The University of Florida Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems within the Global Food Systems Institute will lead a five-year, $4 million project to improve the productivity and resilience of Haiti’s livestock sector, with new funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID/Haiti) through Feed the Future.
The project “Innovation System in Animal Production” is led by Geoffrey Dahl, Director of the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab. SIPA will work closely with three Haitian universities: Université d‘Etat d’Haïti- Campus Henry Christophe de Limonade, Université Notre Dame d’Haïti (des Cayes), and Université Quisqueya. Other collaborators are Fort Valley State University and Florida A&M University. It will further coordinate activities with USAID’s Projet d’Appui à la Rentabilité de l’Elevage and Haiti Agricultural University Partnership Activities.
“The project will introduce innovative and integrated interventions to improve the genetic merit of key livestock species, enhance the availability and supply of quality livestock feed, improve key management practices and strengthen the capacity of Haitian institutions,” Dahl said.
USAID programs have targeted Haiti because 2.5 million people in the Caribbean nation live in extreme poverty. Nearly half the population lives in rural areas, and 77 percent of households raise poultry, cattle, or other livestock. The livestock production is mostly for subsistence as livestock productivity is low and not able to satisfy the local demand.
Findings will be disseminated via publications, workshops and multi-stakeholder innovation platforms that include universities, research centers, policymakers, private sector actors, extension staff, farmers and other stakeholders.
UF/IFAS has a long history of work in Haiti, including the implementation of Appui à la Recherche et au Developpement Agricole (AREA), a five-year project concluded in 2020. This project strengthened the research and extension capacities of Haitian agricultural universities, rural centers for sustainable development and the Ministry of Agriculture to deliver agricultural technologies to improve food insecurity. The SIPA project further expands the academic, vocational, and research capacity on livestock production of key local universities and partners, and supports the dissemination of research findings.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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ABOUT FEED THE FUTURE INNOVATION LAB FOR LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS
The vision of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems vision is to sustainably intensify smallholder livestock systems to improve the nutrition, health, livelihoods, and incomes of vulnerable populations. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation we work globally: East Africa (Ethiopia, Rwanda), West Africa (Burkina Faso and Niger), Asia (Nepal) and Haiti.
livestocklab.ifas.ufl.edu | @Livestock_Lab
ABOUT THE UF/IFAS GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEMS INSTITUTE
The Global Food Systems Institute partners with federal and state funding agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private philanthropy organizations, among others, to create a globally preeminent and transformative community for advancing the frontiers of knowledge and practices for food and fiber systems. GFSI focuses on research, Extension, and instructional projects primarily in the developing world.
foodsystems.ifas.ufl.edu | @GFSI_UF_IFAS
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