Outlining the framework from livestock to nutrition pathways

Animal-source foods provide important nutrients in the diet and contribute to nutrition, growth and health for many across the globe.

Sales from animal-source foods contribute to improved income for families to meet their financial obligations.

Researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) developed a livestock-to-nutrition framework to guide research activities on improving human nutritional outcomes in livestock-keeping households.

During the inaugural CGIAR Science Week which took place on 7-12 April 2025 at the United Nations headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi, Esther Omosa, ILRI senior nutrition specialist, discussed the framework in a session organized to address the complex relationships between the unique place of livestock production and animal-source foods in nutritional security, livelihoods, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Omosa’s presentation focused on how livestock keeping contributes to improved nutrition.

She noted that the pathways are many and interconnected, making it necessary to understand the evidence undergirding each of the pathways and the gaps in evidence.

Photo: Pouring boiled milk in Waithaka, Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Shadrack Isingoma)

Curated by Tezira Lore, Communications Officer, ILRI