Kenyan geneticist developing disease-resistant chicken with high egg yield
LONDON (TrustLaw) - The humble chicken may be a small bird but it could play a big role in reducing rural poverty in Africa, particularly among women farmers.
So says Kenyan animal geneticist Sheila Ommeh, who is working on developing a disease-resistant indigenous chicken with a high egg yield.
Her ambition is to “trailblaze a big chicken agenda in Africa” which will help alleviate poverty and hunger on the continent within the next 15 years.
Ommeh knows a thing or two about chickens, having grown up on the slopes of Mount Elgon in western Kenya where most homes rely on poultry flocks for food and income.
Her mother, aunts and grandmothers all kept chickens and the birds even paid for some of her schooling.
Three quarters of rural households in Kenya rear poultry, which is a cheap source of good protein. These smallholders are mostly women.
But Ommeh has seen first-hand how virulent diseases like Newcastle and Gomboro can wipe out flocks and destroy families' livelihoods, increasing hunger and forcing parents to pull their children out of school because they can’t afford to pay for it.
“I’m really passionate about giving back to the community an improved chicken that will really help their lives,” said the geneticist, who works at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
She also wants to collaborate with other scientists on developing a drought-tolerant chicken which could help pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, where an ongoing, massive hunger crisis struck last year.
LEADERSHIP
Ommeh’s work chimes with the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8 – the empowerment of rural women and their role in eradicating hunger and poverty.
Although women produce most of the food consumed in Africa, only one in four agricultural researchers are female and even fewer hold leadership positions in African agricultural research institutions.
One organisation trying to close this gap is African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), which is helping women like Ommeh build their technical and leadership skills.
AWARD hopes that if more women can reach positions where they can influence agricultural research and policies this will improve the lives of Africa’s smallholders, most of whom are women.
Globally, it is estimated that if women farmers were given the same resources as men they could increase their yields by 20 to 30 percent, which in turn would lift 100-150 million people out of hunger.
Ommeh, who holds a PhD in chicken genetics, firmly believes that the answers to Africa’s problems lie within Africa.
“In my view … it’s about time Africa looked for solutions in Africa for Africa,” she told TrustLaw, during a trip to London to address a group of British MPs about empowering African women scientists.
Ommeh plans to produce her genetically improved chicken by studying native African chickens. She says indigenous varieties are disappearing through cross-breeding and the introduction of exotic breeds and thinks this is making flocks more prone to viruses.
The 34-year-old scientist believes it should be possible to produce a disease-resistant breed that weighs around 4 kilogrammes and produces 250 eggs a year – about three times the weight and yield of indigenous chickens.
The impact this would have on children’s nutrition and rural women’s earnings is obvious.
“Definitely the incomes of these households will increase and that will (create) a rippling effect that will trickle up ... And we hope that in 10 to 15 years the poverty issue in Africa will not be so serious,” she added.
“Chicken is a small livestock but I believe it has the capacity to have a big impact.”
Although Ommeh’s long-term goal is to help reduce hunger and poverty in Africa, she also has a dream that’s closer to home.
“My personal vision is that 5 to 10 years from now my grandmothers and aunties won’t be saying Newcastle or Gumboro disease has wiped out their flock,” Ommeh said.
“I really hope my research will have an impact that will make this a story of the past.”
See also: Rwandan scientist aims to squeeze more out of pineapple sector
FACTBOX -Empowering women could save millions from hunger
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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