Livestock and sustainable food and nutrition security

Group report on the ILRI@40 workshopAddis Ababa, 7 November 2014

Greatest gainsTechnological efficiency (at Farm Gate and Beyond the Farm Gate)• Making better use of available resources (management practices, land, water, waste• Improved feeds, breeds (adaptive and disease resistance traits) , health (diagnostics

prevention and treatment)• Landless / small land livestock production systems with high value in Africa;• Intensification and specialization (milk, chickens, pigs/ specialized feeds included new

processes for breaking-down complex carbohyrdates). Social level• Rapid movement in information with better prediction and real-time rapid response• Greater networking for just-in-time inputs into production processes• Economies of scale (smallholder organized groups and governance)• Knowledge sharing and learning • Use of ICT to deliver information and link to markets• Family farming and job creation for youth

Business• A few larger firms – strong interest from multinationals; • Opportunities and rapidly growing number of smaller and innovative firms with diverse goals

(new products)• Much more value addition beyond the farm –storage, processing, marketing and utilization

Opportunities for innovative research Social• Faster innovation coming from unexpected sources (Crowd sourcing)Technical • More precise bio-technical interventions – smaller scale product

development / niche products for different environments (bio-engineering; genetic manipulation, climate smart innovations)

• More diverse storage, and processing with locally adapted and niche products

• New livestock species including insects and rodents. • Rapid diagnostics, analysis tools – get analysis from anywhere

(agricultural version of tele-medicine)Business• “Markets” (including taxes) for externalities built into input costs and

prices – environmental services; e-markets• Risk management critical – much more volatility; innovative insurance

tools

Complementarity with other key issues

• Environmental issues • The smart identification of options for increasing

productivity should result in sustainable nutritional security and economic well-being.

• Improved nutritional security will contribute to healthy lives

• Intensification could increase the risk of introduction and susceptibility for infectious diseases