AgTalks at International Fund for Agricultural Development

Djikeng, A. (Assessor)

Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk

Description

The objective of AgTalks is to present the human face of family farming by sharing the latest policy research findings, as well as different viewpoints on smallholder farming.

The series aims to bring forward the latest thinking, trends and research regarding policies and innovations in small-scale family farming.
As a contribution to the International Year of Family Farming (IYFF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized United Nations agency and the only international financial institution within the UN family, is launching the AgTalks series. IFAD is exclusively dedicated to investing in rural people and working with smallholder family farmers.

Period	9 Jul 2015
Held at	International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Italy

Documents & Links

AgTalks: Livestock, a lifeline for smallholder farmers Approximately 95 per cent of livestock keepers live in extreme poverty. This is an alarming figure, considering the increased demand for animal products such as milk and meat. While it is recognized that livestock keeping offers a promising opportunity to combat poverty in many developing countries, most livestock policies and services tend to favour large-scale production. To reverse this trend and take advantage of emerging market demands and reduce poverty, smallholder farmers and herders need access to basic services and technologies, such as veterinary care, good roads and grazing lands, and policies that respond to their needs. Robyn Alders, is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney and a Director at the KYEEMA Foundation. Alders was born and raised on a grazing property on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales in Australia. For over 20 years, she has worked closely as a veterinarian and researcher with smallholder farmers, especially village poultry farmers, in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Throughout her work she has focused on infectious disease control (primarily Newcastle disease prevention) in animals in rural areas to enhance food security and alleviate poverty. Twitter: @RobynAlders Appolinaire Djikeng, is the Director of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub. A strong proponent of capacity-building in Africa, Djikeng's focus is on building the next generation of African scientists and tapping on bioscience to address agricultural development and public health issues. Djikeng has led the domestication of ruminant species in Africa, including the grasscutter, to create sustainable sources of protein. Twitter: @BecAHub Guillermo Vila Melo, is an agronomist engineer, with extensive expertise in livestock production and territorial sustainable rural development in arid and semiarid regions. He has worked with indigenous communities to improve the efficiency of and add value to livestock production. Vila Melo has also worked with a number of multilateral, bilateral and United Nations agencies and has considerable experience working with the private sector, focusing on camelids. A founding member of the Association of Camelid of Argentina (ACA) and member of the Camelid Commission of the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA), he was the CEO of Llamas Argentinas S.R.L. and Llamichos S.A. Twitter: @gvilamelo Emma Naluyima, is a smallholder farmer in Uganda and a private veterinarian focusing on clinical medicine and herd health. She worked for the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Databank and was in charge of a Livestock Environmental Station in Entebbe. Naluyima has been engaged in improving the herd genetics through artificial insemination, and has served as the Chairperson of the Red Cross in Mbarara. She is the Vice Chairperson of the Green and Fresh Farmers Cooperative; the Chairperson of the national multistakeholder pig value chain platform; and a 2015 Aspen New Voices Fellow. Twitter: @DrNaluyima