Livestock and Fish value chain
development/assessment - Breeding component
Okeyo Mwai (ILRI)
CGIAR Livestock and Fish Value Chain Development Team Meeting
Nairobi, 5-8 March 2012

The expected outcomes
1. Better suited (more productive) breed types and seed
stocks are available and being used by farmers in each of
the value chains
2. Information system and functional databases that support
evaluation, timely decisions and better use of the available
genetics

The key issues to be assessed
1. What breed types and seed stocks are:
• available?
• being used?
• being demanded if different from the 2 above, by whom and why?
• What are the projected demand (what are the dynamics?)
2. Who are the key actors, what are their respective roles, share and how
efficient are they?; any partnerships, if so what are the arrangements?:
• production, evaluation certification of breeding stock (efficiencies?)
• delivery of breeding services (AI, rams, bucks, boars, bulls etc)
• Are there opportunities to change strategies? Which are these?
• What decision support tools are available to them and how
appropriate are they?

What are the key issues to assess cont..
3. What are the relative technical or organization capacities of the key
actors?
4. What are current needs, strengths & constraints
• technical/ technology needs (critical review of appropriateness)
• institutional (capacity)
• Knowledge management
• policy related
• organizational

Approach
1. For each VC identify & assess existing needs (technologies,
organizational, policy & institutional constraints), and opportunities
• Desk-reviews: what is already known, what worked and what did not!
• Participatory- work with actors/partners to identify opportunities for
immediate intervention (workshops/platforms sessions-rapid surveys etc.
• Simulations to find what traits/trait combination, improvement strategy
options & potential progress achievable using bio-economic models
• Simulations to assess dynamics & future production scenarios,
performance (demands- technologies and environment (i.e. policies etc)
• Pilot-testing of a few strategies, get feedbacks then fine-tuning or identify
researchable areas.
• Mobilizing additional resources (RPs, other CRPs) and seizing
opportunities to provide evidence to donors, ARIs, RROs and NARS) of
the benefit from technologies in ways that go beyond the VCs (GPGs)