By Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdillahi
The July visit brought Somaliland agricultural researchers into contact with one of Africa’s leading livestock research institutions, opening possibilities for knowledge exchange, scientific collaboration and stronger research capacity across the Horn of Africa.
A delegation from the Somaliland Institute of Agricultural Research (SIAR) visited the headquarters of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa on 31 July 2026, seeking to learn from advanced research on animal feed, forage resources and livestock nutrition and to explore opportunities for future scientific cooperation.
The delegation was led by Khalid Mohamoud Jama, Deputy Executive Director of SIAR, and included Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi, Head of the Field Crops Department, and Abdi Khaliq Maal, Assistant Head of the Field Crops Department.
The visit included a technical briefing and tour of ILRI’s Feed and Forage Development facilities, including its forage genebank and laboratories involved in feed assessment, nutritional analysis and forage research.
For Somaliland, where livestock production is closely linked to rural livelihoods and food security, the visit offered an opportunity to examine how scientific research can address some of the practical constraints facing farmers and pastoralists.
For ILRI, engagement with national agricultural research institutions is part of a broader effort to develop and share knowledge that can improve livestock production and resilience.
A global livestock research centre in Addis Ababa
ILRI is a CGIAR research centre with headquarters in Nairobi and Addis Ababa. Its research focuses on improving livestock systems and their contribution to food and nutrition security, livelihoods and environmental sustainability.
One of its most distinctive resources in Addis Ababa is the ILRI Forage Genebank, which conserves approximately 19,000 forage accessions representing more than 1,000 species. The collection includes grasses, legumes and fodder trees and is intended to preserve genetic diversity while making forage resources available for research and agricultural development.
During their visit, the SIAR delegation examined how forage genetic resources are conserved, evaluated and made available for research.
The facilities include controlled storage environments for seed conservation, germination and viability testing, germplasm health screening, regeneration and multiplication, as well as databases used to manage information on genetic resources.
For a country facing recurring pressure on pasture and livestock feed, such research has practical significance.
Why fodder matters
Livestock productivity depends heavily on the quantity and quality of feed available to animals.
ILRI’s Feed and Forage Development Program works on improving feed and fodder resources, with the aim of increasing livestock productivity while reducing feeding costs and environmental impacts. Its research includes forage improvement, feed assessment and technologies such as Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, or NIRS, which can rapidly assess the nutritional characteristics of feed materials.
During their visit, the SIAR delegation examined how forage genetic resources are conserved, evaluated and made available for research.
The facilities include controlled storage environments for seed conservation, germination and viability testing, germplasm health screening, regeneration and multiplication, as well as databases used to manage information on genetic resources.
The programme also uses the Feed Assessment Tool, known as FEAST, to help researchers understand feed constraints and identify locally appropriate solutions. ILRI says FEAST has been applied in more than 15 countries.
For researchers from Somaliland, exposure to these tools and approaches can provide useful ideas for strengthening local assessment of fodder quality and availability.
That is particularly relevant in dryland environments, where seasonal shortages of feed can constrain livestock productivity and increase vulnerability to drought.
From laboratory knowledge to farmers
The value of agricultural research ultimately depends on whether scientific knowledge can be translated into practical solutions.
During the visit, the SIAR delegation was introduced to research approaches involving forage conservation, feed analysis, nutritional assessment and livestock feeding.
The purpose was not simply to observe equipment.
It was to understand the systems behind the equipment: how samples are collected, how data are generated and interpreted, how genetic resources are conserved and how scientific evidence can eventually support farmers.
The delegation also explored possibilities for future capacity building, data sharing, joint research and scientific publication.
ILRI has maintained a long-standing commitment to open access and open research, including making research publications and data more accessible and reusable.
For emerging or developing national research institutions, access to such knowledge systems can be as important as access to physical laboratory infrastructure.
A bridge for agricultural cooperation in the Horn
The visit also points to a wider regional opportunity. Somaliland and Ethiopia face different agricultural systems and policy environments, but farmers and livestock keepers across the Horn of Africa confront many of the same pressures: drought, climate variability, limited feed resources, livestock disease, land degradation and the need to improve productivity without undermining natural resources.
Scientific cooperation can help institutions learn from experiences that have already been tested elsewhere.
For SIAR, engagement with ILRI could support the development of research capacity in areas such as forage evaluation, livestock feed analysis, genetic-resource conservation and climate-resilient agriculture.
The potential benefits extend beyond livestock.
Better fodder production can improve animal nutrition, which can in turn affect milk and meat production, household income and food security. ILRI research in Ethiopia has highlighted the relationship between improved fodder, livestock productivity and nutrition.
Building Somaliland’s research capacity
The visit comes as SIAR seeks to strengthen its role in agricultural research and technology development.
For national research institutions, partnerships with international scientific organizations can provide opportunities for researchers to access new methodologies, scientific networks, data resources and training.
The objective, however, is not simply to import technology. The greater challenge is adapting scientific knowledge to local conditions.
Somaliland’s agricultural and livestock systems operate within a predominantly dry environment, where water availability, grazing resources and seasonal variability strongly influence production. Research therefore needs to be grounded in local conditions while drawing on the wider body of scientific knowledge available internationally.
That makes institutional exchange important. Researchers can learn from technologies developed elsewhere while identifying which approaches are practical and relevant for their own farmers and livestock keepers.
Science as regional cooperation
The SIAR visit to ILRI illustrates a broader role for agricultural science in the Horn of Africa.
Research institutions are not only places where experiments are conducted. They are also spaces where scientists exchange ideas, compare experiences and build relationships that can lead to future collaboration.
The July visit brought together researchers interested in a common set of challenges: how to improve livestock feed, conserve valuable genetic resources, strengthen agricultural productivity and make farming systems more resilient to climate pressures.
ILRI’s forage research demonstrates the potential of genetic diversity to contribute to new agricultural solutions. The institute has reported that forage genebank accessions have already contributed to the development and release of improved forage varieties in Ethiopia.
For Somaliland, the lesson is clear: strengthening agricultural research is not only about building laboratories. It is also about building scientific networks.
From knowledge exchange to practical results
The significance of the SIAR delegation’s visit will ultimately depend on what follows.
Technical visits can open doors, but lasting impact requires continued communication, joint research, training, data exchange and practical projects that reach farmers.
The opportunity is therefore larger than a single institutional visit. A stronger relationship between Somaliland researchers and international agricultural research institutions could contribute to better understanding of local fodder resources, improved livestock feeding practices and the development of agricultural technologies adapted to dryland conditions.
For a region where livestock remains central to livelihoods and the economy, those are not abstract scientific questions. They are questions of food, income, resilience and rural survival.
The visit to ILRI in Addis Ababa offered SIAR researchers a window into a global scientific resource. The next challenge is to turn what they learned into research that works under Somaliland conditions.
That is ultimately the purpose of agricultural science: not simply to preserve knowledge in laboratories, but to transform knowledge into solutions that farmers can use.