing different sources of • multiplier flock
Starts with initial flock of female
indigenous chickens. •
birds (and suitable number of Some chicks retained as
• Could involve within-breed cocks) selected or developed in replacements to sustain multiplier
selection or cross-breeding Phase 1 flock
• Rapid multiplication over period • Male and female chicks
• Might take 2 to 3 years (we of 24-30 months to achieve scale vaccinated and sold to farmers
have it).
• • •
Outcomes
Create initial flock: Grow multiplier flock (hens) Supply vaccinated chicks to farmers,
– 100 hens – Start: 100 while sustaining flock
– 10 male, 10 female per year
– Appropriate # of cocks – 12 months: 1,970
– Benefit: $???? per smallholder
– 18 months: 38,800
– 24 months: 765,000 – millions smallholders
– 30 months: 15 million – More million smallholders

24. Poultry’s high rate of reproduction enables rapid
scale; Distribution could begin after 18 months
Phase 2 Months
6 12 18 24 30
No chick distribution Limited distribution (5-10%) Full dissemination
Size of
multiplier 100 100* 1,970 38,800 765,000 Millions
flock
Number of
smallholders 7,300 145,000 millions More
benefited millions
This model can be implemented simultaneously in multiple geographies .

25. Additional Recommendations -chicken
• Continue animal health investment to
determine if lifelong disease resistance can be
conferred by either a single vaccination to the
chick, or through breeding (Newcastle,
Marek’s disease)
• Opportunity to breed for disease resistance, or
for synergy between breed and vaccine

26. LIVES’ Project -opportunity
• Enable the projects to engage key actors in
identifying priority researchable issue as well
as translate research outputs to outcomes and
impact at scale
• Create platform for near real-time learning,
including use of lessons from elsewhere to
achieve common goals
• Help to develop/strengthen capacity of actors
(formal (student supervisions etc.) & informal)