​First, I would like to thank the host organization and the people of Nepal for your warm welcome and hospitality. You are genuinely lovely people, and I appreciate your sincerity and friendship. Congratulations go to the Faculty of Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Fisheries at the Agriculture and Forestry University for a successful conference.
 
Comparing to the outcomes of the Conference and the efforts to elevate the importance of goats as a species that can alleviate poverty, and improve food security and nutrition, our little inconvenience during the very long-distance traveling becomes so trivial. Just like the goal of increasing production efficiency of goats, quality is far more important than quantity.
 
I understand that there are many conferences to be hosted by the University in the near future, I encourage the university to engage in a thought process to focus more on the quality of scientific programs, more participation by the students and faculty, and a smoother logistic arrangement. 

The first SMARTER annual meeting will be held in Edinburgh from 26th to 27th November 2019. One year after the start of the project, the meeting will aim to take stock of the work done during the first year, discuss the first results obtained and plan the actions to be carried out for the future.
 
Stakeholders meetings and farm visits are planned from 28th to 29th November 2019.
 
Did you know that IGA is part of the SMARTER Stakeholder Committee?
Read more about it here.
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What is SMARTER?
SMARTER stands for SMAll RuminanTs breeding for Efficiency and Resilience.

​BACKGROUND
 
Considering the high importance of sheep and goats for the livelihood of the small farmers, and considering that Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), an important infectious disease and killer of those animals, has dramatically spread as of mid- year 2000 to reach more than 70 countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OI