Veterinary & Biosecurity
The Black Soldier Fly Insect Larvae Enterprise for COVID-19 Livelihood Resilience Project Launched at CoVAB
Published
2 years agoon
The College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB) in Collaboration with Michigan State University has embarked on upscaling the use of the Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a source of insect protein for animal production.
An awareness session was convened at the college on Monday 20th February 2023, attended by stakeholders that included the academia, entomology extension staff from peri-urban districts, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the Centre for Insect Research and Development (CIRD).
The Black Soldier Fly larvae is known to be one of the most environmentally friendly sources of insect protein that is highly nutritious and cheap to rear making it a possible replacement of expensive animal protein based feed ingredients like mukene or silver fish.
During the project launch, it was explained that Black Soldier Fly Larvae farming was growing rapidly despite some challenges that include issues of safety and quality of the larvae produced from different farms, the nutritional content as well as the mixing ratios with other feed ingredients.
Dr. Amulen Deborah and Dr. Patrick Vudriko the respective Principal and Co -Investigators are working together with Prof. Eric Benbow and Dr. Jennifer Pechal from Michigan State University in implementing the USAID funded project namely; Scaling cost effective, safe and quality Black Soldier fly insect larvae enterprise for COVID-19 Livelihood resilience in Uganda. The project comes in to address some of the identified challenges in the Black Soldier Fly enterprise.
According to Dr. Amulen Deborah, the key outputs of the project include a Policy brief on the use of Black Soldier fly larvae in livestock value chains which will guide the policy formulation processes by the planners. She said the one-year project that is supporting a Masters’ Student on Veterinary Medicine will also come out with one formula for BSFL based diet for broiler chicken.
Dr. Amulen explained that in line with the Universities community outreach policy, the project will support training of 100 youth and women in BSFL startups and for sustainability purposes support the Centre for Insect Research and Development (CIRD) as a one stop knowledge center. In addition to strengthening the collaboration between Makerere and Michigan State University, Dr. Amulen explained that another output will be a scientific research paper within the scope of the objectives of the project.
The project isintended to assess the impact of COVID-19 on livestock feed protein source to map out actors in the BSFL value chains in Peri-Urban Kampala and to assess the quality and safety of BSF larvae reared. It is also intended to build the capacity of women and youth in small scale commercial BSFL farming in the Districts of Mpigi, Wakiso, Mukono Entebbe and Luweero.
The collaborating Institutions include Makerere University, Michigan State University and the Centre for Insect research and Development (CIRD), which has since 2019 piloted small-scale commercial BSFL farming under the leadership of the Principal Investigator on this project, Dr. Amulen. The major milestones achieved by CIRD in the pilot phase include setting up a small-scale BSFL unit producing one ton of BSFL weekly, supporting establishment of 100 BSF farming business, establishing market channels for both BSF equipment and breeding seeds such as eggs and pupae, as well as creating demand for dry BSFL among poultry and animal farmers.
In the course of implementing the project, entomologists from selected Districts will support the identification of farmers willing to start BSF farming and serve as focal point persons in the baseline study. The other planned activities include three field questionnaire surveys, seven training workshops for commercial BSL farming to be conducted at CIRD, Laboratory analysis of BSFL for nutritional content and safety, feeding experimentation and determining the performance of Black Soldier Fly Larvae-based feed in broiler chicken as well as a dissemination workshop.
Dr. Vudriko Patrick the Co-PI while giving his reflections on the BSFL enterprise pointed out the need to seriously consider sustainability and the economics of the enterprise, the alternative wastes and their supply chain management as well as the legal framework for the enterprise, in addition to the National technical capacity for BSF development at Ministry and Local Government levels as institutions mandated to undertake training.
Dr. Vudricko emphasized the need for education as a vehicle for knowledge expansion and human resource technical competence, noting that our education system lacks the technical competence, citing the limited content for BSFL training at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB), The College of Natural Sciences (CONAS) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
He further emphasized the need for a product diversification as part of a holistic value chain development, product diversification, zero waste, not only looking at the larvae but considering maximizing revenue from all products. Other areas to focus he proposed, concerned product certification, determining who to call a breeder, and what it takes for one to qualify as one.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries was in attendance to address issues concerning establishing whether the relevant, laws and regulations were in place, as a condition for providing an enabling environment and ensuring the right standards in order to have the desired quality of products. MAAIF was also to give guidance regarding the existing technical capacity of the ministry and offer direction.
While officiating at the closing of the engagement, the Commissioner for Entomology in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Resources and Fisheries Mr. Lawrence Tusiime Muhangi noted that the Black Soldier Fly was a relatively new venture. ‘Apart from using the basic principles of entomology, we are all here to learn and the National Livestock Development Policy is the starting point for us all. Most of our participation is in bee keeping and my wish would be to advocate for skilling students at university’, said the Commissioner, affirming that the standards were not in place. He said the Ministry was aligning the Animal Disease Management Bill and that given the fact that the Black Soldier Fly was a biological organism, there was need for a training manual and standards to create a fair condition for all stakeholders, including development economists, the academic, the farmers and extension workers to participate.
He commended CoVAB for initiating the project and emphasized the need for the Ministry to consider other areas of entomology including the Black Soldier Fly since it was steadily getting onboard as a viable enterprise. ‘We need to check where we are in different areas of entomology. Communities are looking at entomologists to get solutions to the many challenges they face and the ministry needs to come in and support’, he said.
He encouraged Makerere University through the key departments responsible for basic entomology to carry out a campaign to ensure that the needed infrastructure is put in place, cognizant of the fact that there were few staff entomologists at the ministry. ‘Use friends, colleagues and contemporaries to push this agenda forward. I look at this as a salvation. These things are known in a small way but we need to think beyond what the entomologist can say’ he said while emphasizing the need for the academia to support to the Ministry on instituting the necessary polices and guidelines.
The commissioner encouraged the entomologists to ensure that there were demonstrations at the Districts and where they were not, have them started at their respective homes, and that with more orientation, more knowledge was to be gained in the management of the Black Soldier Fly enterprises.
In this project, the BSF value chain actors will be coordinated by the private sector (the Center for Insect Research and Development, CIRD) and regulated by the Department of Entomology, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry, and Fisheries.
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Mak Field Day Training on livestock feed Climate-Smart Innovations conducted in Buwama
Veterinary & Biosecurity
Mak Field Day Training on livestock feed Climate-Smart Innovations conducted in Buwama
Published
2 weeks agoon
November 22, 2024A team of scientists and students from Makerere University convened at Our Lady of Assumption Mitala Maria Parish in Buwama where, together with farmers from the surrounding area undertook a practical demonstration of improved silage-making technologies aimed at faster animal feed production. The outreach activity was aimed at addressing the challenge of low production in terms of milk and meat from livestock, which was attributed to low quantity and poor quality of feeds especially during the dry season, coupled with the poor production systems with limited land–intensive systems of production in the face of climate change.
The farmer field school event held on Wednesday 20th November 2024 was organized under the theme; Stakeholder Platform: Collaborative Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing for livestock feed Climate-Smart Innovations in Uganda. It was one of the four-year collaborative research project activities titled, “Building Capacity for Innovation and Advancement of Climate Smart Agriculture in East and Southern Africa” (CICSA-E&SA). This collaborative research project is implemented by Makerere University in partnership with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway), Maseno University (Kenya), and LUANAR and DARS (Malawi), funded by the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education (Diku)
The Principal Investigator, Dr. Dorothy Nampanzira Kalule, who is also the head of the Department of Livestock and Industrial Resources (LIR) at the College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB) led the team that comprised Dr. Herbert Mukiibi from CoVAB, Prof. Vincent Muwanika from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and Dr. Esaete Josephine from the College of Education and External Studies (CEES).
In her remarks, Dr. Nampanzira observed that because of climate change, the country particularly the farming communities was experiencing challenges in sustaining productivity and in getting adequate feeds for the livestock in the dry spells. We are looking for innovations that can sustain production she said, while emphasizing the fact that several useful practices from indigenous knowledge could be developed further for the benefit of many others. She said as scientists, they were going to the communities to look out for such practices, have them validated, and thereafter build capacity about these practices. Silogist, the technology used in making silage was developed through such on-farm experiences to preserve pastures and ensure the availability of feeds, especially in the dry season, she noted.
One of the pillars of the project, Building Capacity for Innovation and Advancement of Climate Smart Agriculture in East and Southern Africa” (CICSA-E&SA), is the creation of a stakeholder platform involving various players in the livestock value chain, inclusive of researchers, farmers, politicians, and the church. The outreach conducted in Mitala Maria was in line with the project’s objectives of developing a Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) platform that includes key stakeholders engaged in activities and initiatives that promote Livestock CSA practices and technologies that limit greenhouse gas emissions from Livestock. Through such fora, the stakeholders would deliberate and establish why, despite the number of innovations and technologies developed by scientists at Makerere University, farmers were still engrossed in poverty as evidenced by the lack of feeds during the dry season. The stakeholder engagement was expected to find ways of transferring these technologies to the people for adoption, leading to improved livestock productivity said, Dr. Nampanzira while explaining why the university reached out to the communities through Mitala Maria Catholic Church.
Dr. Herbert Mukiibi, the brain behind Silogist who is a veterinarian by training with an interest in the microbiology field said throughout his practice he has been exposed to the challenges faced by farmers and using literature from research at Makerere University, together with the farmers, through action research, he has come up with solutions to the existing problems faced by farmers. He noted a lot of expertise has been written in many forms of publications which unfortunately was not being used by the farmers. As a university, we were finding ways of packaging such messages through such demonstrations to enable hands-on experience and tooling amongst the farmers.
‘In Mitala Maria, we found them with a non-commercial farm, shared the technologies that were piloted in other communities, and supported them make the farm commercial. We are here to look at what was done and enable other farmers to learn that they can turn around their farms and go commercial amidst the climate change era where farmers are increasingly getting confused with low crop and animal yields because of the scarcity of resources’ said Dr. Mukiibi. He pointed out other challenges faced by farmers like lack of nutrient recycling caused by people taking products from the farm and not having a loop of nutrients coming back to the farm leading to depletion of soils for which he said, he had come up with nutrient recycling tools so that farmers can realize high yields as it used to be.
Prof. Vincent Muwanika who explained his background and linkages with the Sustainable Future Global Network and the Stewardship Institute of Environment appreciated the efforts by Mitala Maria parish which was engaged in several enterprises including livestock farming, banana plantations, eucalyptus growing, and others. He said as a faith-based institution, it was the mandate of the institution to embark on empowering their faithful with the needed knowledge and skills necessary for them to generate household and ultimately church income. He said allowing the farm to be used as a demonstration for others to come and learn was important in supporting the individual household efforts to gain the skills needed to undertake enterprises for income generation.
Several livestock farmers and those with intentions of embarking on the trade participated in the day’s activities drawing valuable learning experiences. ‘I have found silage very user friendly because the cows like it very much, secondly, it makes the feed readily available’, said the cattle attendant at the Mitala Maria farm that hosted the farmer field school where the demonstration was conducted. He said he benefited from the training to further understand the process of making silage and was optimistic that he was going to do the same in his own home where he is rearing cattle.
The head of the laity Mitala Maria Mr. Bwanika informed the gathering that although the farm had been in existence for a long time, it had deteriorated. He commended the team from Makerere University who came on board to support the revitalization of the farm using several technologies according to the strategic plan of the parish. He said, with the advice of the university staff, they were able to plant the pastures, restock the farm, and were on the right path to make it a model farm for the rest to learn from.
Building Capacity for Innovation and Advancement of Climate Smart Agriculture in East and Southern Africa” (CICSA-E&SA) aims to develop a higher education multi-disciplinary curriculum in agriculture and economics, targeted to building knowledge and scientific capacity for innovation and advancement of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in East and Southern Africa through long-term partnerships between and among NMBU and four institutions in Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda.
Veterinary & Biosecurity
Mak Hosts INSSPIRE Project Workshop on Enhancing Evidence-Based Education on Food Systems and Climate Change
Published
1 month agoon
October 24, 2024Written by Jacinta Nakaye
Kampala, Uganda – October 14, 2024 – Makerere University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (COVAB) is hosting a five-day Training of Trainers workshop for the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model. This is part of the Innovation for Sustainability and Societal relevance (INSSPIRE) project, which focuses on enhancing evidence-based education in food systems and climate change.
The workshop that brought together partners and stakeholders from various higher education institutions across Southern and Northern Africa to brainstorm innovative strategies for addressing these pressing global challenges.
During the opening session held at the Centre for Biosecurity and Global Health (CEBIGH) at CoVAB, stakeholders demonstrated their progress in implementing Real Life Learning Labs (RLLL), an experiential learning approach designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration on real-world development projects. These labs aim to tackle relevant issues in agriculture, industry, and society by equipping students with practical skills and problem-solving capabilities.
Associate Professor Robert Wamala, Makerere University’s Director of Research and Graduate Training delivered a keynote address on behalf of Vice Chancellor Makerere University Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe. He emphasized the severe impact of climate change on global food systems, particularly in vulnerable regions. “Climate change disrupts food systems globally, aggravating food security by impacting agricultural production through extreme weather events and shifting rainy seasons,” he stated. Prof. Wamala highlighted the need for transformative solutions that address the intertwined issues of food security and environmental degradation, which was on the areas to be addressed through the intervention.
The INSSPIRE project aims to stimulate innovative education and build inter-university capacity through international partnerships. By focusing on capacity building in higher education, the initiative supports staff development at participating universities in Kenya and Uganda thereby enhancing the delivery of educational modules on food systems and climate change.
Dr. Kato Charles Drago from CoVAB who is the team lead for the INSSPIRE project at Makerere University, coordinated the workshop, which attracted participation from institutions such as South Eastern Kenya University, the Institute for Innovation & Development of the University of Ljubljana, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Maseno University, the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale, Ghana, and the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, Ghana.
Prof. Frank Norbert Mwiine, the Principal of COVAB, in his address to the participants noted that Uganda’s economy largely depends on agriculture and the sector supports several families and employs a big part of the population both formally and informally including graduates from Makerere University across several disciplines. He said food systems in the country were rapidly evolving as a result of population demands amidst the increasing challenge of climate change. ‘We are glad that the INSSPIRE project plans to address this gap by strengthening food systems and adapting them to the challenges of climate change, he said.
Prof. Mwiine appreciated the support that CoVAB will receive from the project in enriching curricula for two courses under the Bachelor of Animal Production Technology (BAP) by building the capacity of staff to deliver modules on food systems, which he said, would make the graduates competitive in the ever-changing job market. The training of staff in curriculum enrichment and new course delivery approaches like the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), and gamification will help improve teaching and aid student’s interest and understanding of agriculture-based courses. He observed. While addressing himself on the real life-learning labs pioneered by the INSSPIRE project, he said the model will facilitate students to acquire practical skills and hence enhance their relevance in the community as the students and staff support communities to identify real-life challenges and tackle them holistically. He reaffirmed the commitment of the college leadership in moving these innovations forward, as demonstrated and that the college was ready to engage further in resource mobilization drives to propel the innovations forward.
As the workshop unfolds over the coming days, participants will deliberate on innovative strategies to transform food systems and advance climate change education, underscoring the critical importance of multidisciplinary approaches in fostering sustainable development.
Veterinary & Biosecurity
FPAIC calls for collective responsibility in resource allocation and utilization at CoVAB
Published
3 months agoon
August 30, 2024Makerere University Finance Planning, Administration, and Investment Committee (FPAIC) led by Mr. Bruce Kabaasa conducted an inspection visit to the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources, and Biosecurity as part of their university-wide tour on August 27th, 2024. The interface was part of the evaluation of budget execution for the 2023/2024 financial year.
While at CoVAB, the committee interacted with the management and staff of the college led by the Principal, Prof. Frank Norbert Mwiine, including the Deans of the two Schools, Heads of Departments, Principal Investigators of several projects, at the meeting convened in the CEBIGH conference hall.
Mr. Bruce Kabaasa, who was in the company of the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration Prof. Henry Alinaitwe, and other members of the committee noted that the university was moving towards denying researchers grants that do not respond to the needs of the university or the college. ‘Those running grants try to ensure the project activities have a relationship with the host discipline for instance by improving the lab equipment to be used in teaching and learning. The center cannot continue considering issues of sanitation yet we have some overheads accruing from some projects in the units, he said, adding that the colleges needed to operate as a human body, where what happens in one area is felt everywhere with the principal on top of the game, and involving all stakeholders who must take a keen interest in what is going on.
The FPAIC’s visit to CoVAB was part of its broader mandate to ensure financial accountability, effective planning, and proper administration within the university. The discussions that followed a presentation on the budgetary allocations of the year 2023/24 focused on the utilization of funds across various schools and departments. The meeting also reviewed the performance report for the main and off-budget expenditures, highlighting key achievements, compliance issues, challenges, and proposed solutions.
Bruce Kabaasa in his remarks emphasized the need for the college to ensure that the Grants received follow the laid down structure of the institution to benefit the ongoing teaching and learning activities. He cautioned the college that funding next year was likely to be limited hence the need to use all available resources cautiously. Regarding requests for extra staff, he said there was no way the university was going to give extra staff without establishing what those on the ground were doing. He informed the meeting that the university was to provide some funding to improve the state of labs CAES and CoVAB.
The team noted with concern that despite the resources allocated to improve E-learning in the university, this was not moving as expected. He urged the college to make its priorities including IT-related needs known to facilitate timely and adequate planning. ‘We are here to make sure that you demand what you need, and we want everybody to play their roles, he said while emphasizing the need for teamwork in the college. He further explained that the uptake of MakRIF funds was henceforth going to be based on the relationship between the grant received and the unit outputs like teaching and learning.
The Principal CoVAB Prof. Frank Norbert Mwiine pointed out several areas that needed to be addressed including the road accessing the Centre for Biosecurity and Global Health, the training centers at Buyana and Nakyesasa that needed to be invigorated, as well as transport challenges to enable students to go to the field for practical exposures in the field.
FPAIC mandate includes making reviews and approving proposed budget estimates from cost centers for council approval, overseeing the university’s banking and investment operations, and monitoring all expenditures under approved annual estimates. It also reviews requests for expenditures beyond approved estimates, makes recommendations, and prepares and submits the Development plans to the council.
The other role played by FPAIC is making proposals for fees and other rates to the Council, monitoring approved development programs to ensure they meet the university’s objectives, as well as maintaining an accurate, comprehensive inventory of university property. The committee also keeps records of the university’s staff establishments, conducts annual reviews of staff establishments, and makes recommendations for changes.
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