In Nigeria, ACGG is implemented in five sub-national zones: Imo, Kebi, Kwara, Nasarawa and River states.

The national team is led by scientists from the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB).

The project is testing five strains in Nigeria:

• Fulani (local)
• FUNAAB alpha (local)
• Kuroiler
• Noiler (local)
• Sasso
• Shika Brown (local)

Background information

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sponsored, and supported the implementation of ACGG in Nigeria (ACGG-NG) as a collaborative research agreement between the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

The project was launched in Nigeria on the 22^nd July, 2015 at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State by the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), ably represented by Dr J.A. Aderiye of the Department of Animal Husbandry Services, FMARD, Abuja.

Development and research objectives and outcomes

The main developmental objectives of ACGG-NG are to:

• Determine which genetically improved chicken breeds are preferred by rural smallholder chicken (SHC) producers
• Develop working Public Private Partnership (PPP) for supply of birds, inputs and services to the rural SHC producers
• Measure changes in production, productivity income and household (HH) consumption of poultry products
• Support the empowerment process (control over resources) of women in the SHC value chain

Our (women-centered) approach to achieving the Developmental objectives is to:

1. Establish Innovation Platforms (IP) that include women, representatives of all stakeholders and actors in the SHC value chain at National, Sub-National & Community levels
2. Support or create women SHC farmers’ groups/cooperatives/Business Hubs
3. Support or create SHC input suppliers and output buyers
4. Train, as required, actors of the SHC value chain and innovation platforms
5. Develop learning resources (manuals, videos, online, ) in 4 Nigerian languages on chicken management best practices
6. Establish monitoring and evaluation systems for the SHC Value Chains and IPs
7. Develop a capacity building programme to train the next generation of researchers in smallholder poultry

The research objectives of the project are to be achieved by:

1. Conducting baseline survey on the status of SHC farmers across the agro-ecological zones
2. Conducting on-station and on-farm evaluation of the genetic strains and
3. The establishment of a sustainable data and sample collection system for long-term genetic gains evaluation

Expected outcomes

The primary outcomes expected of the ACGG program include:

1. Village poultry production systems have access to improved, more productive and adapted poultry lines and hatchery systems to enable transformation of small-scale poultry systems into commercially viable enterprises and the private sector actively engaged in the development, multiplication and delivery of these desired improved genetics, including provision of the associated input and market services.
2. Research and development investors, and practitioners routinely receiving information they need in order to promote improved locally-bred chicken lines and associated best practices to enable and support sustainable improvement of indigenous chicken productivity in emerging small and medium-scale, rural and peri-urban poultry production systems.
3. An open source data infrastructure, using common standards, consolidating and sharing information on the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of tropically adapted poultry.

The Genetics: 6 Improved Tropically Adapted Breeds (iTABS)

The six genetics are being tested in 2 stations (Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta & Fol-Hope Farms, Ibadan) and in five zones (Kwara, Rivers, Imo, Nasarawa & Kebbi States) with 2,100 farmers. The two most preferred breeds by farmers are then to be commercialized by private breeder farms to ensure reliable supply of day-old-chicks.

The six genetics are being tested in 2 stations (Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta & Fol-Hope Farms, Ibadan) and in five zones (Kwara, Rivers, Imo, Nasarawa & Kebbi States) with 2,100 farmers. The two most preferred breeds by farmers are then to be commercialized by private breeder farms to ensure reliable supply of day-old-chicks.

The iTABS are:

1. ShikaBrown:
   • Developed by National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), ABU, Shika, Zaria, Kaduna State.
2. Fulani:
   • Aggregated, and multiplied by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, from a base population sampled across the northern region of Nigeria.
3. Noiler:
   • Developed by Amo Farm Sieberer Hatchery Limited, Awe, Oyo State.
4. FUNAAB Alpha:
   • Developed by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
5. Kuroiler:
   • Developed by Kegg Farms, India.
6. Sasso:
   • Developed by SASSO; a poultry breeding company in France.

Achievements so far

Some of the major achievements of ACGG-Nigeria in the past two years include: the conduction of an extensive baseline survey of 1,200 smallholder poultry farmers in Nigeria, distribution of over 75,000 chicks to 2,100 smallholder chicken farmers (65% are women) in 60 villages across 5 main agro-ecological zones, facilitating the delivery of vaccination to smallholder chicken farmers, establishment of a data management system (ICT) for on-farm and on-station data collection, organized 2 national colloquiums with researchers & scholars in poultry breeding & genetics, and poultry nutrition (feed), development of a mobile feed formulation application, establishment of national and community innovation platforms for smallholder chicken value chain, genomic sampling of local chicken populations across 6 agro-ecological zones, and launching of the Smallholder Poultry Value Chain (SHP VC) Forum in partnership with the FMARD, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), and the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA).

In the area of capacity building, the project has awarded postgraduate fellowships to 10 Nigerian students (5 PhDs & 5 MScs.) in 6 universities in the country, and provided full sponsorships to a total of 10 postgraduate students to attend three different international training workshops organized by ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia & Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Also, chickens have been donated to tertiary institutions and secondary schools in Kebbi, Rivers, Nasarawa, and Imo States for training and educational purposes.

For any question about the African Chicken Genetic Gains (ACGG) program in Nigeria, please contact: Dr. Oladeji Bamidele (Bamidele-bamideledeji [at] gmail.com)

See some news about ACGG in Nigeria