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A three-day workshop was organized by the Innovative Agricultural Research Institute (iAGRI) staff at Ohio State University and hosted by the Sokoine University of Agriculture from the 14th to 16thof September under the sponsorship of the Norman Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program (Borlaug LEAP). The forum was attended by 50 participants from 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the US making a total of 12 countries represented. Among the participating delegates, nine of them were Borlaug LEAP alumni including me.

At the recent World Poultry Veterinarians Association conference in Edinburgh UK, graduate student Melissa Diest gave a podium talk on her USAID research on NDV, and co-PD Sue Lamont gave an invited Keynote talk on “Breeding for Disease Resistance” including examples from the USAID project research. Over 2,000 poultry health professionals from around the globe were in attendance.

Engaging Poultry Breeders and Smallholder Farmers on Raising Healthy Indigenous Poultry Flocks in Tanzania -The Sokoine University of Agriculture Genomics to Improve Poultry team participated in the annual Tanzania 8-8 Agricultural Show in Morogoro on August 8, 2017. The event brings together poultry breeders, smallholder poultry producers, students, and policy makers from across Tanzania to showcase agricultural products and technologies.

As part of his Borlaug LEAP Fellowship, James Mushi, a PhD student at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania under the Genomics to Improve Poultry Program, traveled to Iowa State University (ISU) in July 2017, to collaborate with ISU Genomics to Improve Poultry program partners on analyses for data generated through poultry trials conducted at SUA.

Perot Saelao from the Huaijun Zhou lab at UC Davis visited Dr. Boniface Kayang and the Ghana research team in order to help improve and troubleshoot the quantitation of the Newcastle disease virus through qPCR. On his arrival, Perot reviewed procedures done by the Ghana students and research team and was able to assist in the recovery of over 300 data points through reevaluation and troubleshooting. Despite the local holiday in Ghana, the team worked to establish working standards that were then validated on site and used to quantify the viral titer of 864 samples across two trials.

GIP Director Huaijun Zhou attended the Feed the Future Innovation Lab Council West Africa Regional Partners Meeting held February 6-8 2017 at the King Fahd Palace Hotel In Dakar Senegal. The objectives of the meeting were to draw together regional stakeholders, USAID country, regional and Washington staff and the Feed the Future Innovation Labs in order to:

1) Identify key agriculture and nutrition research priorities and needs for the region;

2) Examine human and institutional capacity needs and successful models;

James Mushi, a PhD student conducting research at the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania under the Genomics to Improve Poultry Program, kicked off his Borlaug LEAP Fellowship Program1 at the prestigious Plant and Animal Genome Conference (PAG) in San Diego. PAG brings together over 3,000 leading scientists in plant and animal genetics research to discuss recent developments and plans for genomics projects.

Dr. Huaijun Zhou was invited to give a talk on improving food security in Africa by enhancing resistance to Newcastle disease and heat stress in chickens, at The XXV World Poultry Congress in Beijing on September 7, 2016. This is one of the largest conferences in poultry science with more than 4000 delegates from 72 countries.

On July 20, 2016, As a Program Director of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Genomics to Improve Poultry, Dr.

 As part of the GIP program’s commitment to training and outreach, Esinam Nancy Amuzu-Aweh, an early career research associate at the University of Ghana, was invited to participate in the 11th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production (WCGALP), which was held at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. This congress is the premier event for researchers, students and industry professionals involved in the genetic improvement of livestock. This years’ congress brought together 1,000 delegates from all over the world.

In order to further enhance collaborative efforts between Iowa State University and the University of California, Davis. A graduate student Perot Saelao from UC Davis was sent to ISU in order to learn, collaborate, and standardize the analysis programs and software needed to begin working with the genotyping data obtained from the Hy-Line trial. Upon arrival at ISU in late February, collaborators Dr. Sue Lamont and Dr. Jack Dekkers, along with fellow graduate student Kaylee Rowland, held a meeting in order to discuss the expectations and goals of the visit.

Poultry experts identify key criteria for effective breeding and distribution of improved chicken breeds for smallholder farmers in Africa

The research team members for the “Genomics to Improve Poultry” project traveled to and held their 3rd Annual Meeting in Morogoro, Tanzania the second week of September 2015.

Perot Saelao departed from the University of California, Davis on July 10th 2015 to assist in the research being conducted at the University of Ghana and Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. In total, he spent a week at each University working with faculty, staff, and graduate student researchers to further hone their molecular laboratory abilities and familiarize the individuals with the shared methods needed. The molecular methods being demonstrated included RNA isolation, quantitative RT-PCR, equipment calibration, and refreshment on general laboratory techniques.

Melissa Herrmann and Kaylee Rowland from Iowa State University spent two weeks at the University of Ghana and Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. At each university, graduate students and research personnel were trained in essential laboratory techniques (ELISA, viral RNA isolation, and qPCR). The training focused on scaling up processes to high throughput to handle the large number of samples that will be collected in the next phase of the project.