Launch of new SEBI-Livestock 5-year programme

SEBI-Livestock – a new five-year programme, will continue our work on monitoring the impacts of livestock investments in low-and middle-income countries, supporting the LD4D community to deliver solutions, and developing livestockdata.org as a valuable data and evidence resource for the sector.

Dear colleagues,

2020 has been a tough year for everyone. Researchers, funders, veterinarians, entrepreneurs and livestock keepers have all felt the impacts of the global pandemic.

It has also been also a transformational year. COVID-19 has put zoonotic diseases at the forefront and underscored the need to make One Health a top priority. There is new awareness about the fragility of our food supply and the need for systems-based solutions. This crisis has also reaffirmed the need for good data, and more evidence-based decisions to tackle development challenges.

These challenges resonate with our work. Supporting Evidence Based Interventions (SEBI) mobilises and applies data and evidence to help the livestock community make better investments that improve livelihoods for smallholders in low and middle-income countries.

As we wrap up our first phase of work, we are proud of what we have achieved in four years:

• Engaging with nearly 400 people from across the livestock sector via the Livestock Data for Decisions (LD4D) community of practice, a platform to share, discuss and collaborate on solutions to data challenges.
• Helping the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and its grantees develop key metrics and insights on the impacts of livestock investments in low-and middle-income countries.
• Applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to collate and improve the evidence base on animal health, starting with Ethiopia.
• Deploying evidence-based pilot interventions to reduce mortality and reproductive losses in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.
• Advancing eight innovative technologies for improving livestock health and productivity in LMICs.
• Launching livestockdata.org – a data and evidence platform by and for the livestock community.

I am grateful to our entire team for their hard work, to our partners for helping us deliver these results, and to our funders the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for supporting us.

Looking to the future

As 2020 winds down, it is also an opportunity to look ahead. With this in mind, I am pleased to announce SEBI-Livestock – a new five-year programme which will continue our work on monitoring the impacts of livestock investments, supporting the LD4D community to deliver solutions, and developing livestockdata.org as a valuable data and evidence resource for the sector.

The new programme is accompanied by a (slightly) new name and new look, as well as a new website at sebi-livestock.org. Also in 2021 we will hold a series of engagement events with our partners and the LD4D community to discuss workplans and collaborations – stay tuned!

We wish you and your loved ones a happy and peaceful holiday and we look forward to working with you in 2021 and beyond.

In the meantime, we invite you to sign up to our mailing list and follow us on Twitter @SEBI_Livestock to stay in touch.

Best wishes,

Prof Andy Peters

Director, SEBI-Livestock

The Centre for Supporting Evidence-Based Interventions in Livestock

SEBI-Livestock is awarded to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at The University of Edinburgh.