The document summarizes a presentation about the sustainable use of animal genetics in developing countries. It notes that demand for livestock products is growing rapidly in Southeast Asia but that lack of private incentives threatens indigenous animal genetic resources. It suggests that ex-situ conservation is one option but in-situ conservation could be facilitated by new market-driven models that create demand for traits in local breeds and by exciting new genomic tools that can increase local breeds' adaptability and productivity.

1. The Sustainable Use of Animal Genetics
in Developing Countries
Steve Staal
2nd International Conference on Agricultural and Rural Development in Southeast Asia
Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2014

2. Outline of the Presentation
The Livestock Revolution in SE Asia
Models of livestock production
Public vs private benefits of conservation
Opportunities through both demand and supply
Conclusions

3. Projected growth in demand for livestock
products in SE Asia
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Beef Pork Poultry Eggs Milk
1000s of MTs
2010
2030
Source: IFPRI IMPACT Model, 2013
Beef and poultry demand to double by 2030

4. Large yield gaps linked to genetics
Estimated opportunities to increase smallholder productivity
$90
$80
$70
$60
$50
$40
$30
$20
$10
$-
Africa South Asia Total
Smallholder Productivity Opportunity ($ Billion)
See Appendix slide
26 for more detail
on this model
genetics
animal health
nutrition
post harvest
Animal genetics provides
the largest opportunity
across all geographies
There is also
opportunity in
animal health,
particularly in
SSA
Sources: estimates based on BMGF analytical models referencing multiple data sources including: Oct 4-5 Livestock Landscape Analysis Expert
Panel Workshop; Oct 27 Livestock Foundation Genetics Workshop; Expert Interviews; FAOSTAT; OIE Technical Disease Cards; the Center for
Food Security and Public Health Animal Disease Information; OIE-WAHID database; Merck Veterinary Manual; 2011 Market Probe market
research for Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia

5. Changes in SE ASIA Livestock
Production Systems
Drivers of change
• Population growth and urbanization
• Increases in income
• Market and trade liberalization
• Climate change
• New technology
Consequences
• Growth in demand of livestock products
• Pressure on and degradation of the resource base
• Scaling up of production and vulnerability of small farms
• Increased competition
Responses
• Intensification of mixed crop-livestock systems
• Genetic resource substitution
• Policies for enhanced productivity

6. Models of
livestock production
Smallholders: The “household model”
 Multiple objectives besides income,
including risk reduction, diversification,
insurance, and social capital
 Up to 40% additional “returns”
to livestock in other benefits
 Maximum use of low cost resources
and farm synergies, minimum use of
purchased inputs
Large producers: The “enterprise model”
 Only 1 objective: profit (which has its own
risks)
 Capital intensive , mechanization and
economies of scale

7. The big challenge
Demand for improved productivity frequently in conflict with
diversity conservation
Loss of diversity caused by stakeholders’ choices primarily for
economic reasons;
The animal genetic requirements of industrial systems are thus characterized by:
 ability to manage environment means less demand for breeds adapted to
local environments or disease resistance
 more demand for efficiency, and especially FCR to maximize benefit
 more demand for quality traits due to consumer demand and technical
requirements related to standardization, size, fat content, color, flavor, etc.

8. Private vs public
Securing poor farmers’ livelihoods vs. keeping local breeds
 Farmers are changing the genotype of their livestock assets, largely
due to need for greater productivity
 Farmers invest in livestock for private benefits
 Society wants to maintain AnGR for long term public benefit
 Is it fair to ask farmers to maintain public goods embedded in AnGR
and to forego productivity gains and income?
 How do we reconcile these two seemingly contradictory objectives?

9. Private benefits to support sustainable
conservation
Recognize 2 forms of capturing
private benefits
– Demand side - Traits that the
market is willing to pay for
– Production side – maximizing
benefits of adaptation
• Heat tolerance, hardiness, diet
suitability, disease resistance
• Social status due to traditional
practices

10. New business models to generate demand
for local breeds in-situ conservation
Demand side - Traits that the market is willing to pay for
 Strong SE Asian demand for unique taste, novelty,
traditional consumption, and organic production
 Animals raised grown in organic, sustainable and
animal welfare friendly conditions
 Converting public into private benefits through
branding and certification
 Structured cross-breeding systems provide an
opportunity for in-situ conservation of indigenous
breeds

11. The alternative: Ex situ conservation
To be effective, should consider multiple
levels of conservation and data assembly
– Animal-level, genomic-level, gene-level
(gene cluster, chromosome, karyotype-genome, semen)
– And different types and levels of data to build the research
resource
• Other samples: hair or blood, or parasites on animal
• Animal characterization such as GPS location of animal to capture
environment, local breed-name, phenotype, productivity, etc
– This allows ‘bio-banking’ of breeds under threat not only for
preserving animals for an unknown future need, but also for
creating an important research resource for example, for
gene discovery.

12. On the supply side
We must take account of the
realities of small-scale
livestock producers.
Diversity of:
 Environment
 Climate
 Feeds available
 Endemic diseases
 Local market context
 Infrastructure
 Institutions
No data systems to
inform selection.
No infrastructure to
manage selection.

13. New opportunities for phenotyping
Can we skip a generation
of technology?
Fast, light, cheap
performance data
harvesting.
 Cheap sensors, mobile platforms,
crowd sensing…..
 Simultaneously providing
management information to the
farmer and performance data to
the breeder.

14. New opportunities for genotyping
“traditional” linkage mapping requires crosses – so initial discovery is
limited to variants within a species
Cow NDama KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSPLHTLCEREKSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK
Cow Boran KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTLCEREKSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK
Human KFISRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTVCEREHSTVPWFVKQCIEAVEK
Pig KFITRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHTVCERENSTVPRFVKQCIEAVEK
Chicken KFISRRPSLKTLQEKGLIKDQIFGSHLHLVCEHENSTVPQFVRQCIKAVER
Salmon KFISRRPSMKTLQEKGIIKDRVFGCHLLALCEREGTTVPKFVRQCVEAVEK
Comparative gene network and
sequence analysis allows to ask
new kinds of questions about
genomes – eg “what is different
about this (group of) species
compared to all other mammals”

15. Genomic editing breakthrough
Identify and make use of the
genetics underlying natural
variation.
There has been no systematic
search for the genomic basis of
adaptation. Because until now
we have had no validation
tools and no delivery tools.
New Genome Editing tools
change the landscape.

16. Discovery to delivery
Genotyping Phenotyping
Adapted &
productive
livestock
Genome
editing
Targeting
Data systems
Delivery systems

17. Summary
Growing demand and markets for livestock products
is bringing about rapid change
Lack of private incentives for smallholders to raise
indigenous breeds threatens their survival of
strategic AnGR
Ex-situ conservation offers one alternative, but still to
be explored
In-situ conservation can be facilitated through
several options
Demand side: new market driven models to raise demand
for specific traits for local breeds
Supply side: exciting new genomic tools to increase
adaptability and productivity of local breeds.

18. Thank you for your attention
Acknowledgements:
Jackie Escarcha, Han Jianlin, Steve Kemp, Mwai Okeyo

19. better lives through livestock
ilri.org
The presentation has a Creative Commons licence. You are free to re-use or distribute this work, provided credit is given to ILRI.