African Chicken Genetic Gains

Tadelle Dessie and Jasmine Bruno

TanzaniaOctober 2014

A platform for testing, delivering, and continuously improving

tropically-adapted chickens for productivity growth in sub-

Saharan Africa

Background

Chicken – in SSA• Large in number and wide in distribution

• Multi-use animals utilized across a range of production systems

• Low-productivity but high-potential for growth

• Critical for income generation, nutrition & women empowerment

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Production Systems in SSA

1. Village production system

2. Small-scale production system

3. Commercial production system

Based on• Objectives of the producer

• Type and number of animals

• Management system followed

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Village Production System

Predominant system in SSA• 60 to 95% of chicken population

• 40 to 90% of meat & egg production

• Source of protein and small cash

• High percent of market

Little attention to the system and animals • Resulting in low productivity• Little improvements to the system/animals

• Resulting in overall inefficiency

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Village production system – yield gap

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

scavenging semi-scavenging Intensive

Indigenous 45 70 150

Hybrid 140 150 250

25

75

125

175

225

275

Eggs per chicken per year

Indigenous Hybrid

Agenda

Objectives 1 - 3

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3

Define and Characterize:• the current smallholder chicken production systems; • germplasm ecotypes; • current realized productivity; • husbandry practices; and • as well as the socio-economic status of poor smallholder chicken

farmers in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia

Identify highly productive local African chicken germplasm from the various countries for:

• characterization; • multiplication into stable flocks; and• testing on-station and on-farm

Negotiate access to foreign tropically-adapted chicken germplasm (from India and elsewhere): • characterize and test them under on-station and on-farm

conditions under low-input production to determine productivity in different agro-ecologies

Agenda

Objectives 4 - 6

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Objective 4 Objective 5 Objective 6

Use the information obtained from the survey and the on-station and on-farm testing to:• Define the chicken breeds, phenotypes, and genotypes preferred

by smallholder farmers in terms of:• bird color, • body conformation and temperament, • egg and meat productivity, • overall tropical adaptability under low-input production

systems, and • carcass and meat quality

Develop stable multiplication lines (great grandparents, grandparents, and parent stock) of the farmer-preferred germplasm, and develop IP models to facilitate:

• access to the germplasm by a number of private and public sector multipliers to get the improved chicks into smallholder farmers’ hands

Collect data and samples to: • evaluate and document the impact of the introduction of the

imported germplasm on the diversity of indigenous chicken populations; and

• provide strategic recommendations to inform the global efforts for conservation of indigenous germplasm resources

Agenda

Objectives 7 - 9

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Objective 7 Objective 8 Objective 9

Develop and nurture National Innovation Platforms to facilitate:• private sector access

• the germplasm; and • develop business models for:

• mass-multiplication, • brooding, • vaccination• delivery to farmers, and • develop value chain input delivery systems.

Develop and nurture community and sub-national Innovation Platforms focused on empowering poor smallholder farmers, especially women to:

• Access preferred chicken germplasm; and • Optimize the productivity of the birds under low-input production

environments

Develop a roadmap for using the data and samples collected from the on-station and on-farm germplasm testing to: • Set up longer-term crossbreeding and chicken genetic gains programs in

each country,

• Including application of omics-based strategies for:

• Accelerating the rate of genetic gains under low-input tropical conditions; and

• Development of synthetic crossbred chicken lines.

Agenda

Results & Outcomes 1

Stakeholders (governments, private sector, other development partners) have data-driven

and culturally-relevant insights on the types of chickens that poor farmers, especially women, prefer (e.g., specific

performance and phenotypic traits) across multiple agro-ecological and cultural systems

of the project countries

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Results & Outcomes 2

Through functioning public private partnerships (targeting at least two

operating partnerships per country), smallholders have access

to their preferred breeds that produce at least 200% more than

existing local breeds, with significantly reduced mortality risks

due to proper brooding and pre-vaccination

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Results & Outcomes 3

Demonstrated and well-publicized data showing that the adoption of

the proven chicken genotypes indeed leads to significantly

increased production, productivity, income, and household

consumption among smallholder communities that adopt the

technology

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Results & Outcomes 4

Increased empowerment of women smallholder farmers in the chicken value chain to be seen across rural

communities

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Results & Outcomes 5

A functioning multi-country network of public-private partnerships for

long-term chicken genetic improvement that has both the strategy and capacity to use modern tools to drive

accelerated genetic gains and to deliver more productive, farmer-preferred breeds

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Implementation Plan

November• Project Officially Funded• MOU Signed between ILRI and Project Partners• Implementation Plan and Project Materials Finalize• Private sector engagement in-country

December• ILRI Program Team and Country Teams Formed• Process for Importation of Lines Started (Import permits)• Program Site Selection Finalized in each Country

January• Country Teams Finalize First Draft of Their Implementation Plans• Develop standard protocols for program implementation• ILRI engagement with private sector

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Implementation Plan

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Implementation Plan

February• Program Officially Launched/First Annual Meeting

• In-country Data Collection Teams Finalized

March• In-country Launches

• Baseline data collection begins

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Implementation Plan

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

ACGG Partners and Collaborators

Tanzania• Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI) 

• Sokoine University of Agriculture

Ethiopia• Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)

• Haramya University

Nigeria• Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta, Nigeria

• Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Cross-country• ILRI, Wageningen University, the Netherlands, PICO East Africa

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Partners

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Tanzania Team

• $1.6 Million over 5 years

• Led by TALIRI and Sokoine University in Tanzania

• Full program launch in Addis in February

• Tanzania country launch in March

• Full engagement of the public and private sectors with a goal of developing a public-private partnership

Background

Objectives

Materials & Methods

Results & Discussion

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Tanzania Activities

Activity Description

Activity 1 Selection of field sites and participating households/farmers

Activity 2 Baseline Survey

Activity 3 Renovation/construction of poultry rearing facilities at TALIRI

Activity 4 Collection of fertile eggs from local chicken germplasm and exotic tropically adapted genotypes

Activity 5 On-station testing or evaluation of local and exotic germplasms

Activity 6 Multiplication of proven local and exotic germplasm

Activity 7 On-farm testing or evaluation of local and exotic germplasms

Activity 8 Training of MSc (10) and PhD (5) students at Local Universities

Activity 9 Innovation platform meetings for stakeholders

Activity 10 Continuation of improvement of local and exotic genotypes (synthetic breeding)

Background

Objectives

Materials & Methods

Results & Discussion

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Activity 1 - Site Selection

Background

Objectives

Materials & Methods

Results & Discussion

Conclusion & Recommendation

Regional Prioritization Criteria:• Poultry numbers

• # of households rearing poultry

• % contribution of poultry to household nutrition/income

• % market share captured by smallholders

• Availability of feed resources

• Diversity across zones

Preliminarily Prioritized Zones:• Southern • Southern Highlands• Central • Central Corridor• Eastern Lake Zone

Agenda

Path Forward (6 months)

• Finalize the implementation plan for Tanzania

• Launch the program

• Encourage public and private sector engagement in the program and the poultry sector as a whole

• Obtain the necessary permits for the importation of the desired lines

• Move forward with the baseline

Background

Objectives

Results & Outcomes

Partners

Conclusion & Recommendation

Agenda

Thank You!