Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2018 in Ghent "Global food security and food safety: The role of universities"

Food Safety Research in the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems

¹University of Florida, Animal Sciences, United States of America
²International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kenya
³Addis Ababa University, College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Ethiopia
⁴Iowa State University, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, United States of America
⁵Utrecht University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, The Netherlands
⁶University of Rwanda, Rwanda
⁷International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Uganda
⁸Heifer International, Animal Well-Being, Nepal
⁹Kansas State University, United States of America

Abstract

The livestock systems innovation lab (LSIL) is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through a leader with associates cooperative agreement award to the University of Florida. The duration of the current award is October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2020. The objectives of the LSIL are to sustainably improve livestock productivity and marketing and animal"=source food (ASF) consumption using appropriate improved technologies, capacity development, and policies, in order to improve the nutrition, health, incomes and livelihoods of vulnerable people.
LSIL is funding 22 projects in 6 countries, of which 7 are addressing food safety aspects of ASF consumption. Three focus grants (1-year duration) address safety of milk and milk products in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Nepal, and three focus projects address mycotoxins in animal feed in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Burkina Faso. One research grant (4-year duration) is fully focused on food safety and takes a broad approach to collecting evidence to inform food safety policy in Cambodia. One research grant addresses beef and dairy food safety in Ethiopia, including aspects of abattoir food safety. One research grant assesses consumer demand for milk quality and safety attributes in Rwanda. All projects have started and are generating results.
The CAGED project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, studies the balance between improved nutrition by smallholder chicken producers and exposure of young children to chicken droppings, specifically Campylobacter spp., as a risk factor for environmental enteric dysfunction.
This presentation will provide an overview of livestock systems innovation lab, with a focus on the objectives of the food safety projects as well as their initial results.

Keywords: Animal source foods, beef, dairy, food safety, mycotoxins, nutrition

Contact Address: Arie Havelaar, University of Florida, Animal Sciences, 2250 Shealy Dr, 32611 Gainesville, United States of America, e-mail: ariehavelaarufl.edu