"AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University researchers have been part of an international effort to improve the health of small poultry flocks of indigenous types of chickens that provide meat, eggs and income-producing opportunities important for food security in Africa.

This innovative work is important because disease is a serious and growing threat to production, especially the devastating Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV). Biosecurity measures are challenging to put in place in these small production systems where chickens often range free and commingle with other domestic fowl and wild birds. Warming temperatures are also increasing birds’ vulnerability to infection. 

Addressing these challenges has been the focus of a 10-year project by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Genomics to Improve Poultry, a large, multidisciplinary initiative led by scientists at Iowa State, the University of California-Davis and livestock research institutions in Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania. A recent paper the team published in the World’s Poultry Science Journal summarizes project findings and offers some promising opportunities to enhance African poultry production."