An IAEA fellowship and training programme in Animal Production was recently granted to Abdul Rahman Sesay, a Lecturer, in the Animal Science Department of Njala University in Sierra Leone. The fellowship was associated with IAEA TC project SIL/5/006 - Improving N'dama cattle productivity in Sierra Leone. The training programme was conducted from 4th June to 8th August 2006 in Kenya under the supervision of Mr. Douglas Indetie of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). The work was undertaken at the KARI-Lanet National Beef Cattle Research Centre in Nakuru and at the Central Artificial Insemination Station (CAIS) in Nairobi.
The fellowship was a combination of laboratory and field work and visits to local farms and animal production organizations. The major elements of the training programme were the following:
- Breeding and management programmes for improvement in beef, dairy and dual purpose cattle,
- Use of artificial insemination for increased productivity,
- Use of radioimmunoassay (RIA) in early non-pregnancy diagnosis for improving reproductive efficiency,
- Record keeping and its importance in livestock development and
- The role of public and private sector partnerships in promoting cattle improvement.
