Capacity Development of Field Veterinarians in the Field of Small Ruminants' Reproduction and Artificial Insemination (Phase I & II)

The Arab countries meat consumption is based on small ruminants, in particular sheep and goats. This because of religious needs and for the arid and hard environment that doesn't allow for many other species to adapt easily to this. However, production can still improve as there are still many productive aspects that may be developed. One of this is the reproduction and artificial insemination. In fact, because of missing technologies, concepts and business models, these practices are still done traditionally.

In order to guarantee the capacity development of national staff, veterinaries, and farmers, the project will proceed through specific capacity development activities that are: 1) Establishment of sheep artificial insemination and reproductive technologies; 2) Technical support for service delivery in the field of sheep reproduction and artificial insemination; 3) Technical assessment to enhance sheep reproduction; 4) Advanced training course on sheep and goats reproduction systems.

The project aim and research activities are fundamentally oriented at capacity development for enhancing small ruminants' reproduction and artificial insemination. This will be possible trought several training performed with audience from different Arabic countries: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, State of Palestine and Lebanon. In these countries, small ruminants sector is a key source of meat consumption but many improvements can be done. For this reason the project will deliver training to the various stakeholders in partnership with National and Regional institutions. The trainings will focus on technical support and assessment for artificial insemination and utilization of reproductive technologies. The new knowledge and skills acquired by professional and technical staff will help in adopting and applying the new systems and technologies facilitating the next enhancement of production system and breeding selection.