Better lives through livestock
One Health and zoonoses projects at the
International Livestock Research Institute
Presented by Theo Knight-Jones on behalf of the ILRI team
Capacitating One Health in Eastern and Southern Africa (COHESA) partner orientation workshop
16 December 2021

2
ILRI’s livestock research: solutions for food and nutritional security,
poverty, environmental and human health
Mitigating climate change, enhancing
resilience and increasing livestock
productivity
Sustainable Livestock Systems
Taking livestock solutions to scale for
inclusive development
Impact at Scale
Delivering solutions for livestock, zoonotic
and foodborne diseases
Animal and Human Health
Efficient livestock production driving
inclusive growth and employment
Policies, Institutions & Livelihoods
(including gender)
Better nutrition for improved animal
productivity
Feed and Forage Development
Capacity development; communications; knowledge management

3
Animal and Human Health program goals & activities
To manage effectively or eliminate livestock, zoonotic and foodborne diseases that matter to poor
people through generation and utilization of new knowledge, technologies and products.
Herd health Food safety & AMR Zoonoses & EIDs Vaccines & diagnostics
Program activities center around two fundamental objectives:
 To increase the productivity of tropical livestock through better health.
 To reduce the negative impacts of livestock and their products on human health and the environment.

4
 Biosciences
• Animal Research Facilities:
o Biological Safety Level 2 plus animal containment facility
• High end molecular laboratory facilities, BSL2 & BLS 3 labs
for CGIAR researchers and NARS
o Azizi liquid nitrogen biorepository
 Mazingira environmental research centre
• Greenhouse gas emission & climate change studies in
crops, livestock and land-use changes in Africa
 One Health Centre in Africa
• Improving the health of humans, animals and ecosystems
o Capacity building
o Strengthening local, regional and global networks
o Evidence-based policy advice
 CGIAR Antimicrobial Resistance Hub
• Evidence linking antimicrobial resistance in agriculture and
public health outcomes
• Development of locally relevant and applicable evidence-
based interventions
• 66 hectares (167 acres or 660,000 m2)
• 116 buildings
• 7,342 m2 office space
ILRI Nairobi & Addis facilities

5
ILRI One Health Approach
A holistic approach to preventing pandemics/epidemics and other
microbial threats from animals/environment
ILRI One Health Strategy
• Vision: To improve the lives, livelihoods and well-being of
people in the global south by building healthy, sustainable and
resilient systems at the intersection of humans, animals and the
environment.
Key thematic areas
 Epidemics and pandemics caused by (re)-emerging viruses
 Endemic zoonoses
 Food-borne zoonoses
 Antimicrobial resistance

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One Health Research Education and Outreach Center
Gender and socio-economics: incentives, value chains, impacts, livelihoods, etc.
Management unit
Graduate Fellowships: fellowship program; Science communication
Field practitioners: community-based surveillance; value chain actors; lab technicians
Policy makers and mitigation agents: simulation exercises (link to international health
regulations; action plans, contingency plans, disease control policies
EMERGING
INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
NEGLECTED
ZOONOTIC
DISEASES
FOOD SAFETY
& INFORMAL
MARKETS
ANTI
MICROBIAL
RESISTANCE
Thematic areas
Applied research
Biomedical science: epidemiology, surveillance and diagnostics, disease control, etc.
Environment: climate and other environment drivers, animal waste management, etc.
Capacity building
Integration of
thematic areas:
Work in
common
systems,
integrated
surveillance
systems,
common tools,
environment,
strengthening of
One Health
units, etc.

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CGIAR AMR Hub led by ILRI
Applies a One Health approach to support
efforts in LMICs in controlling agriculture-
associated AMR risks by promoting
transdiciplinary partnerships
Global problem with 700,000 deaths per year and mortality rates
expected to raise by 2050 to 10M/year
https://amr.cgiar.org/

www.cgiar.org
Partners:
CGIAR Covid-19 Hub: http://a4nh.cgiar.org/covidhub/
The CGIAR COVID-19 Hub provides a coordinated research response to the global
pandemic threatening health systems worldwide, along with posing serious risks to
food security; local businesses and national economies; and hard-fought progress by
stakeholders at all levels towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Launched 23 June 2020, the Hub focuses on the four
research pillars making up the core of CGIAR’s response to
COVID-19:
1. FOOD SYSTEMS
2. ONE HEALTH
3. INCLUSIVE PUBLIC PROGRAMS
4. POLICIES AND INVESTMENTS
CGIAR COVID-19 Hub will focus on four
primary work areas:
1. Addressing value chain fractures
2. Integrating a One Health approach to
COVID-19 responses
3. Supporting country COVID-19 responses
4. Addressing food system’ fragility and
building back better

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SARS-CoV-2 research & support to Government of Kenya
June – December 2020
Proportion of Positive Tests SARS-CoV-2 variants

ILRI One Health in SE Asia
Decision makers
Public
health (MD,
army
health)
Scientists
Vets

www.cgiar.org
Other major ILRI One Health projects
HORN project – Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia
HEAL project – Ethiopia
One CGIAR – One Health initiative
14

THANK YOU

ONE-HEALTH INVESTMENT REPORT
REPORT TO BE PUBLISHED BY JULY 2021
SEVEN ‘why it matters’ fact
sheets
Seven messages + 22 Action Areas
‘what works, what delivers’ case
studies
One-Health
investment
report
Blogs Op-Eds
Podcasts Animation
Infographics
Stories
Presentations
Evidence briefs