A platform for testing, delivering, and continuously
improving tropically-adapted chickens for productivity
growth in sub-Saharan Africa
Tadelle Dessie, Senior Scientist, ILRI
TAAT Small Ruminants Value Chain Inception Meeting, ILRI Addis, 22 June 2018

Some facts about the ACGG project
• Project countries: Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia
• Funding: BMGF and contribution from partners
• Program period: 5 years
• Starting date: January, 2015
• End date: December, 2019
• Implementing Institute: ILRI with partners
• Main beneficiaries of the project: Women, Youth and CVC actors
• Main Trust of the project: Get the genetics right –provide options to contexts

ACGG Vision
The vision of this program is to catalyze public-private partnerships for
increasing smallholder chicken production and productivity growth
as a pathway out of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

Main outcome of ACGG:
Data driven understanding of the breeds and specific traits that poor
smallholder farmers, especially women, prefer across the various
countries and agro-ecologies

What are we doing differently?
ACGG Five Pillars of Change
1. High-producing genetics that is well-adapted to low-
input production systems;
2. Farmer preferred breeds of chickens;
3. Public-private partnership for improvement,
multiplication, and delivery;
4. Women at the center to ensure success; and
5. Innovation platforms for developing solutions across the
value chain.

What is different in ACGG?
1. From “silver bullets” to  researched options (informed by farmer
experimentation)
2. From “we are here to offer you solutions” to “we are here to work
with you to find solutions”
3. From pure focus on pushing ‘promising strains’ to recognition of
importance of O x C
4. Innovation Platforms at national and community level as on-
going processes for industry integration which outlive the current
Project!

2520households enrolled
56, 175birds tested
5improved strains
indigenous strains
5
on-station testing sites
2, 400 birds tested
2
1260households surveyed
63on-farm villages enrolled
ACGG: Numbers talk -Ethiopia!!!

ACGG: Numbers talk !!!
25 IP facilitators
trained
6 NIP’s 6 per country
Many CIP’s
6 PhD’s &
9 MSc’s
1, 882 finished
• 4 ACGG global PMT’s
• 4 SIAC meetings
• Many country level PMT’s
63 enumerators

CHICKEN STRAINS
COUNTRY CHICKEN STRAIN
ETHIOPIA Horro
Koekoek
Kuroiler
Rhode Island Red x Sasso
Sasso
NIGERIA Fulani
Funaab Alpha
Kuroiler
Noiler
Sasso
Shika Brown
TANZANIA Kuroiler
Sasso

Fertile eggs imported, hatched, brooded and vaccinated by
brooders/mother units/ mouther care units

DB
Validate

What are the desires of SHC Farmers?
Grow bigger
& faster
Lay more
eggs
Have high
survival
rate
To have birds that
- Colored birds
- Birds with good scavenging ability

Performance of the five ACGG test strains against indigenous chicken
under on-farm conditions in Ethiopia
Parameters Indigenous ACGG test strains Superiority
in percent
Body weight at 16
weeks in grams 408.5
Sasso-R 1108 171
Kuroiler 1204 195
Koekoek 959 135
Sasso 1150 182
Imp.Horro 714 75
Annual egg number
per year (52
weeks)/ bird
45
Sasso-R 126 180
Kuroiler 154 242
Koekoek 106 136
Sasso 160 255
Imp.Horro 117 160

Performance of the ACGG test strains as compared to the
indigenous chicken under on-station conditions of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Parameters Indigenous ACGG strains Superiority in percent
Body weight at 17
weeks in grams 627 g
Sasso-R 1691.56 169.5
Kuroiler 1915.46 205.2
Koekoek 1673.39 166.6
Imp.Horro 1272.81 103.0
- - -
Annual egg
number/year/bird
80 Sasso-R 208 160
Kuroiler 170 113
Koekoek 156 95
Imp.Horro 155 93
- - -

Fitted growth curve (growth data from day old to 18 weeks of age) using the non-linear models
(Gompertz equation) for estimating growth curves to describe the relationship between live body
weight and age of Sasso breed at DZARC, Ethiopia

week 9 week 12 week 16 week 18
Village Chicken 200 351 542 701
Improved Horro 692 936 1340 1540
Koekoek 850 1255 1794 1889
Sasso 1049 1508 1837 1903
Kuroiler 1528 1869 1974 2133
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
AxisTitle
Mean body weight (g) of different chicken strains tested at Debre Zeit, Ethiopia (9 to 18 weeks
of age) -200 to 250 % increase from the indigenous chicken

Live body weight (g) (0 to 18 wks), at six weeks and age when
two kg live body weight achieved (Kuroiler breed at DZARC,
Ethiopia)
35.66 (4.59)
187.44 (5.27)
468.89 (5.55)
762.45 (5.47)
1147.69(5.83)
1528.11 (28.33)
1869.02
(40.63)
1874.28 (90.86)
2133.2
(107.51)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
week 0 week 2 week 4 week 6 week 8 week 9 week 12 week 16 week 18
Bodyweightingrams
Age in weeks
Week 17
700g + LBW

Live body weight (g) (0 to 18 wks), at six weeks and age when two kg
live body weight achieved (Sasso breed at DZARC, Ethiopia)
32.99 (4.63)
144.78 (4.71)
349.24 (4.82)
574.09 (4.81)
830.95 (4.86)
1048.93 (22.51)
1508.2 (25.77)
1870.46
(45.43)
1837.75
(69.4)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
week 0 week 2 week 4 week 6 week 8 week 9 week 12 week 16 week 18
Bodyweightingrams
Age in weeks
574g LBW
Week 19

Male Growth Rate (90-180 d) in Ethiopia
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Cool Humid Cool Sub Humid Warm Semi Arid
Averagedailygain(g/d)
Horro Koekoek Kuroiler Sasso_RIR Sasso

CTLGH Poultry Genomics - ACGG
Ethiopia
Analysis of genotypes and phenotypes for backyard poultry production
Ethiopia: 25 populations [n=246] Nigeria: 14 populations [n=120]
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) completed for all 385 chickens (+ Tanzania ongoing)
Tanzania: n=67
21 million SNPs have been identified across the Ethiopian populations.

ACGG Partners

Kind Palms
Ventures
Olorun
Osun Farms
Partners now

Way forward !

Chicken’s high rate of reproduction enables rapid scale
Distribution could begin after 12 months
6 12Phase 2 Months 18 24
Size
Multiplier flock
100* 1,970 38,800 765,000 Millions100
Number of
smallholders
benefitting
7,300 145,000 millions More
millions
No chick distribution Limited distribution (5-10%) Full dissemination
This model can be implemented
simultaneously in multiple
geographies and countries.

• Negotiate the IP and access
to the preferred strains;
• Design and coordination of
the LTGG program;
• Capacity assessment/gap
analysis in the
private/public sector
partners; and
• Develop and lead the
implementation of context
specific capacity building
Who are the potential partners of the Long Term
Genetic Gains program network ? Their role!
National
Agricultural
Research
System (NARS)
The platform
members (ILRI, WU,
NARS etc)
Private sector
breeding
companies in
the program
countries
ILRI & H
Genetics –
Overall
coordination
of the
program
• Day-to-day management of the
genetic gains work;
• Multiply and sell parent stock
and GPS to hatcheries;
• Maintain parent stock; and
• Multiply and distribute
commercial germplasms to
mother units and/or farmers at
scale.
• Germplasm testing, data
collection, storage and
genetic evaluation of lines,
feedback and quality
assurance.
• Provide technical backstopping
in the design and setting up of
the LTGG program-data
capture, genetic evaluation,
and capacity building

Major challenges in the chicken meat and egg value chain and
Possible solutions (short to medium term)
Major challenges in the value chain Possible solutions
1. Lack of animal health services (lack
of quality vaccine, and treatment)
2. Lack of balanced chicken feed (with
different options)
3. Lack of appropriate breeds (with
options) and delivery at scale
4. Low demand for chicken products
(limited ways of consuming chicken,
and highly seasonal)
5. Limited Private sector involvement
(in all nodes of the value chain)
1. Improving the provision and coverage
of animal health services
2. Provision of affordable balanced
chicken feed, and training how to
prepare balanced feed
3. Appropriate genetics (GP, PS), delivery
system and LTGG program
4. Strong promotions of chicken food
products, and the different ways of
consuming it –school feeding as a
starting point .
5. Attract private sector investment in
all nodes and non-food industries
1. The GO needs to follow the
examples of the horticulture and
leather industries
Consuming just one egg a day
for 6 months reduces
stunting in children
GO needs to develop a pakage
that includes: Land, finance
and other incentives for
private sector companies
(inside and outside) to invest
in the poultry sector
Campaign “One egg per
person per day”

 Improved dual-purpose chicken may allow, at least at a
mid- term, small producers to meet the anticipated
high demand fueled by future population growth and
income increase but give room for commercial sector
development.
 It will encourage development of SMEs in rural
areas to supply required inputs and services
required by small scale producers
 VC approaches: interesting tool to investigate the
relevance of dual-purpose chicken production in
developing countries, especially in relation to market
and demand-led drivers.
 Other factors to be considered:
– Inclusiveness (gender and youth)
– Potential impact of changing environment
– Job creation
– Other sustainable development goals…
SDG1 NO
POVERTY SDG2 ZERO
HUNGER
SDG3 GOOD
HEALTH and
WELL-BEING
SDG5
GENDER
EQUALITY
SDG8 DECENT WORK AND
ECONOMIC GROWTH
SDG9 REDUCE
INEQUALITIES
SDG12
RESPONSIBLE
CONSUMPTION
AND PRODUCTION
SDG15 LIFE
ON LAND
Conclusions

Thank you for
your attention
Chicken are one of the few
household assets women
can control

• More food ≠ better nutrition
• More crops ≠ less stunting
• Stunting - long-term cumulative impacts
- Children – health, physical and cognitive
development capacity
- Adults - productivity losses
• 11% of gross national product in Africa and Asia lost
annually due to malnutrition
• Solution = balanced macro- and micro-nutrients essential
The agriculture, human nutrition and health nexus
chicken

Nutritional challenges

Yolk
+ energy
++ protein
++ choline
++ riboflavin
+ pantothenic acid
White
++ protein
+ potassium
++ selenium
Contribution to nutrient requirements
for a 7-12 mo child (+ 20-50%, ++ >50%)
Developed from Iannotti et al, 2014
+ vitamin B6
++ vitamin B12
+ folate
+ phosphorus
++ selenium
+ zinc
Portion sizes required for a woman to reach her recommended daily intake of iron (Gupta, 2016)
Mahaka Village, Tanzania (de Bruyn, 2014).
Achieving nutritious diets in resource-poor settings

Consuming just one egg a
day for 6 months reduces
stunting in children
Animal-source foods provide essential nutrients

Chicken and egg production at Tigray region, Tahtay-Machew district, Hadush-adi village

Vegetable production at South region, Doyogena district , Gemora Gewada village

WaSH practice at Amhara region Gondar Zuria district, Tsion Teguaj Village

Weekly sessions at Oromia region, Bako Tibe district, Oda Haro village

Cookery Session demonstration, at Tigray region, Saharti-Samre district, Gijjet Village

https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21679766-poultry-
excrement-may-be-stunting-infant-development-chicken-out
Key zoonotic diseases
Avian influenza
Salmonellosis
Campylobacteriosis
Newcastle disease

Suggested system to follow: Sustainable food value chain
approach (SFVC)
A food value chain consists of all the stakeholders that
participate in the coordinated production and value adding
activities that are needed to make food products.
A market-led approach
A sustainable food value chain is a food value chain that:
 is profitable throughout (economic sustainability);
 has broad-based benefits for society (social sustainability)
and
 shows a positive or neutral impact on the natural environment
(environmental sustainability)
The SFVC concept recognizes that value chains are dynamic, market-driven systems in which vertical
coordination (governance) is the central dimension and for which value added and sustainability are explicit,
multidimensional performance measures, assessed at the aggregate level.