In response, the European Commission funded KYEEMA to work directly with the Angolan government from 2009-2012 to set up I-2 Newcastle disease vaccine production and trial its use in the field.

The program was based in Lubango in the south of Angola and worked directly with the Angolan Veterinary Services Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. There was a strong desire from the Angolan government to get ND vaccination programs up and running as quickly as possible.

Assosiate Professor Robyn Alders undertook an inception visit to Angola in October 2008 to design the program and later joined the project as Team Leader in July 2011. Under the project KYEEMA assisted the government to purchase additional laboratory equipment, consumables and to rehabilitate the laboratory electrical system and the cool room. KYEEMA also trained laboratory personnel in the production and quality control of the I-2 vaccine and established twinning activities between the vaccine production laboratories in Angola and Mozambique. The Angola Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries inaugurated the laboratory on 3 May 2012.

Although the project officially ended on 17 May 2012, ongoing twinning support of activities by staff of the Directorate of Animal Science of the Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute continues. We are very hopeful that it will have a lasting positive impact for rural women who depend on chickens for a livelihood.