at a glance
Optimising productivity and
resilience of dairy cattle for the tropics
Yield (l)
The Challenge 5000
Typical low-input 
smallholder environment 77,060
Low productivity of dairy cattle in smallholder 
farming systems 4000
Indigenous inseminations undertaken by PAID
Genotype x Environment interactions: Diverse X-breed and captured on the ADGG platform
environments, Diverse Genotypes Exotic
3000
Highly fragmented small holder farming systems Innovative application of genomic 
No documented phenotypic information on 2000 and ICT tools to address the challenge
animals
DGEA & ADGG projects
Random use of uncertified bulls in herds
1000 Generate phenotypic information from livestock production 
No systematic genetic improvement of livestock systems using ICT tools
in place, hence no source of improved animals to 
change state of smallholder farmers 0 SNP assays to determine breed composition for matching 
Harsh Poor Good genotypes to farmer needs
Production environment Use phenotypic and genotypic information generated to 
calculate Genomic EBV
Identification and certification of superior cross-bred bulls  
Deliver superior bulls to farmers through partnerships with 
both public and private sector actors.
42,983
households enrolled 2.2M
SMS sent to farmers
Impact of improved dairy productivity
Sustained increase in income and improved livelihoods 
for millions of dairy smallholders
Where we work
Improved food, nutrition security and health 
of the poor households in Sub Saharan Africa Farmers registered 
in Ethiopia and Tanzania
Improved/sustained environmental health
Genomic technologies
Reduced SNP chip to determine breed 
composition 30,778
Impact of improved dairy productivity
Sustained increase in income and improved 
6,600 livelihoods for millions of dairy smallholders
Improved food, nutrition security and health 
of the poor households in Sub Saharan Africa
animals sampled 35,346
Improved/sustained environmental health
G
A A C ICT tools
C T A C A C
T T C G
C G A T T G
G Paperless data capture and 
feedback tools
1 Open source software
SNP
2 66,124
G animals registered
A A C
T T A C A C
T T C G
C
A A T T G
G 183,000
data points on the cows collected
Data from 2015 to March 2018 
Contact person: Okeyo Mwai • o.mwai@cgiar.org Dairy National
farmers institutions
Box 30709 Nairobi Kenya • +254 20 422 3000 Nairobi, Kenya • ilri.org 
This project is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
RESEARCH
PROGRAM ON
Livestock
This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. March 2018. In addition to organizations recognized for specific projects and outputs, we thank all donors which globally supported the work of ILRI and its partners through their contributions to the CGIAR system
www.cgiar.org/our-funders