7th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture (AACAA)

29 July  – 2 August 2019. Accra.  The 7th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture (AACAA).

PPP can strengthen the provision of vet services 

with direct benefits on animal health & related impact 
on public health, social welfare, business 
and national economy” Dr Isabelle Dieuzy-Labaye of 

@OIEAnimalHealth

With a focus on the animal agriculture (including aquaculture), the 7th AACAA provided opportunity for research and development stakeholders of animal agriculture in Africa to discuss the current as well as emerging opportunities and challenges arising from these major trends and suggest potential actions to harness the opportunities and to address them.

The conference also examined how the continent’s animal agriculture can increase its private sector engagement – through public-private sector partnerships. In this context the conference examined ways to leverage private sector investments through strategic national, bilateral and multilateral financing of livestock and fisheries/aquaculture research and development that also target youth and women – whose engagement represents one of the major unexploited opportunities for the continent.

"The link between innovation globalisation animal productions could not be over emphasised. Rapid economic growth and global dietary shifts called for increased animal production to meet the growing nutrition and food need of the people. Africa needs to innovate to avert food crisis and meet the food security needs of

its citizens," Dr Yemi Akinbamijo Executive Director of Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa

Special attention was given to:

• Opportunities and prospects for transforming ruminant livestock systems in Africa. [with a special focus on dairying and including the disciplinary areas – genetics/breeding, nutrition/feeding, animal health, and input and output markets]
• Opportunities and prospects for transforming poultry and pig systems in Africa. [with a special focus on poultry, and including the disciplinary areas – genetics/breeding, nutrition/feeding, animal health, and input and output markets]
• Working animals – the animal welfare and human livelihood dimensions. [With special attention to the working donkeys and mules in Africa]
• Delivery of animal inputs and advisory services in Africa – the last mile challenge. [With special focus only on last mile delivery in remote locales]
• Climate change and animal agriculture – adaptation and mitigation opportunities and prospects in animal agriculture [Focus on implications for different ecologies and the more vulnerable production systems in Africa]
• Capacity development and partnerships for innovations in animal agriculture
• Data platforms for decision-making in animal agriculture.

Extracts of the programme:

1. Keynote 1: From thousands to millions: selected World Bank experiences on scaling up innovations in animal agriculture - Simeon Ehui, Director, Agric Practice, The World Bank
2. Keynote 2: Climate change and animal agriculture – adaptation and mitigation opportunities and prospects in animal agriculture and the role of multi-stakeholder processes - Fritz Schneider, GASL
3. Keynote 3: Opportunities for private breeding companies to contribute to the growth of small scale poultry production in Africa - Johan van Arendonk, Hendrix Genetics
4. Keynote 4: Working animals – the animal welfare and human livelihood dimensions: The economic contributions of livestock to small holder farming and framing the idea of the donkey hides trade - Brain Perry, University of Edinburgh/Oxford
5. Keynote 5: Transforming African Livestock Systems: Last mile challenges and solutions - Carolin Schumacher, CEO, GALVmed 
6. Keynote 6: BIG DATA for improving animal performance in Africa - crowd source the harvest platforms for decision-making in animal agriculture- John Hickey, The University of Edinburgh

Symposium 4: Climate change and animal agriculture – adaptation and mitigation opportunities and prospects in animal agriculture:

• Options of making livestock production in West Africa “climate-smart? - Tunde Adegoke
• Amole
• Eating for Earth – Can animal agriculture play a role in climate change mitigation? - Tozie Zokufa
• Assessing the Contribution of Livestock emergency guidelines and standards (LEGS) Approach in drought mitigation measures in Saaxil region, Somaliland - Ahmed Yousuf Idiris
• Comparative Analysis of Climate Change Impact on Livestock in Relation with Biomass Feed Availability Using Standardized Precipitation Index in Southwestern Ethiopia - Asrat Guja Amejoa
• The genome landscape of African livestock adaptations to environmental challenges - Hanotte O

Additional references:

Ghana: Invest More in Animal Agriculture to Boost Growth - African Governments Urged

Videos: