Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health celebrates five-year milestone and plans for its future

This article by Maggie Bennett was originally published on the CTGLH website

CTLGH Principals (left to right) Jimmy Smith (ILRI), Eleanor Riley (Roslin/UoE), Wayne Powell (SRUC) (photo credit: CTLGH/Maggie Bennett)

The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) had a double celebration on 27 September 2019 as it celebrated the achievements made in the first five years of its existence and the signing of a collaborative framework agreement between its founding partners to underpin its future for the next five years.

CTLGH was established in 2014 by the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh), Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Africa-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

At an informal celebratory event held at the Roslin Institute, collaborating researchers from Roslin, SRUC and ILRI celebrated the fifth birthday of CTLGH and the heads of the three founding institutes signed a new agreement, which will support the work of the Centre for the next five years.

Founding partners sign commemorative framework agreement, Roslin Institute (photo credit: CTLGH/Maggie Bennett) 

With research nodes in the UK, Kenya and Ethiopia, CTLGH is a flagship livestock research and development centre with the mission to enhance food security in low- and middle-income countries via increased productivity, adaptability and sustainability of livestock in tropical production systems through genetic improvement.

The centre’s focus is to mobilize the scientific advances in genetics and genomics that have led to substantial gains in temperate livestock productivity and apply these to improve livestock productivity in tropical environments, for the benefit of smallholder livestock farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

‘We are delighted with the significant progress that CTLGH has made since it was established in 2014. This includes the delivery of ground-breaking scientific programmes that will define and position the Centre as an innovative global research and development partnership, said Eleanor Riley, director of the Roslin Institute

‘We are determined to ensure that the Centre will continue to leverage many years of innovations that our respective institutions and other key partners have developed, to help strengthen livestock development globally,’ said Wayne Powell, principal and chief executive of SRUC.

Jimmy Smith, director general of ILRI, was keen to highlight the advantages of collaborative working. He said, ‘Strategically CTLGH research is positioned for discovery. However, by establishing strong collaborations with industry and farmer facing programs and institutions, the research generated by CTLGH can be translated, adopted and applied in the field for the direct benefit of livestock producers.’

Read the full article here