Target countries:
Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Niger and Rwanda
 
Our approach:
Funds for research and capacity building projects address priority needs identified with target country stakeholders.  Funds are mainly awarded through a competitive process, with non-competitive funds addressing emerging priorities and complementing the competitive portfolio.  
Projects funded (1) alleviate key constraints to ASF production and consumption and (2) take advantage of the increasing demand for ASF in developing countries to improve food security and reduce poverty. 
 
Areas of Inquiry

• Animal-Source Foods (ASF) Production and Marketing: Employs a multidisciplinary, integrated approach to develop location-appropriate nutrition, genetic, lactation, reproduction, management, health and ASF processing or preservation technologies that will enhance livestock production and ASF consumption.
• Livestock Disease Management and Food Safety: Supports, strengthens and expands existing One-Health research and training platforms and relevant projects to improve surveillance, reduce disease burdens, and increase ASF safety.
• Enabling Policies for Livestock: Facilitates development and supports implementation of polices that enhance the production, marketing and consumption of ASF.  Efforts will focus on improved availability of quality livestock inputs, services and markets, risk management, as well as other areas.
• Future Livestock Systems: Supports efforts in other Areas of Inquiry by examining implications of, challenges to and impacts of introduced technologies and policies, in the context of changes in climate, demographics, agriculture, markets, and infrastructure.

 
  Cross Cutting Themes

• Role of Gender in Livestock Systems: Ensures that the pivotal roles of women in household nutrition and livestock production are recognized, considered and accounted for in all programs.
• Human and Institutional Capacity Development: Provides short and long term training for individuals and opportunities for professional development of individuals and institutions at relevant livestock research organizations.
• Human Health and Nutrition:  Ensures that all activities maintain a focus on improving the nutritional status and health of vulnerable households and livestock producers.

Who We Are
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the University of Florida (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) funds to establish the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems (LSIL) and to act as its Management Entity (ME) in October 2015. This five-year grant supports USAID’s agricultural research and capacity building work under Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), with its wealth of research experience in the developing countries, is the UF/IFAS partner in LSIL.

Work With Us
Partnerships are important to us. Central to our approach are the following:

• True partnerships between target country and international research institutions, scientists, and development practitioners focusing on livestock;
• Integration of research with capacity building for individuals and institutions;
• Work across the pastoralist, crop-livestock, and peri-urban livestock systems that are dominant in developing countries;
• Participatory priority setting designed in target countries to support ongoing USAID, government, and other relevant projects and efforts;
• Continuous dialogue among research, development, and policy stakeholders through national Innovation Platforms; and
• Focus on One Health, value chain, and food systems approaches, as well as climate smart agriculture.