By Alfaritsy
By Sharon Atieno
Over 15 lower- and middle-income nations stand to gain from the Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods (SAAF) initiative launched by CGIAR, which was previously called the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.
The listed nations encompass Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Mali, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, and Guatemala.
Rodrigue Yossa, the Acting Director of the CGIAR Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods Science Program, stated this during the CGIAR Science Week held in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.
Yossa states that SAAF’s objective is to enhance the quality of life for individuals in these regions by sustainably reshaping livestock and fisheries systems. This transformation seeks to create fair, nutritious, and eco-friendly food networks that contribute positively to both climate stability and environmental preservation.
We aim to enhance the lives of 1.7 million individuals throughout Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and South America by ensuring their access to nutritious high-quality animal and aquatic food products,” he stated, noting that this objective will be pursued through concentrated efforts in six interconnected fields of activity.
In the “Productivity Plus” sector, CGIAR aims to assist livestock and aquaculture producers in adopting innovative practices that boost efficiency. This approach promotes social inclusiveness while ensuring these advancements lead to higher profitability, lower emission levels, and increased nutritional content in food products.
“This primarily focuses on closing productivity gaps via innovations in genetics, feed solutions, and forage management along with comprehensive health packages… The ‘plus’ signifies our aim to ensure these systems become profitable, encourage uptake among young people and women, and enhance resilience,” Yossa clarified.
Regarding climate and environmental issues, the initiative aims to strengthen community efforts within terrestrial and marine food systems. It seeks to promote adoption of new technologies designed to enhance their overall resilience from both socio-economic and ecological perspectives.
Within the One Health framework, CGIAR aims to create and promote advancements in livestock and aquaculture systems to enhance communal health and welfare. “Our objective is to guarantee the security of food production regarding both animal and aquatic products, as well as ensuring the wellbeing of consumers and maintaining overall ecological balance,” he stated, emphasizing that their priorities include enhancing biosafety measures, combating antibiotic resistance, and improving the hygiene standards across these sectors.
Another focal area for the organization involves enhancing market systems, developing policy solutions, and expanding scale. The aim is to bolster participation from various stakeholders such as market players, women, young individuals, and underrepresented communities within fair, low-carbon, and robust animal and fishery supply chains.
“We aim to create business strategies centered on the production of animal and aquatic foods to ease their acceptance and guarantee that we connect with expansion efforts aimed at maximizing impact. This ensures widespread uptake and utilization of the innovations generated through the SAAF program,” Yossa stated.
In terms of gender, youth, and social inclusion, the initiative will assist animal and aquaculture producers as well as their communities in adopting fairer practices that empower both women and young people.
Finally, within the domain of data and digital solutions, the entity will aid in crafting scalable innovations at every program level to enhance overall productivity. This data will prove especially valuable for shaping policies.
The six-year initiative (2025-2030) involves a partnership between six CGIAR centers: WorldFish, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, the International Center for Agricultural Research in theDryAreas (ICARDA), the InternationalWaterManagementInstitute(IMWI),andtheInternationalFoodPolicyResearchInstitute(IFPRI).