Better lives through livestock
Resilient food and agriculture systems in Kenya
within the COVID-19 pandemic: opportunities
and challenges (focus on livestock)
Jimmy Smith, Director General
International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya
Second High Panel Conference on Agricultural Research in Kenya
Nairobi, 21 October 2020

2
Overview
• COVID-19 impacts
• Global impacts
• Examples: impacts on the livestock sector in Kenya
• Securing future food systems
• Opportunities in the livestock sector
• Address the drivers
• Focus on One Health

3
Impacts
Global and across all sectors

4
Source: BRIEF#2: PUTTING THE UN FRAMEWORK
FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESPONSE TO COVID-19 INTO ACTION: INSIGHTS. United
Nations, JUNE 2020
Tens of millions of people at risk of falling into extreme
poverty
Undernourished people, currently ~690 million, likely to
increase by ~132 million by end of 2020
If this trend continues, elimination of hunger (SDG2) will
be missed by some 890 million
Nearly half the global workforce of 3.3 billion at risk of
losing their livelihoods
COVID-19
impacts
reverberate
everywhere

5
A significant hit on human development
Source: BRIEF#2: PUTTING THE UN FRAMEWORK
FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESPONSE TO COVID-19 INTO ACTION: INSIGHTS. United
Nations, JUNE 2020

6
Kenya
Impacts in the livestock sector matter:
- Sector supports 10 million mostly pastoralists
- Half of agricultural workforce
- 13% GDP
- Resilience, food, income, etc

Expected effects of COVID-19 on the livestock value chain
(tested: phone survey in northern Kenya)
Inputs (agrovets
and other service
providers)
Reduced sales due to
limited demand by
producers
Producers/
Pastoralists
Reduced livestock
sales due to closure
of markets
Reduced income
from livestock sales
Limited access to
market information
Reduced labour
force from non-
family members
Aggregators
Reduced livestock
stocks
Reduced access due
to border , inter-
county restrictions,
curfew & market
closures
Processors
Fewer animals for
slaughter due to
border restrictions and
curfew
Abattoirs running
below capacity
Reduction in
quantities processed
Distributor-
w/sale &
retailers
Reduction in
livestock numbers
being sold
Increased cost of
international trade
due to closure of
borders and
movement
restrictions
Consumers
Reduced purchasing
power due to fewer
livestock sales,
unemployment
Reduction in
quantity of foods
consumed & food
security
Reduced use of
health and nutrition
services

Results: consumers
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Isiolo Marsabit Garissa Wajir Turkana Total
meanIncome(Kes)
Household mean income in KES by county
January February March April
• Significant reduction in household incomes across the 5 counties
• Reduction in consumption frequency of nutrient dense meat, eggs, fruits
and vegetables
• Reduction in number and quantity of
meals consumed per day
• Reduction in number of ante- & post-natal
visits: e.g. in Garissa, the % children 6-59
months getting micronutrient
supplementation dropped to 30% in May
2020 (71% May 2019)
• Frequent hand washing and sanitation as a
COVID-19 preventive measure could have
positive health/nutrition effects

Results: livestock markets and retailers
• Sharp reduction in meat sold
• Volumes of livestock sold started to decline in Feb across the counties and
plummeted in March and April with the closure of most livestock markets
• Improvement in May and June, but generally stagnated compared to the
period before the pandemic
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
JA N- 20 F E B- 20 MA R- 20 A P R- 20 MA Y - 20 JUN- 20
NUMBERSOLD
MONTH
VOLUMES SOLD BY SPECIES
Cattle Camel Goats Sheep
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
January February March April
Kilograms of meat sold by
month
Isiolo Marsabit Garissa
Wajir Turkana Total

10
Securing future food
systems
Opportunities in the
livestock sector
Build
back
bette
r
Build
forwa
rd
A
new
norm
al
?
Build back
better
Build
forward
A new
normal
3-D model of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, developed by Annabel Slater, ILRI

11
Global livestock sector opportunities

12
Taking opportunities – ILRI and partners
Re-purposing ILRI labs to support national COVID-19 testing in Kenya: in
the context of One Health research
Measuring impacts of COVID-19 through The Rural Household Multi-
Indicator Survey (RHoMIS): pilot studies in Kenya and Vietnam to target
crisis responses
Using digital platforms to support smallholder farmers in Kenya during
COVID (ADGG and iCow): 41 counties covered with digital information and
feedback

13
Securing future food
systems
• Drivers
• One Health

14
Understand and address the drivers
Seven major anthropogenic
drivers of zoonotic disease
emergence
1. Increasing demand for
animal protein
2. Unsustainable agricultural
intensification
3. Increased use and
exploitation of wildlife
4. Unsustainable utilization
of natural resources
5. Travel and transportation
6. Changes in food supply
chains
7. Climate change
United Nations Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute (2020). Preventing the Next
Pandemic: Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission. Nairobi, Kenya.

15
Pandemics and endemics: One Health approach needed
Prepare – detect – prevent – respond
Surveillance:
Early detection
Respond:
Apply latest biosciences
Respond: minimize food
borne risks and hazards
Respond: institutional
coordination and action at
every level

THANK YOU