ILRI Blog Posts and News Updates

Narok on the way to becoming a One Health champion county in Kenya

2023-06-14

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Narok County government recently hosted an engaging two-day workshop that sought to bridge the gap between human, animal and environmental health. The event revolved around reviewing progress and exchanging knowledge on past, ongoing and planned activities under the One Health concept, which targets a comprehensive and integrated approach to public health.

Held on 4–5 May 2023 in Narok County, Kenya, the workshop followed a previous meeting held between ILRI and Narok County in December 2021, where stakeholders identified key One Health challenges and opportunities in the county. This workshop included consultative sessions on partnerships for One Health projects in Narok County.

One Health is a multi-sector approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health and employs a holistic perspective to better understand and solve public health threats. In Narok County, where livestock and wildlife-related production are key economic activities, the One Health approach can help to address the challenges of zoonotic diseases, food safety and antimicrobial resistance resulting from interactions between wildlife, livestock, humans and the environment.

Participants at the Narok One Health workshop (photo credit: ILRI/Geoffrey Njenga).

Takeaways from key speakers

Queen Kimorgo, Narok’s chief officer for livestock development, highlighted the challenges faced by the county, such as climate change, disease outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance, and called for collaboration in mitigation: ‘Let us harness the bountiful resources of Narok County, recognize the vital role of livestock in livelihoods and nutrition, and unite under the One Health platform to overcome our challenges. Together, we can build a sustainable and healthy future for Narok County.’

Emphasizing the necessity for a unified approach to health service provision in Narok County, Lucy Kashu, the chief officer for preventive and promotive health services, underlined the immense potential for partnership in promoting health. She said harnessing collective efforts towards disease prevention would not only strengthen the county health system but also free up significant resources for vital sectors such as agriculture, livestock and education, thereby boosting the overall economy.

And Hung Nguyen, co-leader of the Animal and Human Health Program at ILRI and leader of the CGIAR Initiative on One Health, underscored the significance of the One Health approach in addressing vital challenges.

‘Our battles against zoonotic diseases, food safety issues and the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance emphasize the intricate bond between human and animal health. We must confront the profound impact of animal-originated infectious diseases on human health and stand together against the increasing deaths from antimicrobial resistance,’ Nguyen said.

Two ILRI graduate fellows, Daisy Chebet and Walter Oguta, presented their research on the urgent need for action to prevent antibiotic misuse and increase awareness among farmers. They emphasized the importance of policies and regulations to control the use of antibiotics in livestock production systems and a holistic approach to address antimicrobial resistance.

Towards the end of the workshop, the ILRI team held a side-meeting with senior county officials where they discussed getting the Narok One Health platform officially recognized by the top county leadership so that it is funded in the next budgeting cycle. They also discussed the possibility of a memorandum of understanding between the county and ILRI, to solidify their collaboration. The memorandum of understanding would serve as a formal agreement, outlining the shared goals and commitments in advancing the One Health approach in Narok County. Study results from Narok will be published as scientific articles and policy briefs, making it one of the One Health champion counties in Kenya.

The next steps involve ILRI’s One Health Research, Education and Outreach Centre in Africa (OHRECA), evaluating the competencies of the Narok One Health platform based on six criteria: One Health thinking, planning, working (operations), sharing, learning and system organization. This will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the platform by helping to identify gaps in the achievement of better health outcomes for both humans and animals. Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing to expedite the implementation of the action points from the workshop.

This work is supported by the CGIAR Initiative on One Health and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through OHRECA. We thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.

Read more about One Health research at ILRI:

Watch video highlights of the workshop below.

Charan Chantalakhana: Leading Southeast Asian livestock researcher

2023-06-12

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is sad to report that Professor Charan Chantalakhana, Southeast Asia's leading livestock researcher and academic who so ably served the very first years of the establishment of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), died on 4 June 2023, at the age of 88, in Thailand.

Top right: Drawing of Charan Chantalakhana by his son-in-law; top left: memorial service for Charan; middle left: Charan at a ceremony; bottom: Charan (second from right) with Lindsay Falvey (left) and others (all photos by Lindsay Falvey).

Charan’s life’s work centered on smallholder farming systems, especially cattle and buffalo genetic improvement. His pioneering work in this area led to development of a new cattle breed called ‘Kamphaeng Saen’. Needing lower levels of inputs and growing to weights three times those of the native cattle, the Kamphaeng Saen breed has helped small dairy farmers reduce the cost of production and expand dairy herds in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Charan initiated the establishment of the Thailand National Buffalo Center and Association, was a founding member of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies and a co-founder of the Asian Buffalo Association.

Throughout his career, Charan actively mentored students and trainees in the field of animal science and genetics, many of whom now hold key positions in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. His many decades of committed service advanced the well-being of farmers in Thailand and in the region as a whole. His work touched the lives of millions of people, especially those dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Charan Chantalakhana was born in 1936 at Songkhla, Thailand. He attended Iowa State University, where he received a B.S. in animal science (1959) and as M.S. (1962) and a Ph.D. (1968) in animal breeding. Back in Thailand, he joined the staff of Kasetsart University as an animal scientist in 1962, working on indigenous Thai cattle and swamp buffalo and their respective crossbred dairy cattle. He later served as dean of the faculty of natural resources at Prince of Songkhla University, Thailand (1978–1979), then, back at Kasetsart University, he served as head of the animal science department, as vice president (1986–1990) and as director of Suwanvajokkasikit Animal Research and Development Institute (SARDI) (1992–1996). Finally, he served as chair of Thaksin University, a public university in southern Thailand.

Charan was appointed vice chair of ILRI’s first board of trustees, on which he served for five years, from 1995, the first year of ILRI’s operations, through 2000. Before that, Charan was a member of the CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee, from 1987 through 1990. Over his long and illustrious career, he was the Thailand Research Fund Senior Research Fellow for dairy research and development. He was a member of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) / United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Panel of Experts on Animal Genetic Resources and Management. And he served as president of both the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies) (AAAP) and the Animal Husbandry Association of Thailand (AHAT).

Beginning in 1995, at ILRI, Charan helped to develop the new institute’s ambitious global strategy (ILRI’s two predecessors, the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases and the International Livestock Research Centre, had both focused on Africa). In 1999, he co-edited with Lindsay Falvey (who later himself became chair of ILRI’s board of trustees), a book published by ILRI titled Smallholder Dairying in the Tropics. He later participated in a strategic stakeholder conversation that resulted in ILRI Strategy 2013–2022: Implications for East and Southeast Asia Report on a Stakeholder Consultation (2013). Charan’s commitment to ILRI expanding its research into Asia was complete. A question that he posed nearly three decades ago continues to be quoted by ILRI staff: ‘Is ILRI going to go to Asia in big ships or small canoes?’

Charan was a prolific as well as generous researcher, publishing widely in research journals and writing no less than ten books concerning livestock while also teaching various courses including research methodology and statistics. He received several awards for his research achievements related to buffalo production and village livestock farming. Among these was an honourary degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science bestowed by the University of Melbourne in 1996 and the Dioscoro L. Umali Achievement Award in Agricultural Development bestowed by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) in 2009.

Please read the eulogy written by Lindsay Falvey, which follows, for a fuller understanding and appreciation of the many achievements Prof Charan Chantalakhana made over his long life and the many benefits his life’s work has bestowed on the farmers and consumers, the students and academics, and the research partners that he served so well and so generously for so many decades.

Note: If you would like to leave a tribute here, please email it to s.macmillan [at] cgiar.org at we'll include it at a later date.

Eulogy by Lindsay Falvey

Dr Charan has been a great friend for over half a century. We first met in the 1970s when he was already a revered leader, and we soon developed a close friendship that continued to deepen over the years. He taught me so much, about Thailand, about Thai people, about smallholder animal science and about life—he did this by gradually sharing snippets about his own life, growing up, in the US and his early professional life.

Over the decades we collaborated on many projects, ranging from an influential book on tropical dairying, through deliberations about Gross Domestic Happiness and in recent years establishing an innovative graduate program in the city of his birth. His life has been a blessing to me, to countless students, to the international science community and to the world’s smallholder farmers.

From his birth in 1936 in Songkhla in relative poverty as the third of nine children, the young Charan grew to an adult who demonstrated a life well-lived with high moral values oriented to helping marginalized small farmers. His philosophy of service, fostered by respect for his Muslim roots and Buddhist experience as a young temple boy, was honed by an understanding the minds of Westerners during his graduate studies.

Dr Charan often reminisced about how he used to lay near the Samila seashore as the wind whispered through the Casuarina trees, and from that experience developed a reflective life from an early age. Attending Vajiranukul and then Mahawachirawut schools, he was recognized as an exceptional student to enter Kasetsart University, where he was identified for a Rockefeller Scholarship to Iowa State University in the USA as one of three high-achieving young Thai science students of that era. In the US he completed three degrees—B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. over successive years, with a break to come back to Thailand on the advice of his mentor to complement his brilliance with practical learning from small farmers and rural Thai people. His Ph.D. thesis remains accessible as ‘Cow Weights and Other Factors Affecting Calf Weaning Weight’, Iowa State University Ph.D., 1968 Biology-Genetics. His chosen specialty was animal genetics, one of the most complex of the sciences and from that basis he went on to widen his knowledge for research on indigenous Thai cattle and swamp buffalo and their respective crossbreds, including exotic dairy cattle. Our paths crossed a few years after he had returned to Thailand and never parted until now.

Dr Charan’s unlikely origins produced an animal scientist revered throughout Thailand, who soon after this time was to become an inspirational scientific personality in global agricultural research and development.

In Thailand, he became dean of the faculty of natural resources at the Prince of Songkhla University, vice-president of Kasetsart University, director of the Suwanvajokkasikit Animal Research Development Institute and senior advisor to the Thailand Research Fund, among many other appointments. His tireless efforts promoting smallholder farming systems and his pioneering work on cattle and buffalo

genetic improvement led to the development of a new cattle breed. This ‘Kamphaeng Saen’ breed was three times more productive than the native cattle, which allowed small dairy farmers to become economically viable across Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Through such experience, he then initiated the Thailand National Buffalo Center and Association, co-founded the Asian Buffalo Association and was a key foundation member of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies. The connection to Australia was to become even stronger over time.

Beginning as a lecturer in the department of animal science at Kasetsart University in 1962, he rose to become an associate professor in 1978, then professor level 10 in 1982 and finally to the exceptional professor level 11 in 1988. After retirement, he continued as a special lecturer at: the National Institute of Development Studies for the master of applied statistics degree, at Chulalongkorn University for the master's degree in statistics, and at various other institutions, including Mahidol University, the Asian Institute of Technology, Prince of Songkhla University, Thammasat University, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, the Office of the Civil Service Commission, Khon Kaen University, Chiang Mai University and many Rajabhat universities.

His research appointments included: head of Thap Kwang Research Station (1963–1966), pioneering the Kamphaeng Saen campus and its research station (1968–¬1973), head of the department of animal husbandry at Kasetsart University (1974–1976 and 1984–1986), assistant dean for development in the faculty of agriculture at Kasetsart University (1975–1978), dean of the faculty of natural resources at Prince of Songkhla University (1978¬–1979), assistant secretary to the minister of agriculture and cooperatives (1979–1980), head of the Buffalo and Cattle Production Research and Development Center (1984–1991), vice president for academic affairs at Kasetsart University (1986–1988) and vice president for research and development planning at Kasetsart University (1988–1990).

Internationally, Dr Charan became the leading Asian animal scientist when he was selected to join the elite three-person Technical Advisory Committee of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the organization that coordinated global research plans across 16 multi-million-dollar research campuses serving developing countries. Subsequently he was appointed as vice chair of the board of one of the major centres in that group, the International Livestock Research institute, which conducted research across tens of additional centres in the developing world and some 60 countries. To name just a few of his other international contributions, Dr Charan served on the FAO Expert Panel on Animal Genetic Resources in the 1970s and the Editorial Advisory Board of Animal Breeding Abstracts published by CABI for five years. He served as technical advisor for the International Foundation for Science of Sweden for about 10 years and as president of the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies between 1990 and 1992. Participating in international conferences several times each year during his active decades, he worked across tens of countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa.

The impact of his ability and contributions can be traced through some of his numerous awards and honours, including: the Gamma Sigma Delta Membership Award, Iowa State University, 1959; the Centennial Scholar Award for Outstanding Foreign Graduate Student, Iowa State University, 1962; the Science Pioneer Prize at the World Buffalo Research, 1985; the Outstanding Agricultural Scientist of the Year, 1991; the Honorary Doctorate in Science (Agriculture) from Prince of Songkla University, 1996; the Honorary Doctorate in Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne, 1996; and the Dioscoro L. Umali Achievement Award in Agricultural Development for Collaboration in the Southeast Asian Region, 2009.

As a member of several associations, he set an example of contributing back to the professions from which he had benefitted, including: the Biometrics Society; the Society for Advancement in Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania, for which he served as regional secretary; the Thai Society of Agricultural Science; the Thai Society of Statistics; the Animal Husbandry Association of Thailand, for which he twice served as president; the Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies, for which he served as vice-president and president; and the Asian Buffalo Association, for which he served as vice president. Throughout his professional careers and until his final years, Dr Charan was a prolific author in both English and Thai languages; more than ten of his books concern livestock while others share his wisdom about life and living self-sufficiently.

Dr Charan’s generosity of spirit ensured that whoever he met felt accepted and embraced by his culturally diverse sense of humour and sharp intellect, spiced by a taste for good wine—from Coonawarra, if possible. An international colleague commented to me on learning of his passing that we should toast his life with a glass of Penfolds Bin 2; I think Dr Charan’s spirit will appreciate that.

When I reflect on my good friend, now gone, I recall his advice at difficult times in my life, his ‘muditā’ joy at another’s boons, and his openness to share his own experiences. Once, when Dr Charan and I took a private study and research tour of Angkor Wat, sharing a room to save money for needy local assistants and for dinners, he explained his meditation practice as quietly writing longhand being a means of focusing and clarifying his mind to see how he could assist others. This was not academic writing to pad the list of his publications even though his publication list ran into hundreds; it was studying, reading and writing in order to orient his research, academic and administrative service to benefit society across the long term. It included his philosophy of living within one’s means, of being generous to others and learning from persons in all stations of life and situations. Our literary collaborations migrated towards philosophical and cultural works; some of his most insightful thoughts are contained in his Thai language books, which I hope young aspirants will read today and into the future.

Some of Dr Charan’s recent great contributions have been through Thaksin University, where he served as a member of the Thaksin University Council and then as its chair. At the university, he inspired cultural and scientific research and centres, stimulated creation of a course that allowed rural peasants to teach students of rural life and supported the international graduate program. The last initiative, unique in Thailand, introduced an internationally supervised and examined research Ph.D. program that has graduates and candidates from Australia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, the USA and Vietnam and has increased the university’s international standing.

I have been blessed to share so much of Dr Charan’s life. A true friend, he came to celebrate with my wife and I soon after our wedding In Melbourne, and then again to my sixtieth birthday celebration at which he spoke impressively. I shall miss him, as shall so many whose lives he touched. His legacy continues through his families, and though the institutions and projects that he created, and through the thousands of students he has taught and mentored in Thailand and across the developing world.

—Lindsay Falvey, FTSE, FAIAS, University of Melbourne Professor Emeritus, Australian Commissioner for International Agricultural Research, ILRI Emeritus Fellow and former chair of ILRI’s board of trustees, Australia

Header photo: Clipping from the University of Melbourne's weekly 'Uni News' on 12 July 1996 about the university conferring Charan Chantalakhana with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science.

Tribute from Mohammed Jabbar,independent agriculture and food policy consultant and former ILRI researcher, Bangladesh

I am extremely sorry to hear the sad news about Dr Charan Chantalakhana. My sincere condolences to his family.

ILRI has lost a well-wisher and long-time friend. I have lost an elder brotherly friend who inspired me both as a scientist and as a superb human being.

I met Charan for the first time back in 1983 while serving as a resource person for a four-week training course on Socio-economic Research Issues and Methods for Smallholder Livestock Production Systems sponsored by the Agricultural Development Council Inc. (which merged with Winrock International in 1985) and hosted by Kasetsart University. ADC Program Officer Dr Theodore Panayotou and Charan co-managed the course. Resource persons were drawn from Thailand as well as internationally. About 20 participants—young agricultural economists and a few rural sociologists—came from South and Southeast Asian countries.

In addition to his managerial tasks, Charan also delivered a few lectures on farming systems, especially the emerging commercial poultry and pig industries in Thailand, and their uncertain consequences for the smallholder subsistence livestock production systems there, then highlighted the importance of socioeconomic analysis for development of smallholder livestock development strategies.

So here was a livestock scientist who appreciated the need for taking a systems approach as well as the important role of social science in developing smallholder livestock development strategies. That was an instant encouragement for me as, among other things, my interest in livestock had developed rather accidentally, but initially I found few livestock scientists who appreciated the role of systems approaches as well as social science and few economists who were interested in livestock. So I came back with a good feeling, but I lost connection with Charan until many years later, when he joined the ILRI Board of Trustees in 1995.

When ILRI's mandate was expanded to Asia and we explored research priorities and strategies for Asia under the leadership of Dr C Devendra, Charan's long-time friend and collaborator, we benefited from Charan's numerous suggestions and advice. Later, ILRI’s research team in Southeast Asia, operating from the campus of the International Rice Research Institute, in the Philippines, and later from Hanoi, always benefited from his support as a scientist in addition to his role as an ILRI board member and vice-chair. Charan wished ILRI did more in that region compared to what was being done.

Behind his apparently reserved personality, he was a highly humorous person. His after-dinner jokes about the lighter side of human life and society entertained many who enjoyed his company at meetings and conferences as well as in informal settings.

After I retired from ILRI in 2007, I had several consultancy/advisory assignments from the FAO that took me to Bangkok many times until 2018. During those visits, I talked with him over the phone whenever he was accessible. I understood later that after the loss of his wife, he was less accessible directly. Yet I learned about his welfare from some officials and teachers, who were his former students and attended workshops and meetings in connection with my consultancy work. I lost contact with him in more recent years.

I pray for his departed soul.

Tribute from Bill Thorpe, retired former ILRI research director, UK

I have many happy memories of Charan, including his co-organizing a smallholder dairy session at the AAAP-ASAP [Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production–Australian Society of Animal Production] Conference in Sydney, Australia, in 1998.

The interactions there, and the on-the-spot support from Maggie Gill, led to ACIAR [Australian Center for International Agricultural Research) co-funding the South–South National Dairy Development Board / ILRI / ACIAR Smallholder Dairy Workshop: Smallholder Dairy Production and Marketing—Opportunities and Constraints, held in Anand, India, in March 2001, and the volume of proceedings that it generated.

Tribute from Jimmy Smith, director of international programs at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, USA, and former ILRI director general

Sad news indeed.

Charan was an ILRI board member and very instrumental in helping the transition from ILCA (the International Livestock Centre for Africa), an Africa-only centre, to ILRI with a global mandate, and in particular expanding ILRI into Asia. He was also a personal friend of mine who introduced me to Lindsay Falvey, who was active at his university and chaired the last ILRI External Program and Management Review, in 2008.

Charan was above all a wonderful human being.

Animal welfare in lower- to middle-income countries, with Peter Singer

2023-06-08

Is there a conflict between supporting animal welfare, and supporting the wellbeing of the world's poor? Can we talk about animal welfare in the same way in the global North and South? Or are there important moral distinctions to be made?

To explore these questions we're joined by Peter Singer, an Australian philosopher and bioethicist, Rebecca Doyle, who leads ILRI’s efforts on animal welfare, and Michel Dione, a senior scientist in Animal Health at ILRI.

Further reading:

Peter Singer:

One of the world’s most controversial philosophers explains himself - Vox

Peter Singer's website

Rebecca Doyle:

ILRI profile

Rebecca Doyle's website

Michel Dione:

ILRI profile

ILRI and animal welfare:

One Health Brief no. 5 - Keeping livestock healthy and well cared for improves animal, human, environment and economic health

Why animal welfare is a One Health issue

Letter from the director general

2023-06-06

Dear readers

This month I am delighted to focus on an important aspect of our food system: food safety—an area where ILRI has led the way for close to three decades. At ILRI, we generally say, ‘there is no food without safe food’. Food safety has been at the core of ILRI’s work for the last three decades. For this year’s World Food Safety Day, ‘Food standards save lives,’ we focus our efforts on the critical role that informal markets play within the food system in most low- and middle-income countries.

Traditional markets, often open-air, consist of unregulated small businesses with basic infrastructure. These markets provide many people with an income and are where most people, especially the poor, buy their food. These markets are critical to the poor but also have many challenges.

On 7 June, ILRI is organizing a webinar on food safety in the informal sector of low- and middle-income countries, coinciding with the release of a major new commissioned report highlighting the need for innovative strategies to address food safety risks in the informal sector. The report emphasizes that to be more effective in addressing unsafe food in informal markets, a shift in mindsets is needed, and a very different, multi-sectoral, multi-dimensional, and spatially focused approach which deals with the complex capacity- and incentive-related constraints associated with informal markets.

On other aspects of our operations, I led ILRI in some key internal and external engagements.

I hosted and participated in the 62^nd meeting of the ILRI board of trustees, which was my first at the helm of the organization. It was a great opportunity and a pleasure to work closely and to interact positively with ILRI and CGIAR board members. Beyond excellent internal discussions, the week’s highlights included the interactive share fair, which brought together all CGIAR activities in Ethiopia. A highlight of the week was the handover ceremony of the Ethiopia Poultry Strategy from ILRI to the government of Ethiopia.

From our strategic consultation and discussion with the board, we received important comments and more importantly, the green light to start the development of our new strategy. The development of this new strategy is indeed a very important moment for ILRI, the CGIAR and our national, regional and global partners. This will be an inclusive process, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders on this. More information will be shared on the ILRI website.

Our participation to the AIM4Climate Summit, joining other CGIAR colleagues and many partners, was an opportunity to showcase the critical role of livestock in our efforts in addressing climate change-related challenges. I attended the ‘Livestock Mega Sprint’ which brought together three sprints: Dairy Nourishes Africa, Pathways to Dairy Net Zero, and the sprint led by the CGIAR initiative on Livestock and Climate on Livestock, Climate and System Resilience (LCSR). We highlighted the potential of livestock to be a climate adaptation as well as a mitigation solution, and the need to see the diversity of livestock systems. An opinion piece I authored was also published on Devex at this time.

Finally, during its 90^th general assembly the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) signed an MoU with ILRI, building on ongoing collaborations to establish a long strategic partnership. The MoU also reinforces our joint commitment to transformative research in the animal health sector. We look forward to working with WOAH.

ILRI marks World Food Safety Day 2023 with the launch of a report on improving food safety in informal markets

2023-06-06

World Food Safety Day is celebrated on 7 June every year to raise awareness on food safety and inspire action to help prevent and manage foodborne risks thereby contributing to human health, food and nutrition security, economic prosperity, market access, and sustainable development. The theme this year is Food standards save lives.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is commemorating World Food Safety Day 2023 with the launch of a new ILRI-commissioned report, New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries, by Spencer Henson, Steven Jaffee and Shuo Wang.

The report will be launched at a webinar on Wednesday 7 June 2023 at 0900 hours EDT / 1300 hours GMT /1600 hours EAT.

Despite ongoing structural changes, the food systems of most low- and lower middle-income countries are still dominated by small-scale processors, grocers, market vendors and food service operators. Unsafe food is a widespread issue in these informal food systems, with national public health implications.

Few countries have coherent strategies to effectively tackle food safety risks in the informal sector. Most of the policy attention and resources now devoted to domestic food safety in the developing world focus on strengthening centralized systems for ‘food control’.

The authors of the report argue that a different approach is needed to better tackle food safety risks in the informal sector. This would entail local action that is centrally guided, multisectoral action, rebalancing the use of sticks and carrots, and differentiating local strategies and priorities.

We have also created a landing page on the ILRI website to showcase our food safety projects, publications, stories and key messages. The page also highlights the profiles of ILRI scientists involved in food safety research.

The production of the report, New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries, was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and the CGIAR Initiative on One Health. We thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.

Join the online conversations by following the hashtags #FoodSafety, #SafeFood and #WorldFoodSafetyDay.

Photo credit: Local food market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ILRI/Geraldine Klarenberg)

World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI): A strategic partnership to safeguard global animal health

2023-06-02

Maison de la Chime, Paris, France, 25 May 2023 – The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the 90th General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates for the welfare and health of animals where this strategic partnership marks a new era of collaboration to protect animal health and promote sustainable livestock production systems across the globe.

Animal health continues to play a critical role in ensuring the well-being of both animals and the livelihoods of people. Diseases that affect livestock can have devastating consequences, leading to economic losses, food security issues, and even potential zoonotic disease outbreaks. Recognizing the shared responsibility to protect animal health, WOAH and ILRI have committed to working hand in hand to tackle emerging challenges and enhance global animal health resilience through a One Health approach.

The MoU between WOAH and ILRI establishes a collaborative framework to address critical animal health issues through joint research projects, capacity building, and knowledge sharing. The partnership will enable the organizations to pool their expertise, resources, and networks to develop innovative solutions that promote animal welfare, enhance disease surveillance, and strengthen veterinary services across regions.

“Around one in five people are involved in livestock production or the processing and marketing of food of animal origin. Protecting animal health is key to sustaining their livelihoods and enhancing food security, in a context where the global demand for animal protein remains a challenge for the poorest populations”, highlights Monique Eloit, WOAH director general.

The areas of mutual interest include addressing zoonotic disease, building capacity through training programs and knowledge exchange initiatives, collaborative research projects to tackle emerging challenges and policy advocacy to advocate for evidence-based policies and regulations to promote animal health and equitable access to veterinary services.

ILRI’s director general Appolinaire Djikeng shares, ‘ILRI and WOAH have had a long-standing relationship and this memorandum of understanding solidifies the commitments to improving animal health globally which contributes towards improving food and nutrition security and the livelihoods of people.’

This collaboration sets a strong foundation for addressing current and future challenges, emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in securing the well-being of animals and humans alike.

Read more on the agreement between WOAH and ILRI

Photo caption: ILRI Director General, Appolinaire Djikeng and WOAH Director General Monique Eloit signing the MOU between the two institutes on Thursday 25th May 2023 at the Maison de la Chime, Paris, France during the 90th General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates for the welfare and health of animals. Photo credit: (Gabriel Reyes/WOAH)

Milking it: boosting profit and professionalization in Kenya’s informal dairy sector

2023-06-01

On the outskirts of Kenya’s Rift Valley town of Eldoret, many locals make money by selling fresh cow’s milk. Vendor Winnie Cherono (‘Mama Chumba’), who sells an assortment of staples from a small hole-in-the-wall kiosk, says her fresh milk is popular because it tastes better – and is healthier and cheaper – than the ultra-heat-treated (UHT) packaged alternative, which retails at around double the price.

More than 70 percent of Kenya’s milk is sold through outlets like this – kiosks and shops supplied directly by producers or through middlemen – in the informal market. But it’s not an easy enterprise. Most vendors don’t have fridges, so they need to sell all their stock on the day they receive it, and use careful hygiene and storage practices to slow down spoilage. Many also suspect that some of their suppliers also water their milk down or try to pass off older milk as fresh.

Government officials often push back on the unregulated informal sector with attempts to reduce, eliminate, or streamline it.

'The government has traditionally handled informal markets with a hard hand,' said Silvia Alonso, a principal scientist and epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). 'They go around and inspect and if the vendors don't comply with requirements, they have to shut down.'

Whilst regulations are important to ensure the food sold in markets is safe for consumption, enforcing standards that are not aligned with current realities results in significant negative impacts on livelihoods – as well as on nutrition amongst poor households that can only afford milk from informal sources.

'A vast proportion of Kenyans depend on these markets, both as buyers and sellers, so it’s important to preserve them,' said Alonso.

That’s why Alonso’s team of ILRI scientists – in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and national partners – have been working with vendors in Kenya’s informal milk sector to help them up their game, through the More Milk project.

Shop owner Kevin Kebit uses a lactometer to test the density of freshly delivered milk, to check whether the milk has been watered down.

Freshly delivered milk in Kevin Kebit's shop is poured into clean metal containers and then boiled.

Pathways to professionalization

The team identified three key areas to improve the safety of any informal food sector: capacity building, incentives and an enabling environment. They designed a food safety intervention 'as a pathway to legitimize informal markets and informal actors while improving milk safety and hygiene practices – to find a way to bring them within the food systems rather than excluding them,' said Alonso.

The intervention aims to improve the safety of milk, increase milk consumption in children from low-income households, and enhance the vendors' revenues and professionalism.

The program has trained close to 200 participants in peri-urban Eldoret. They learned to evaluate freshly delivered milk in their shops using simple tests – organoleptically (that is, using the senses to assess flavour, odour, appearance, and texture) and by boiling it to assess its freshness, purity, and safety. They also received training on milk handling (such as ensuring containers are uncontaminated), business skills, ‘soft skills’ like negotiation with suppliers and customers, and product promotion – including implementing a marketing campaign to promote the importance of milk for children and build better connections between vendors and consumers.

Value-addition sessions shared methods for making buttermilk (maziwa lala in Kiswahili) and yoghurt – both of which present great options for using up unsold stock before it spoils. The trainers also visited each vendor regularly to test their milk and provide feedback and coaching.

What they learned so far

The intervention’s success is being evaluated through a field experiment that’s tracking improvements in food safety amongst vendors who participated in the project (by testing samples of the milk being sold), and milk consumption among children in the surrounding households, in comparison to their counterparts in a group who didn’t receive any training. Emerging findings suggest positive impacts.

'We can tell that the intervention has had a lot of impact for the vendors we've been working with, especially in terms of milk hygiene practices,' said Emily Kilonzi, a research associate in ILRI’s MoreMilk project. 'They have learned things that they might have heard about before the project but had not been doing, and other things that were completely new to them – particularly about how they should handle milk in their premises and communicate to their customers.'

Customers are reporting increased confidence in vendors, whom they see as more competent and knowledgeable about supplying safe, high-quality milk. 'Some of the vendors are saying that they're selling more, have better customers and are able to get better milk from the suppliers,' said Alonso.

Opportunities for women

Loice Jemutai performs a simple, quick and cheap 'clot-on-boiling' test over a flame to check if the milk is sour or abnormal (ie. mastitis milk or colostrum).

Shop owner and milk vendor Loice Jemutai in front of her shop.

Meet Loice Jemutai – a 26-year-old vendor and mother-of-two who sells fresh milk in her shop in Kapsaret Region. Jemutai has been running her business since 2017, and was motivated to participate in the training because the milk from her suppliers was going bad quickly – and her customers were complaining.

After learning how to test the quality of the milk, Jemutai realised she was often receiving old and watered-down milk. She switched suppliers and now gets milk directly from a farm, where she carries out inspections and instructs the farmer on hygiene practices. She also educates her customers on food safety, advising them to bring clean containers to carry their milk home, and shares her knowledge with other vendors in the area.

Jemutai says that selling milk is rewarding, though it requires “total commitment”, creativity, and careful planning – particularly for women who tend to have many family responsibilities to fulfill.

'I must plan my day well, so the milk does not go bad,' she said. 'I take the children to school early in the morning and come back to open the shop so the suppliers can find me open.'

Kenya’s women are disproportionately affected by poverty, and the sector offers a unique business opportunity for those with limited resources because of the minimal financial input required. Done well, interventions like MoreMilk can help to empower vulnerable women through better livelihoods, the increased confidence associated with professionalization, and improved nutrition for their families – a vast contrast from the impacts of a repressive approach to informal markets, which is more frequently used by governments in low- and middle-income countries.

'When you adopt a process of coaching and supporting people to help them transform, there are a lot of benefits,' said Alonso. 'This suggests that governments should rethink their approach to engaging with informal markets, because we’re showing that with the right support, hygiene practices can change and vendors can begin on a path to formalization.'

A shop employee pours milk into a mix of containers left by regular customers who pre-order their milk. Milk sold through in the informal sector is affordable and accessible to low-income families.

A farm hand pours freshly harvested milk into a metal container at a farm outside of the Kenyan highland region of Eldoret.

Learn more

Paper: Milk purchase and consumption patterns in peri-urban low-income households in Kenya(February 2023)
Paper: Gendered barriers and opportunities in Kenya's informal dairy sector: enhancing gender-equity in urban markets(June 2022)

For information contact s.alonso[at]cgiar.org.

All photos by ILRI/Kabir Dhanji taken in Kenya's highland region of Eldoret. Banner photo: Winnie Cherono, fondly called 'Mama Chumba', prepping milk in her shop to test it for freshness and fat content.

CGIAR Research Initiative scientists advise Nepal government on linking research and policy

2023-05-31

On 10 May 2023, CGIAR scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Alliance Bioversity & CIAT leading research in four different CGIAR Research Initiatives recently met with Nepali policymakers to discuss the linkage between research and policy at ILRI in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting aimed to strengthen cooperation and collaboration between Nepal and CGIAR's Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender Inclusion (SAPLING) initiative, focusing on enhancing sustainable buffalo value chains in rural Nepal.

The dialogue was a follow-up to a March sensitisation meeting organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) in Kathmandu, Nepal, where stakeholders discussed the country's Livestock Master Plan (LMP) and emphasised the need for research to inform and support its development. During the session in Kenya, policymakers from Nepal engaged with CGIAR scientists to address the challenges of bridging the gap between researchers and policymakers.

Session in progress (ILRI / Derek Chan)

CGIAR scientists presented their experiences in engaging policymakers in various countries. Spanning the Resilient Cities and One Health initiatives, Silvia Alonso Alvarez, senior scientist epidemiologist at ILRI, discussed the MoreMilk project, which proved effective and facilitated communication between Kenyan policymakers and informal milk vendors essential in bridging the gap between policy and reality. Michael Peters, tropical forages team leader at CIAT, highlighted the need for an enabling policy environment for forage adoption, emphasising Public-Private partnerships and multinational approaches. Hung Nguyen, co-leader of the animal and human health program at ILRI, introduced the One Health initiative that he also leads, emphasising the importance of strengthening national One Health platforms. Lastly, as a contribution from the Livestock and Climate initiative, Jason Sircely, ecosystem scientist at ILRI, discussed rangeland policy integration with One Health, climate and conservation concerns.

Following the presentations, a discussion provided an opportunity for the Nepali delegation to identify areas for collaboration. They expressed the need for their national One Health strategy to improve research on vaccine development and address food safety risks in informal markets. Collaboration with ILRI's successful approaches in India's informal markets was suggested. Additionally, Nepal sought collaboration on forage development and importation and addressing challenges in managing rangelands.

Policymakers also requested assistance in identifying areas for investment and potential policy obstacles to aid LMP development. Sirak Bahta, senior agricultural economist at ILRI, reiterated ILRI’s commitment to supporting Nepal in developing a comprehensive LMP that aligns investments, policies and interventions to optimise livestock development outcomes. Deepak Kumar Kharal, secretary of MoALD, responded by pledging to lead a participatory process that actively involves the private sector and other stakeholders.

Deepak Kumar Kharal (MoALD) in forage plots (ILRI / Madeline Wong)

The session demonstrated the strength of CGIAR initiatives and their role in improving livelihoods across countries by integrating research findings into the policymaking process. The collaboration between CGIAR and the Nepal government will continue to develop ideas and support the LMP's development.

New study evaluates antimicrobial use by smallholder poultry farmers in Kajiado and Machakos counties in Kenya

2023-05-26

Smallholder poultry farmers need information on how to use antimicrobials correctly in chicken to reduce the selection and spread of antimicrobial resistance, a new research study says.

Antimicrobial use is a major driver of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when microorganisms evolve mechanisms that protect them from the killing effects of antimicrobials and, as a result, infections become untreatable.

Antimicrobial resistance is a rising global public health threat. In 2019, 1.27 million deaths were attributed to resistant bacterial infections, and by 2050, it is predicted that antimicrobial resistance will cost upwards of USD 100 trillion annually, accounting for 10 million deaths worldwide.

The study, published in Antibiotics (May 2023), analyzed the distribution and use of antibiotics, a type of antimicrobial, in peri-urban smallholder poultry systems in Kajiado and Machakos counties in Kenya.

The study was designed to provide baseline information for further work to improve antimicrobial use among the study participants.

The information was collected by way of a survey among poultry farmers and key informant interviews with agrovet shop operators, animal health providers and veterinary officers.

Most of the 100 farmers interviewed were over 50 years old and all of them kept chickens, with some keeping ducks and turkeys as well. Two-thirds of the farmers kept other livestock such as sheep, cattle, goats, donkeys and pigs.

Antibiotics constituted 43% of the drugs reportedly used on the farms and these were mostly administered by the farmers themselves. Leftover drugs were either stored for later use or disposed of, mostly by incineration.

Local distributors and pharmaceutical companies supplied antibiotics to agrovet shops which, in turn, supplied farmers.

Many farmers reported that they often bought antibiotics without prescriptions and rarely observed the recommended withdrawal periods.

These findings point to inappropriate use of antimicrobials in smallholder poultry production in the study areas. This has serious implications for poultry health and productivity as well as public health through the introduction of antimicrobial resistance genes and resistant bacteria into the food chain.

Providing farmers with information about how to best use antibiotics, the importance of observing the recommended antibiotic withdrawal periods, and risks to public health would help to reduce misuse and overuse of antibiotics in poultry production.

Antibiotic drug retailers at agrovet shops can also play a key role in farmer education as they are an important node in the veterinary drug value chain.

The study is part of a European Union–funded project, Management of animal diseases and antimicrobial use by information and communication technology to control antimicrobial resistance in East Africa, designed to improve antimicrobial use monitoring and reduce the problem of antimicrobial resistance.

Citation
Mutua, F., Kiarie, G., Mbatha, M., Onono, J., Boqvist, S., Kilonzi, E., Mugisha, L., Moodley, A. and Sternberg-Lewerin, S. 2023. Antimicrobial use by peri-urban poultry smallholders of Kajiado and Machakos counties in Kenya. Antibiotics 12(5): 905.

Photo: Chickens on a smallholder poultry farming in Kiambu, Kenya (credit: ILRI/Hung Nguyen-Viet)

Science and advocacy: finding the right balance

2023-05-19

Learning how to engage in evidence-based advocacy for investments in sustainable livestock systems in low and middle income countries

Over the last seven years, ILRI has been testing a new approach to evidence based advocacy through the Global Sustainable Livestock Advocacy for Development project – GLAD – funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Initiated in 2016, it makes the case for livestock systems to be significant parts of the development portfolios of investors, donors and policymakers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). GLAD works with partners in and outside the livestock sector to help promote durable solutions for environmentally responsible, healthy and safe livestock development; to arm change-makers with credible evidence; to help build coalitions of livestock stakeholders, especially those of the South; to facilitate more productive and balanced conversations about the roles of livestock; and to spur responsible and productive collective action.

The approach and focus have evolved as we have learned to carry out evidence-based advocacy. In this blog we want to share some of this learning, and also introduce the new exciting phase which takes ILRI and livestock advocacy in LMICs in exciting new directions.

While livestock are often seen to be at the epicentre of some of the world’s biggest challenges—unhealthy diets, climate change, pandemic threats, biodiversity losses, environmental damage—in LMICs, livestock systems are seen in much more positive ways, providing a wide range of development outcomes such as better nutrition for women and children, better incomes for smallholders, job opportunities for youth, greater empowerment for women, and resilience and adaptation to climate change. Nevertheless, it is clear they must be included—and constructively debated—in discussions to create a fairer and more sustainable future.

Feeding and informing these debates to bring evidence and balance has been at the heart of the GLAD project. As we look forward to 2025, this current phase (2023-2025) targets robust evidence, compelling communication, stakeholder brokerage and policy engagement to inform global discourses around livestock, contribute to positive policy environments and help to grow financial investments in sustainable livestock solutions that deliver food security, climate adaptation, livelihoods and nutrition outcomes in LMICs.

Learning to be science-based advocates

Many scientists find public advocacy and engagement work to be uneasy bedfellows. They worry about evidence cited by the news media, or informing policy and investment processes, being manipulated or taken out of context. Accordingly, they tend to lay their knowledge out there (often in very technical language) and let policymakers decide what to do with it – drawing a firm line between 'science' and 'policy'. The GLAD project and scientific teams have worked together in a step-by-step learning process about what works and what doesn’t in using scientific evidence to advocate for sustainable livestock systems and engage in development processes beyond the livestock sector. The project is learning that while scientists may be cautious about some types of advocacy, they cannot afford to remain silent as global narratives and agendas find their way into national and local-level policy initiatives edging out local knowledge and realities.

GLAD 1: 2016–2019

In the first phase, we focused on synthesizing evidence of the many contributions developing-country livestock livelihoods and systems make to meeting the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and mapping key targets and processes to engage with. We learned early on that to be effective in this influencing work, we needed to supply credible evidence that livestock matter to the interests and issues of development investment institutions. From a large body of high-quality scientific literature, we distilled pro-poor livestock facts, messages and case studies for the Why Livestock Matter website. It showcases a wealth of evidence about the manifold benefits livestock generate for lower-income peoples and countries. In addition, it helps to unite academic and activist communities with ‘actionable intelligence’ and ‘agenda-setting’ livestock-related information.

In addition, the project engaged media with stories, started to form a community of partners, measured perceptions of livestock by different development actors, and began to engage in global conversations at the United Nations and in processes such as the World Economic Forum, the EAT-Lancet dietary guidelines and the Global Landscapes Forum.

GLAD 2: 2019–2022

In GLAD’s second phase, we expanded this evidence base and began testing ways to better target and engage national and global decision-makers and shapers. We developed an engagement framework combining four approaches (see diagram above). The first approach provided the foundation of evidence around key themes. Second, the evidence was re-packaged to suit the needs of key stakeholder groups. In this phase, time was spent segmenting and understanding different audiences. The third approach sought to inform and influence global and national events and processes that could profit most from our engagement, evidence, communications and partnerships. The final approach centred on a network of allies championing sustainable livestock development.

In this phase, we learned to work more strategically. We reduced the number of topics we were tackling, adopted more proactive than reactive work, and became more intentional in our engagements and influencing work. Second, we learned to better link global and national processes around priority topics. Third, we focused more on building partnerships with actors beyond ILRI’s traditional circles in the livestock sector so we could influence, for example, global nutritional agendas. In this work, we realised the importance of engaging influential individuals who, while not considering themselves ‘livestock champions’, are aware of livestock’s positive contributions to the development and can help bridge sectoral silos.

Some highlights from this phase included:

Campaigns targeting major global discourses. These included ‘Food Choice Is a Privilege’, a campaign conducted during the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit and promoting the need to increase access by the poor to meat, milk and eggs; ‘One Crisis, Shared Solutions’, a campaign at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference promoting livestock adaptations to climate change; and ‘The Cow in the Room’ a campaign and event at the 2022 African Green Revolution Forum arguing that development agencies must stop ignoring the livestock sector and should increase their investments in the multi-functional roles livestock play in Africa’s sustainable development.
Greater country engagement linking national and global initiatives. This work included helping to link optimal food system pathways of developing countries such as Ethiopia to the UN Food Systems Summit agenda and providing national climate change negotiators in Africa with more reliable evidence of livestock-generated greenhouse gas emissions with which to inform their ‘nationally determined contribution’ submissions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Creating a new strategic partnership with the Global Landscapes Forum. ILRI became a charter member in 2020, and since then, GLAD’s engagement with GLF has ensured that rangeland ecosystems and restoration discussions are an integral part of GLF high-level meetings and discussions.
A series of briefs published on the Why Livestock Matter site in 2022 spelling out prime livestock investment opportunities to put ‘One Health’ work in action in low- and middle-income countries, thereby reducing the threat of future pandemics such as Covid-19, caused by disease pathogens jumping from animals to people; 7 key focus areas and 17 practical actions are recommended.

GLAD 3: 2022–2025

This year, in GLAD’s third phase, the project seeks to demonstrate the ways that sustainable and inclusive livestock systems can help the world achieve its sustainable development goals, particularly meeting the development needs of the world’s poorer populations without compromising future well-being.

Specifically, our aim is for investment agencies, governments and other entities to increase the share of their portfolios allocated to sustainable livestock systems and solutions to fully realise the contributions of livestock systems to achieve the sustainable development goals.

This phase is built around the following elements:

Four critical issues: (i) providing a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of the diversity of livestock peoples, systems and solutions, (ii) ensuring that livestock-derived foods become safe and nutritious components of healthy diets in developing countries, (iii) supporting the central roles livestock play in climate adaptation and resilience, and (iv) enhancing the roles livestock systems can play in sustainable land use and biodiversity protection. We aim to anchor our interventions more deeply in specific issues and themes where evidence and balance are most needed.
Four intervention approaches: Continuing from before and joining with partners, we pursue four intervention approaches – evidence, communication, brokerage and influencing. ‘Evidence’ will be assembled and synthesised based on the needs of the specific topic. ‘Communication’ will build on previous work where we tested different products and ways to engage. A significant change is our ambition to move from engagement to more intentional ‘brokering’ of solutions. The emphasis on ‘influencing’ will continue to be on more comprehensive and targeted ‘beyond livestock’ processes so they take proper account of the potentials of livestock systems.
Building engagement in a few countries to link ‘Livestock Master Plans’ and related national agendas to global processes and negotiations. For instance, GLAD is working with partners to provide national negotiators and government partners with evidence on livestock systems to inform their discussions at national and global levels.
Showcasing sustainable livestock solutions and linking them to investors and decision-makers. This is a change from Phase 2 as the project learned that beyond providing evidence, we also need to show sustainable livestock solutions that can drive investments.
Leveraging a network of ‘livestock champions’ working for sustainable development to recycle and share compelling evidence and materials in their own engagements and advocacy work.
Building a stronger and more cohesive alliance of livestock organisations and partners that can work together to broaden and deepen pro-poor livestock narratives and engagements.

Get involved!

Contribute to evidence, messages, and thought leadership to be made available on the Why Livestock Matter website.
Offer solutions for consideration in our planned ‘solutions exchange’ events.
Help shape an emerging narrative around livestock and climate being developed by more than 15 livestock organisations.
Support coordinated engagement around global events and processes.
Information on all of these is shared in our Livestock Champions network and discussion group.
Catch up with our reports and other materials.