In late 2016, the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish produced several synthesis products, including a series of briefs on livestock genetics work carried out between 2012 and 2016.
Genetic interventions in livestock populations are generally long term, resulting in changes in the characteristics of the production unit, the animal. In the process, trade-offs between breeding for production and resource-use efficiency, fertility, resilience and the environmental impact of the target livestock or fish species are important in order to improve performance while taking into account genotype by environment interactions.
Information generated by analyzing product value chains helps identify intervention nodes to achieve improved productivity under specific environments. With the livelihoods of livestock-keeping communities at the core, income and equity issues cannot be ignored. Interventions also need to take into account the constraints faced by livestock keepers given their existing asset base.
Using a value chain analysis framework, the Livestock and Fish CGIAR Research Program piloted integrated genetic interventions to catalyse the transformation of milk, meat and fish production in selected developing countries. This brief presents some outcomes and lessons from applying a value chain approach to dairy production in three East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and fish production in Egypt.
Ojango, J., Tegegne, A., Mwai, O., Rege, E., Ouma, R. and Benzie, J. 2016. Using a value chain approach to focus animal genetic interventions. Livestock and Fish Brief 13. Nairobi: ILRI
CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish 