Meet Sam Oladokun, the young scientist from Nigeria who is changing the way we produce animal protein.


Animal production has been pointed out as the great villain for the environment. If on one hand, reducing meat consumption would decrease GHG emissions, on the other hand changing food habits and dealing with lack of protein are still a challenge.

In the climate change and food insecurity context, finding a way to produce sustainable meat seems to be a better transitional option. The increasing demand, especially from the European market, proves that this can be a way for the future. That is why Sam, as an animal science researcher, is looking for more natural and sustainable ways to produce protein, more specifically from chicken.

If an animal is treated with antibiotics for a prolonged time period, it will get create antibiotic resistance and the required doses of antibiotic will be higher every time. However, if they are treated with "good microbes" (probiotics) the use of antibiotics will decrease, and the products will be a more natural and healthy protein to consume.

And how has he discovered this? By looking at the past: in Asia, when young chickens eat feces from adult and resistant chickens, they will also acquire resistance and be healthy with good microbes. This is the principle of the "competitive exclusion" when good microbes take place and space for bad microbes.

The opportunity for more sustainable poultry production is near. Specific good microbes could be used to avoid specific diseases, avoiding the higher antibiotic doses. However, as Sam mentions, there are difficulties to acquiring a patent for commercial uses and making the solution widely available. Sustainable technologies must reach commercial levels to become a reality beyond the scientific research silo.

As a student reporter, Sam expects that Tropentag will bring him more networking opportunities and improved skills for communicating his research findings in a more convincing and simple language. This will pave the way for getting appropriate research funding and convincing farmers to use and appropriate themselves from this new sustainable technique.

Who else can already see Sam as a professor holding his probiotic patent and having his name on the door of a famous university?