There are over 200 million poor livestock keepers in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of which are looking to improve their livestock productivity. Genetic improvement strategies – particularly when packaged with other interventions on animal feed and health – offers great potential.
The use of genomics in Africa is in early stages, and further discussions are required on where and how genomics can best contribute to broader livestock productivity goals.
From 16-26 August 2016, ILRI and CTLGH will organize a virtual forum on cattle genomics in Africa to take this agenda forward.
Discussions will focus on:
- Current and future applications of genomics to cattle in Africa – in particular, which applications are likely to make a difference to poor livestock keepers and animal source food consumers, and what capacities and resources are required to achieve this.
- How to create a genomic information resource on African cattle – a publicly-available set of sequence information on cattle breeds in Africa, and which breeds to prioritize for this.
You can register in advance or just participate during the forum at this website: http://cattle-genomix.net
Further details are given in the attached flyer; Please share this information with colleagues.
Contact for more information: Karen Marshall
International Livestock Research Institute and the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health.