Highlights of ILRI in West Africa
Augustine Ayantunde
Regional Representative ILRI West Africa
ILRI Institute Planning Meeting, Addis Ababa, 17-19 September 2019

Livestock sector in West Africa - Context
• About 90 million poor livestock keepers – about 25% of
West Africa’s population
• 80% in mixed crop livestock / agro-pastoral systems
• Multiple roles of livestock: food production; income, saving
account; soil fertility; power for cropping and transport
• Smallholders produce at least 50% of the regions’ domestic
livestock products
• Mostly extensive with low external-inputs use
• Livestock contribution to Agriculture GDP: At least 30% for
Sahelian countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal);
less than 10% for Ghana and Nigeria

Livestock Sector in West Africa
Opportunities
• Potential for intensification of the systems
• Growing demand for livestock products
• New market opportunities, particularly in peri-urban areas
• Potential for better integration with crop farming
• Emergence of networks of producers (farmers and agro-
pastoralists) which promotes better organization and
enhances growth prospects
• Improved agricultural policy and incentive environment, e.g.
ECOWAS Agricultural policy (ECOWAP)
• Renewed interests by donors to invest in livestock sector
e.g. World Bank, AfDB

ILRI West Africa Evolving Strategy
For the region, ILRI’s major objectives are:
• To sustainably intensify smallholder crop-
livestock production systems through innovative
livestock practices thereby improving
productivity, food security and nutrition.
• To enhance resilience of livestock production
systems to better adapt to climate change and
variability, and improve market participation by
smallholder livestock producers.

ILRI Locations in West Africa
• Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – Regional office
• Ibadan, Nigeria – Country office
• Bamako, Mali – Project office
• Accra, Ghana – Project office

ILRI Staff in West Africa
Augustine Ayantunde
Regional Rep.
Abdou Fall
Project Manager
Michel Dione
Animal Health Scientist
Tunde Amole
Country Rep., Nigeria
Dolapo Enahoro
Agric. Economist
Abdrahmane Wane
Agric. Economist

ILRI Staff in West Africa
Mireille Karambiri
Admin & Finance
officer
Assoumane Maiga
Communication officer
Rasmane Bagagnan
Research Assistant
Fahouzia Yawa
Bilingual Admin.
Assistant
Katian Napon
PhD student
NRS:
Burkina Faso – 6
Mali – 5
Nigeria - 3

Priority Areas of Research
(i) Closing the livestock productivity gap through
sustainable intensification of mixed crop-livestock
systems
(ii) Improving herd health and enhancing the
consumption of animal source food and food
safety
(iii) Livestock value chain development, particularly
live animals (cattle and small ruminants) and
better market access for smallholder producers
(iv) Building resilient livestock systems in response to
climate change.

ILRI Comparative advantage in West Africa
1.Strong livestock research knowledge base: Notable
research achievements in the region e.g. detailed
characterizations of the livestock systems in West Africa
which serve as key references for any work on ruminant
production systems in West Africa till today; long term
rangeland monitoring in Niger; dual purpose cowpea work
with IITA etc.
2. Capacity development: Many PhD students from the
region were trained under ILRI graduate fellowship program
and there were short-term trainings of many national
scientists at ILRI Labs
3. Strong network of partners due to ILCA/ILRI long presence
in the region since 1970s

Challenges to ILRI growth in the region
1. ILRI research program in West Africa has been
largely opportunistic in the past decade. Hence, many
research activities only lasted for the duration of the
projects.
2. Lack of a critical mass of scientists to grow ILRI
research program in the region
3. Absence of organized approach in engagement
between the regions and ILRI Research programs

Recommendations to grow ILRI in the
region
1. Significant investment by ILRI for the presence of a
critical mass of scientists in the region with
programmatic linkages and a strong resource
mobilization strategy facilitated by the Management
2. Have a strong stakeholder engagement to update
ILRI Strategy for the region and to strengthen
partnership
3. Inventory of the skills, projects, plans and interests of
individual scientists in the region, with a view to
establishing linkages and pursuing integrated
research program