Director General
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Dr. Fitzhugh is the Founding Director-General of ILRI in Nairobi, Kenya, one of the 16 Future Harvest centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Most of his career has focused on smallholder livestock production in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Dr. Fitzhugh will address the issue of trans-border livestock diseases. In addition to diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth and “Mad-Cow,” there are numerous other diseases, most notably East Coast Fever, that afflict the livestock of small farmers in Africa and other regions—which can seriously impact the local economies and the supply of food. Dr. Fitzhugh will discuss the increasing vulnerability of livestock herds resulting from the freer movement of livestock and people around the globe.