The African Animal Breeding Network as a pathway towards genetic improvement of livestock

Appolinaire Djikeng^{1

2

3}, Victor E Olori⁴, Isidore Houaga^{5

6

7}, Samuel E Aggrey⁸, Okeyo Mwai⁹, Eveline M Ibeagha-Awemu¹⁰, Raphael Mrode^{9

11}, Mizeck G G Chagunda^{12

13}, Christian K Tiambo¹⁴, Romdhane Rekaya⁸, Oyenkanmi Nash¹⁵, Zabron Nziku¹⁶, Oluyinka Opoola^{12

17

18}, Mapholi Ntanganedzeni¹⁹, Chinyere Ekine-Dzivenu⁹, Alexander Kahi²⁰, Tobias Okeno^{20

21}, John M Hickey²², Negussie Enyew²³, Edward J O Rege²⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
² Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
³ ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
⁴ Aviagen Limited, Newbridge, UK.
⁵ Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁶ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁷ The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁸ University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
⁹ International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁰ Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, UK.
¹² Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹³ Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
¹⁴ CTLGH, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁵ Centre for Genomics Research and Innovation, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria.
¹⁶ Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI), Dodoma, Tanzania.
¹⁷ The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK.
¹⁸ Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
²⁰ Centre of Excellence for Livestock, Innovation and Business, Department of Animal Science, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya.
²¹ Department of Agriculture, Animal Science and Natural Resources, School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
²² Bayer Crop Science, Barcelona, Spain.
²³ Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Jokioinen, Finland.
²⁴ Emerge Centre for Innovations-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

PMID: 39930083
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02079-4

Review

The African Animal Breeding Network as a pathway towards genetic improvement of livestock

Appolinaire Djikeng et al. Nat Genet. 2025 Mar.

. 2025 Mar;57(3):498-504.

doi: 10.1038/s41588-025-02079-4. Epub 2025 Feb 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
² Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
³ ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya. a.djikeng@cgiar.org.
⁴ Aviagen Limited, Newbridge, UK.
⁵ Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁶ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁷ The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK. isidore.houaga@roslin.ed.ac.uk.
⁸ University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
⁹ International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁰ Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada.
¹¹ Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, UK.
¹² Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹³ Department of Animal Breeding and Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
¹⁴ CTLGH, ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁵ Centre for Genomics Research and Innovation, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria.
¹⁶ Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI), Dodoma, Tanzania.
¹⁷ The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Campus, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK.
¹⁸ Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
²⁰ Centre of Excellence for Livestock, Innovation and Business, Department of Animal Science, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya.
²¹ Department of Agriculture, Animal Science and Natural Resources, School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
²² Bayer Crop Science, Barcelona, Spain.
²³ Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Jokioinen, Finland.
²⁴ Emerge Centre for Innovations-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

PMID: 39930083
DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02079-4

Abstract

Transforming Africa's agricultural production and food systems is an imperative to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and deliver on the Africa Union's 2063 vision, 'the Africa we want'. Transforming livestock systems through genetic improvement will sustainably increase productivity and proffer an inclusive socioeconomic development of farming communities. The African Animal Breeding Network (AABNet) is a platform of highly knowledgeable geneticists, animal breeders and professionals willing to provide information, training, advice and support across the continent. It will leverage available human resources among its members, facilitate partnerships and investment and develop infrastructure for innovative livestock genetic improvement in Africa.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: V.E.O. and J.M.H. were employed by Aviagen and Bayer Crop Science, respectively. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

References

1. United Nations. UN-DESA World Population Prospects 2019 population.un.org/wpp/Download/Probabilistic/Population/ (2019).
1. Neeteson-van Nieuwenhoven, A., Knap, P. & Avendano, S. The role of sustainable commercial pig and poultry breeding for food security. Anim. Front. 3, 52–57 (2013). - DOI
1. Thornton, K. P. Livestock production: recent trends, future prospects. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 365, 2853–2867 (2010). - DOI
1. Herrero, M. et al. Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector. Nat. Clim. Change 6, 452–461 (2016). - DOI
1. Dessie, T. & Mwai, O. The Story of Cattle in Africa: Why Diversity Matters hdl.handle.net/10568/108945 (2019).

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The African Animal Breeding Network as a pathway towards genetic improvement of livestock

Affiliations

The African Animal Breeding Network as a pathway towards genetic improvement of livestock

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources