SLP has now formally released the sub-Saharan Africa Feeds database – a user friendly searchable database containing information on the nutritive values of 20,913 samples of 566 of the major feeds used in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The database is available both on the web or on CD. This is the first time that such large amount of data on common feeds has been made publically available in this way. The purpose of putting both the database and the software to access it in the public domain is to enable extension, development and research agents to design scientifically-based and best-cost rations for meat, dairy and draught animals of small-scale African farmers. As their livestock assets are healthier and better nourished, these farmers become more food-secure and are able to increase their income from animal products.
This useful information tool was created as a joint effort of the SLP, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the Ethiopian Sanitary & Phytosanitary Standards and Livestock & Meat Marketing Program (SPS-LMM) with funding from USAID. The information can now be used to improve the feed analytical capacity to support livestock development in Ethiopia and throughout SSA. A poster has also been compiled on the nutritive values of the most commonly used feeds in Ethiopia to disseminate the information widely in Ethiopia.
The SSA Feeds database was described by Dr Alan Duncan as ‘a valuable resource for livestock research and development professionals in Ethiopia and beyond. It makes available a wealth of information about the nutritive value of feeds commonly used in Ethiopia. This will help in designing feeding strategies for livestock that are based on sound scientific principles. This is important as livestock production moves from subsistence to a more market-oriented mode of operation in certain areas.’ Developing “SSA Feeds” and making it available to the general public, its target users and ultimately, to its beneficiaries -small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa- is the result of the combined efforts of many individuals. The project was coordinated by Dr Salvador Fernandez-Rivera, whose dedication to feeds research in sub-Saharan Africa resulted in the development and design of this searchable web-published database. Since 2009 the project has been coordinated by Dr Bruno Gerard with support on animal nutrition and data quality from Dr Alan Duncan. Scientists and staff working over the years at the Animal Nutrition/Analytical Services Laboratories of ILRI in Addis Ababa and the feed labs of EIAR in Holetta, Ethiopia, provided and analyzed thousands of samples of feedstuffs and provided the basic data for the tool. David O. Anindo, Abdullah N. Said, A. Lahlou-Kassi, Jean Hanson, Markos Tibbo, Abate Tedla and Asebe Abdena contributed scientific expertise, Ephrem Getahun developed the computer programme and the ILRI web and graphics teams designed and manage the website.
The database is available from the SLP website
Systemwide Livestock Programme 
September 27, 2011 at 7:30 am
Since the time I joined ILCA in May 1991, when Dr Hank Fitzhugh was the Centre’s DDG-Research, it became clear that his philosophy to research for development could be summarized in three fundamental principles: 1) do science of high quality and broad relevance that addresses priority problems, stating clearly your hypotheses and using the best experimental approaches to ensure that your conclusions are solid and have general applicability; 2) don’t do it alone, but be part of a network that includes the best scientists around, complements each other´s capacities and do what needs to be done; and 3) take your results out of your cabinets, publish them and make them available in a meaningful way to those who can put them use.
As I moved to Addis to work first in ILRI´s Feeds and Nutrition Programme and then in the CGIAR Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP), it became clear that there was a wealth of information in the databases kept at the Nutrition Laboratory. There was a great deal of effort by scientists such as Jess Reed, Paschal Osuji, the late Victor Umunna, Abdullah Said, David Anindo, among many others. The databases developed during some 15 years were, as Dr Fitzhugh had said, kept in the cabinets. At the same time it was evident that livestock extension agents, private consultants and NGOs supporting livestock development had no access to reliable feed quality information that could inform decisions on the best use of available feed resources. Keeping as secret all this information was in contrast with the advance of information technology and the huge demand for feed quality information.
With funds of the SLP and with the support of Dawit Negassa, Markos Tibbo, Mahlet Mekuria, Abate Tedla, Asebe Abdena, Menkir Girma, Ephrem Getahun, Apollo Habtamu, Daniel Haile-Michael and Birru Dori, among others, in 2004 we initiated the development of an information system available on line. The first task was digging and cleaning the data and designing the system.
When the project was in course, Dr Fitzhugh went to Ethiopia to plan what later became the USAID funded Ethiopian Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards and Livestock and Meat Marketing (SPS-LMM) Project. As the project would involve the organization of feedlots advised by nutrition consultants, he urged me to make available the data on feed quality. SPS-LMM provided funds to speed the project. In this stage we benefited from the valuable collaboration of Adugna Tolera (Awassa College of Agriculture and later SPS-LMM) and Seyoum Bediye (Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization, now the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research).
In October 2006 the SLP launched version 1 of the Sub-Saharan Africa Feed Information System (SSA Feeds). The launching received broad press coverage and we received stimulating feedback from people across Africa, USA and Europe, as well as suggestions and many queries on information of specific feeds.
I have not followed on how much SSA Feeds is used. It is evident that Alan Duncan and Bruno Gerard have done an excellent job in keeping and upgrading the system to version 2. Looking back, I am convinced that Dr Fitzhugh’s principles are as valid as ever and that livestock development professionals and farmers need reliable and meaningful information on feed quality. Perhaps a shortcoming of SSA Feeds is that the majority of the entries come from experiments. It would be highly desirable to have information on feeds obtained on farm and in feed markets, characterized in a practical and useful manner. I believe this information could be developed using high throughput, non-destructive approaches, such as near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. A set of mechanisms and contracts involving private firms, government or extension agencies and research organizations would be required to incentivize the creation and use of the improved information system. The information could be made available using mobile devices such as cell phones, tablets, etc. Perhaps this is a subject that the SLP can take on.