Issue 2 January 2018

Table of Contents

Researcherrsquos Corner Chickens and child growth in EthiopiaAnnouncing Equip Strengthening smallholder livestock systems for the futureOngoing Research for DevelopmentExpanding PPR Work in East AfricaResearch and Capacity Building in RwandaEvents and PublicationsQuick Communications Survey

Subscribe and view this newsletter online at httplivestocklabifasufledupublications

1

Researchers Corner Chickens and child growth in Ethiopia

Dr Havelaar is a professor of global food safety and zoonoses University of Florida and a co-leader of our Livestock disease management and food safety Area of Inquiry

Hello Irsquom Dr Arie Havelaar At the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab I coshylead the Area of Inquiry ldquoLivestock Disease Management and Food Safetyrdquo Ongoing efforts in this Area of Inquiry are diverse covering largeshyscale assessments of aflatoxin in animal feeds improved surveillance systems for disease reporting better understanding of causes and effective mitigation of youngstock mortality food safety and improved management for mastitis Although our research projects are countryshyspecific their results will have wider relevance and we plan to make them widely available

Today Irsquod like to introduce you to a new research project that the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems is launching in Ethiopia with funds from the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation (see an overview of the entire Equip project below) In the highlands of southeastern Ethiopia and many parts of the world chickens are traditionally freely scavenging and often kept inside the home at night The exposure of young children to chicken feces may cause chronic infections with Campylobacter bacteria leading to a syndrome known as Environmental Enteric Dysfunction which is an important risk factor for stunting As part of the Equip project Irsquom starting research on a component called the Campylobacter Genomics and Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (CAGED) project Together with our partners Dr Jemal Yousuf from Haramaya University in Ethiopia Dr Wondwossen Gebreyes from Ohio State University Dr Mark Manary from Washington University in St Louis and Dr Sarah McKune coshyprincipal investigator from the University of Florida wersquoll be studying ways to reduce infections of young children with Campylobacter bacteria from chicken droppings

Our proposed experiment depends on a willingness of families to keep their chickens in coops The projectrsquos first one and a half years will involve a formative study at the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundationrsquos request to gather evidence to support our hypothesis and prepare for an intervention Assuming success during the remainder of the five-year project we will implement a cluster randomized community-based trial to Announcing Equip Strengthening smallholderevaluate the impact of improved chicken husbandry and housing interventions on the linear growth of children between 6 and 18 months of age We hypothesize that areversal of the exposure cycle by livestock systems for the futurecaging chickens will improve the gut health of children in Ethiopia and when combined with adequate nutrition will improve their linear growth Interventions during the trial will include hygiene education and the feeding of eggs to children which has reduced stunting in other countries

Feel free to contact me for further information about the project at ariehavelaarufledu We look forward to learning about this important topic and communicating the results

2

Lively Highlights of Livestock Systems Research Issue 2

We are pleased to announce our new award from the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation This award takes place in the context of the collaboration between USAID and the Bill amp Melinda Gates Foundation that supports our Innovation Lab As the Foundationrsquos largest donation to the University of Florida the $87 million grant funds two lines of research Funds for research on animal feed further strengthen the ongoing USAID-funded work in this area which has been ranked as the most important constraint to livestock production in all our target countries Feed research will take place in Ethiopia and Burkina Faso and involve five components (1) Inventory feed resources through a landscape analysis to document the quantities nutritional qualities prices availability and accessibility of feeds that can be used to improve livestock productivity (2) Examine strategies to increase the yield quality and preservation of fodder with location-specific improved forages for different agroecologies (3) Determine and meet nutrient requirements of indigenous livestock with balanced rations and (4) Improve the capacity to analyze the nutritional value of livestock feeds through Near Infrared Spectrophotometry (NIRS) Additionally in Ethiopia we will examine effects of synergizing feed management and genetic interventions on milk production The feed efforts focus on sheep and goats in Burkina Faso and on dairy cows in Ethiopia

The funds will also allow the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab to embark on research in Ethiopia to better understand and design animal husbandry interventions to prevent Environmental Enteric Dysfunction a syndrome associated with stunting (see ldquoResearcherrsquos Cornerrdquo above) Both Ethiopia and Burkina Faso are actively promoting growth of their livestock sectors and we expect that the knowledge tools and products generated by this project will contribute significantly to these efforts in both countries as well as in similar agroecologies and socioeconomic conditions

Preparing ground pods of a native shrub Piliostigma reticulatum for sale as a livestock feed in Burkina Faso

Announcing Equip Strengthening smallholder livestock systems for the future

3

Of our 24 research for development projects in Africa and Asia 7 will conclude within the coming months Researchers involved in these one-year projects in Ethiopia Rwanda and Nepal are publishing their results in diverse fora ranging from extension publications to peer-reviewed journals In addition each researcher is developing a ldquoscaling planrdquo which outlines the technology or practice developed and key issues relevant to its dissemination such as the target agroecological zone and farming system as well as potential extension methods relevant scaling partners and policy implications This January the researchers will be sharing in-person reports and scaling plans at our Annual General Meeting in Ethiopia

The seven concluding projects fall under our disease surveillance feed quality and quantity and milk quality themes They are

Ongoing Research for Development

Women in Nepal have new tools to identify and report livestock diseases improving disease surveillance

bull The Effect of Passive Surveillance Training on Animal Health Parameters Northern Ethiopia (Principal Investigator [PI] Dr Corrie Brown University of Georgia)

bull Mycotoxin Prevalence and Mitigation Measures in Ethiopia (PI Dr Deon van Merwe Kansas State University)

bull Assessment and Mitigation of Aflatoxin and Fumonisin Contamination in Animal Feeds in Rwanda (PI Dr Dirk E Maier Iowa State University)

bull Milk Production Practices Udder Health and the Impact on Milk Quality Safety and Processability in Rwanda (PI Mr Jean Baptiste Ndahetuye University of Rwanda)

bull Empowerment of Village Women for Detection and Control of Livestock Diseases in Nepal (PI Dr Richard A Bowen Colorado State University)

bull Improving Dairy Animal Productivity and Income of Dairy Farmers through Effective Control of Mastitis Disease (PI Dr Keshav Prasad Sah Heifer Project International Nepal)

bull Feeding Support Tool Development for Enhancing Dairy Animal Productivity for Improved Livelihood of Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Nepal (PI Mr Bhola Shankar Shrestha Heifer Project International Nepal)

Watch our Facebook and Twitter feeds for future highlights of each projectrsquos findings and products Already they have produced 17 products and that number should double this year On our website read updates of the active research projects in Cambodia Ethiopia Nepal and Rwanda and look out for those starting in a short while in Burkina Faso and Niger

4

httplivestocklabifasufledupublications

Lively Highlights of Livestock Systems Research Issue 2

One of various milk transportation methods in Rwanda

In each issue of Lively we will bring you highlights from one of our eight target countries In Rwanda the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab has three active research projects and two of them are concluding soon

These projects in Rwanda are building a legacy of research and human and institutional capacity building Based on insights from stakeholders at an Innovation Platform meeting in Rwanda in January 2017 the one-year Focus projects are collecting feed and milk samples nationwide in order to measure levels of mycotoxins or fungal toxic contaminants Food borne pathogens in milk are also being measured and strategies to mitigate these contaminants are being developed Upgraded laboratories at the University of Rwanda support both projects

The Focus project on feed mycotoxins led by Dr Dirk E Maier Dr Erin Bowers and Mr Kizito Nishimwe his Rwandan PhD student at Iowa State University has analyzed more than3000 samples of livestock feed and grain-based feed ingredients collected in six rounds from all 30 districts of the country The two types of fungal mycotoxins under study are aflatoxin and fumonisin which cause human and livestock diseases A total of 170 milk samples have also been analyzed for aflatoxin M1 a metabolite that results from dairy cattle ingesting aflatoxin-

Research and Capacity Building in RwandaResearch and Capacity Building in Rwanda

With the ultimate goal to contribute to the global efforts to eradicate goat plague (Peste des Petits Ruminants PPR) a viral disease of sheep and goats we are expanding the efforts initiated in eastern Uganda (Kotido and Amudat districts) to the adjacent areas in northwestern Kenya (Turkana and West Pokot Counties) Livestock graze across the borders in the study areas which are important hotspots for PPR transmission Partners in Kenya will be the Department of Veterinary Services and the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization among others Next steps in Uganda involve epidemiological and socio-cultural surveys and vaccination of around 500000 sheep and goats in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries Makerere University community animal health workers and Mercy Corps PPR affects approximately 17 billion sheep and goats in 76 countries

Expanding PPR Work in East Africa

5

Events amp Publications

Our first annual meeting in 2017 brought our research partners to the University of Florida

contaminated feed Thirty-five students and staff in the College of Agriculture Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine have been trained in mycotoxin analysis Laboratory facilities at the University of Rwanda are being equipped to establish a surveillance and early detection system for aflatoxin and fumonisin The team published an educational poster and rack card training materials that provides an overview of contamination risks and preventions Plus the enumerators while collecting samples have educated local farmers about the threats from mycotoxins using the training materials in the Kinyarwanda language

Dr Maierrsquos team is also testing milk samples collected by the Focus project on mastitis Led by Mr Jean Baptiste Ndahetuye of the University of Rwanda the project which develops best practices for milk production and handling and identifies zoonotic bacteria and antimicrobial residues in milk contributes to his PhD work in Animal Health at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences as well as MS thesis of two Animal Production students from the University of Rwanda More than 400 farmers have learned about testing milk samples The simple and low-cost California Mastitis Test employed reveals infected milk with a purple dye In addition farmers participated in surveys and gained insights into causes of reduced milk quality Materials for training many more farmers are being developed

Capacity building is also an important element in the multi-year Reach project led by Dr Emily Ouma from the International Livestock Research Institute on enhancing the quality and consumption of milk In 2017 the project launched efforts on enhancing capacity of dairy cooperatives to improve market access for smallholder milk producers The project partner TechnoServe developed a tool from two existing tools that will be used to assess organizational performance of 30 producer organizations Additionally University of Florida has initiated several short-term capacity building efforts including a week-long training by Dr Jorge Hernandez to individuals from various institutions in disease surveillance epidemiology and animal health research and the associated health policy implications

6

Lively Highlights of Livestock Systems Research Issue 2

Goats on NPR

Did you know that National Public Radio recently featured our project that aims to eliminate sheep and goat plague Our director Gbola Adesogan and Jeff Mariner the Tufts University-based lead scientist of our Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) project spoke about our efforts to control this devastating disease Find this story (ldquoThe War Against Goat Plaguerdquo) and harvest a bundle of information at our Publications webpage

Gender Questions

Our gender Cross-cutting Theme leader and animal scientist Dr Kathleen Colverson spoke at Kansas State University to colleagues from other Innovation Labs Listen to this excellent presentation Why Integrate Gender into Research Projects The Importance of Systems Thinking and try to answer her challenging questions

Annual General Meeting Once again we are gathering researchers and supporters from around the globe for a cluster of meetings On January 21 in Addis Ababa Ethiopia the week opens with an orientation for newly funded researchers working in Burkina Faso Niger and Cambodia On January 22 and 23 nearly 60 people will participate in our second Annual General Meeting Several researchers will present projects that are just beginning while other researchers will share final results

Global Nutrition Symposium Midshyweek the gathering transitions into the Global Nutrition Symposium The second edition of this international symposium on January 24shy25 is titled ldquoThe Missing Link Increasing Availability of Animalshysource Foods through Greater Production and Marketing of Quality Feedsrdquo The feeding of livestock deserves more attention because animal nutrition is one of the greatest constraints to livestock productivity and thus its effects reverberate across societies Low livestock productivity constrains income and nutrition of poor households whereas higher productivity reinforced by supportive policies and practices strengthens the value chain These connections and various issues will be explored inshydepth at the symposium Register to attend using Eventbrite

Ethiopia Innovation Platform Meeting Then on Friday January 26 the week culminates with the third multishystakeholder Innovation Platform meeting in Ethiopia During the meeting the results from ongoing research projects will be shared and those researchers whose projects will end soon will present their scaling plans

Building on previous meetings we will continue to hold annual Innovation Platform meetings in each of our target countries Wersquore excited to expand and solidify our network in these important faceshytoshyface meetings

Visit httplivestocklabifasufledupublications

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Please take 3 minutes to share your perspective on our outreach by completing thisonline survey We are working on a communications strategy and your input will helpus to improve our efforts The survey link is at httpswwwsurveymonkeycomr8NHF3SS

CONNECT WITH US

This newsletter is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems managed by the University of Florida and the International Livestock Research Institute The contents are the responsibility of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems and do not necessarily reflect the

views of USAID or the United States Government

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