Presentation at 3rd GRF One Health Summit 2015 Session Focus on Behaviours

1. Studying livestock food systems
– the need to create clarity
Barbara Häsler, Jonathan Rushton
bhaesler@rvc.ac.uk; jrushton@rvc.ac.uk

2. Acknowledgments
P. Alarcon P. Dominguez-Salas
E. Fevre J. Onono M. Carron
L. Cornelsen

3. Background
Societies are rapidly changing and so are the
demands for animals and their products and the
ways animals are managed and valued
Dynamic systems create new challenges in terms
of (re-)emerging infectious diseases and food
safety and food security
Importance of looking at human behaviour in
depth
Food systems thinking brought into LCIRAH

4. Where our domestic animals are
Courtesy of J. Rushton and K. Stevens

5. A culture of cheap food products
Increasing demand for animal source foods worldwide
triggered by a growing global population and greater wealth
New technologies, breeds, and genetics

6. A culture of cheap food products
Increasing demand for animal source foods worldwide
triggered by a growing global population
New technologies, breeds, and genetics

7. Our approach to tackle the resulting
complexity

8. Epidemiology, Ecology and Socio-Economics of
Disease Emergence in Nairobi (“Urban Zoo”)
Aim: to understand the mechanisms that may lead
to the introduction of pathogens into urban
environments, and the emergence of those
pathogens in the human population

9. Understanding
of the system
Microbiology
and microbial
genetic
Environment,
livestock and
peridomestic
wildlife
Consumption
patterns
Human and
livestock
demography
Nutrition
Making the tasks manageable
Socio-economics
and behaviour
Demand and
preferences
Food safety

12. FOOD SYSTEM
Environmental
impacts
Habitat
Destruction
Wildlife
Disease
Infectious disease
in animals
Production
Losses
Animal
Healthcare Costs
Food handling and
consumption
patterns, foodborne
illness
Malnutrition through
poor distribution and
availability of macro
and micro nutrients
Undernourished Over nourished
Human
Deaths
Human
Disease
Healthcare
Costs
Human
Deaths
Human
Disease
Healthcare
Costs
Value chain analysis
Courtesy of J. Rushton

13. Courtesy of P. Alarcon

14. FOOD SYSTEM
Environmental
impacts
Habitat
Destruction
Wildlife
Disease
Infectious disease
in animals
Production
Losses
Animal
Healthcare Costs
Food handling and
consumption
patterns, foodborne
illness
Malnutrition through
poor distribution and
availability of macro
and micro nutrients
Undernourished Over nourished
Human
Deaths
Human
Disease
Healthcare
Costs
Human
Deaths
Human
Disease
Healthcare
Costs
Value chain analysis
Courtesy of J. Rushton
Surveys, sampling and testing for E. coli,
campylobacter and other pathogens

15. Nutrition component
Household dietary survey and anthropometric
measurements
Optifood diet modelling to predict which food-based
recommendations can ensure dietary adequacy
3 nutrients are particularly problematic: Niacin, calcium and
iron
• Iron minimum requirements cannot be met with usual
diet, but ASFs substantially increase it
• Calcium dependent on ASF foods (mostly milk)
• Niacin can be covered with non-ASFs
However, high costs to achieve these improvements in the
micronutrient profile

16. Bringing it all together
Consumers
• Anthropometric measurements, nutrient deficiencies
• Tell us what they WANT TO EAT/NOT TO EAT and why
Value chain analysis
• Provides information on the ACCESSIBILITY of foods,
how the chains are structured, organized and governed
• Shows us where there are efficiencies, price differentials,
barriers to entry, market OPPORTUNITIES, and RISKY
PRACTICES
Optifood modelling
• Shows us, which LOCAL foods could make a difference
in terms of nutrition
Microbiological analysis
• Tells us where PATHOGENS occur, how they get into the
system, and where they are/can be controlled
Intervention
planning and
implementation

17. Concluding remarks
We place the food system at the heart of the research
We weave health into our activities with the goal to
achieve health for all
Our aim is to understand systems and associated
tensions, barriers and opportunities
With our approach we can identify where in the
system resources for nutrition, health and welfare
can make a difference

18. Thank
you
University of Nairobi
International
Institute for the
Environment and
Development
Roslin Institute
Kenya Medical
Research Institute