Sustainable improvement of animal production and health.

Abstract

In reflecting on the role nuclear and related techniques have played in resolving problems of livestock kept by the poor in developing countries, the author acknowledges previous reviews in this area which dealt with the use of these techniques in generating new information on the elaboration of metabolic pathways, in unraveling the complexity of disease transmission, in understanding feedbacks in the endocrine system in relation to reproductive and metabolic hormones, and in attenuating parasites for vaccine production. Clearly the early benefits, perhaps with the exception of vaccine irradiation work, had more intellectual/scientific than economic/practical value. This short review, however, considers developments to date from the perspective of both the users and beneficiaries of such knowledge. It is only in the last 30 years or so that new knowledge and innovative technologies based on nuclear and related techniques have been used in the field to address challenges facing livestock keepers. Interestingly, these developments occurred in parallel with new knowledge in the physical and biological sciences — particularly in the use of plastics in bio-medicine, in fluid transfer and analytical throughput systems, in the computerisation of analytical technologies, in the measurement/detection of ultra-low levels of radiation in immunology, and in molecular biology. Also, there has been a palpable increase in interest of the business sector in developing robust and/or field-oriented technologies for use in the South e.g. nuclear and other marker-linked assay systems for the measurement of a wide range of key antigens and antibodies. In reviewing these developments, the author has attempted to place them within a development context and to draw out lessons learned particularly from the perspective of their contribution to solving problems of animal health and production and contributing to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Ten lessons are identified for consideration by FAO/IAEA, donors, policy makers, research managers and researchers to make the use of nuclear and related techniques more applicable and available for users, and to ensure the benefits of such techniques address the needs of poor livestock keepers. They include: a less reductionist approach to research; a more holistic approach to research on livestock systems; more diverse public and private research partnerships; longer, more sustained research trajectories; more support for extension/technology transfer; better communications (and resources) to facilitate wide-scale adoption of research products; more emphasis on monitoring and evaluating the outputs of research on livestock production and livelihoods; and greater advocacy of evidence for the key contribution of livestock and livestock research for development.