Directed Breeding Programs for Improved Poultry Livestock by Genetic Bioinformatics Research and Devel-opment in Kenya (BIRD)

By 2050, Africa is the continent with the largest expected human population, which results in an enormous food demand. New technologies will need to be adopted to meet this demand. Therefore, the long-term focus (>8 years) of this project is on the development of an innovative directed breeding program to crossbreed a hybrid F1 chicken that promises the most yield in meat and eggs production. To achieve this objective, the project defines a short-term goal (< 2 years) on building capacity in the field of advanced statistical and bioinformatics analysis in order to apply the results of DNA sequencing techniques to the improvement of agricultural productivity. To guarantee continuous training and cutting-edge research, a joint centre of excellence in bioinformatics and chicken genomics is established by JKUAT and ILRI as mid-term objective (< 6 years). Via the NGO close-the-gap, a bioinformatics computer room is installed and the largest genomic data repository on chicken genomics will be conceived combing data from the A³CPO project that acts as the foundation of the directed breeding program.