Steve Staal

The Sustainable Use of Animal Genetics in Developing Countries

2nd International Conference on Agricultural and Rural Development in Southeast AsiaManila, Philippines, 12 November 2014

Outline of the Presentation

The Livestock Revolution in SE Asia

Models of livestock production

Public vs private benefits of conservation

Opportunities through both demand and supply

Conclusions

Projected growth in demand for livestock products in SE Asia

Beef Pork Poultry Eggs Milk0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

20102030

1000

s of

MTs

Beef and poultry demand to double by 2030Source: IFPRI IMPACT Model, 2013

Large yield gaps linked to genetics

Estimated opportunities to increase smallholder productivity

Africa South Asia Total $-

$10

$20

$30

$40

$50

$60

$70

$80

$90

geneticsanimal healthnutritionpost harvest

Smal

lhol

der P

rodu

ctivi

ty O

ppor

tuni

ty ($

Bill

ion)

See Appendix slide 26 for more detail on this model

Animal genetics provides the largest opportunity across all geographies

There is also opportunity in animal health, particularly in

SSA

Sources: estimates based on BMGF analytical models referencing multiple data sources including: Oct 4-5 Livestock Landscape Analysis Expert Panel Workshop; Oct 27 Livestock Foundation Genetics Workshop; Expert Interviews; FAOSTAT; OIE Technical Disease Cards; the Center for Food Security and Public Health Animal Disease Information; OIE-WAHID database; Merck Veterinary Manual; 2011 Market Probe market research for Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia

Changes in SE ASIA Livestock Production Systems

Drivers of change• Population growth and urbanization• Increases in income• Market and trade liberalization• Climate change • New technology

Consequences• Growth in demand of livestock products• Pressure on and degradation of the resource base• Scaling up of production and vulnerability of small farms • Increased competition

Responses• Intensification of mixed crop-livestock systems• Genetic resource substitution• Policies for enhanced productivity

Models of livestock production

Smallholders: The “household model” Multiple objectives besides income,

including risk reduction, diversification, insurance, and social capital

Up to 40% additional “returns” to livestock in other benefits

Maximum use of low cost resources and farm synergies, minimum use of purchased inputs Large producers: The “enterprise model”

Only 1 objective: profit (which has its own risks)

Capital intensive , mechanization and economies of scale

The big challenge

Demand for improved productivity frequently in conflict with diversity conservation

Loss of diversity caused by stakeholders’ choices primarily for economic reasons;

The animal genetic requirements of industrial systems are thus characterized by: ability to manage environment means less demand for breeds adapted

to local environments or disease resistance more demand for efficiency, and especially FCR to maximize benefit more demand for quality traits due to consumer demand and technical

requirements related to standardization, size, fat content, color, flavor, etc.

Private vs public

Securing poor farmers’ livelihoods vs. keeping local breeds Farmers are changing the genotype of their livestock assets, largely

due to need for greater productivity Farmers invest in livestock for private benefits Society wants to maintain AnGR for long term public benefit Is it fair to ask farmers to maintain public goods embedded in AnGR

and to forego productivity gains and income? How do we reconcile these two seemingly contradictory objectives?

Private benefits to support sustainable conservation

Recognize 2 forms of capturing

private benefits

Demand side - Traits that the market is willing to pay for

Production side – maximizing benefits of adaptation

• Heat tolerance, hardiness, diet suitability, disease resistance

• Social status due to traditional practices

New business models to generate demand for local breeds in-situ conservation

Demand side - Traits that the market is willing to pay for Strong SE Asian demand for unique taste, novelty,

traditional consumption, and organic production Animals raised grown in organic, sustainable and

animal welfare friendly conditions Converting public into private benefits through

branding and certification

Structured cross-breeding systems provide an opportunity for in-situ conservation of indigenous breeds

The alternative: Ex situ conservation

To be effective, should consider multiple

levels of conservation and data assemblyAnimal-level, genomic-level, gene-level

(gene cluster, chromosome, karyotype-genome, semen)

And different types and levels of data to build the research resource

• Other samples: hair or blood, or parasites on animal• Animal characterization such as GPS location of animal to capture

environment, local breed-name, phenotype, productivity, etcThis allows ‘bio-banking’ of breeds under threat not only for

preserving animals for an unknown future need, but also for creating an important research resource for example, for gene discovery.

On the supply side

We must take account of the

realities of small-scale

livestock producers.

Diversity of:

Environment Climate Feeds available Endemic diseases Local market context Infrastructure Institutions

No data systems to inform selection.

No infrastructure to manage selection.

New opportunities for phenotyping

Can we skip a generation

of technology?

Fast, light, cheap performance data harvesting.

Cheap sensors, mobile platforms, crowd sensing…..

Simultaneously providing management information to the farmer and performance data to the breeder.

New opportunities for genotyping

Comparative gene network and sequence analysis allows to ask new kinds of questions about genomes – eg “what is different about this (group of) species compared to all other mammals”

“traditional” linkage mapping requires crosses – so initial discovery is limited to variants within a speciesCow NDama KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSPLHTLCEREKSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK

Cow Boran KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTLCEREKSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK

Human KFISRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTVCEREHSTVPWFVKQCIEAVEK

Pig KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTVCERENSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK

Chicken KFISRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHLVCEHENSTVPQFVRQCIKAVER

Salmon KFISRRPSMKTLQEKGIIKDRVFGCHLLALCEREGTTVPKFVRQCVEAVEK

Genomic editing breakthrough

Identify and make use of the

genetics underlying natural

variation.

There has been no systematic

search for the genomic basis of

adaptation. Because until now

we have had no validation

tools and no delivery tools.

New Genome Editing tools

change the landscape.

Discovery to delivery

Genotyping Phenotyping

Adapted & productive livestock

Genome editingTargeting

Data systems

Delivery systems

Summary

Growing demand and markets for livestock products is bringing about rapid changeLack of private incentives for smallholders to raise indigenous breeds threatens their survival of strategic AnGREx-situ conservation offers one alternative, but still to be exploredIn-situ conservation can be facilitated through several options

Demand side: new market driven models to raise demand for specific traits for local breedsSupply side: exciting new genomic tools to increase adaptability and productivity of local breeds.

Thank you for your attention

Acknowledgements:Jackie Escarcha, Han Jianlin, Steve Kemp, Mwai Okeyo

The presentation has a Creative Commons licence. You are free to re-use or distribute this work, provided credit is given to ILRI.

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