In the air above Rwanda

We used our high definition camera drone to shoot some amazing footage on our latest assignment close to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Click here to see the latest shots

We were taking part in the Reprosymp forum organised by our major client, the worldwide veterinary health company, Ceva Animal Health, which was designed to bring leading international experts, politicians, farmers and key opinion leaders together for an event that would help boost livestock production in Inter-Tropical Africa.

The event was held at a convention centre close to Kigali’s downtown area but also on a working dairy farm around 20 kilometres from the city where a series or workshops were held for the delegates to show them the latest techniques in livestock reproduction, tailored specifically for needs in this are of Africa where new sources of dairy, meat and protein are badly needed to feed a rapidly growing population.

While we were filming on the farm we were able to use our drone to film cattle being brought in from the surrounding fields. “The drone actually proved to be quite a useful tool for helping the herdsmen and women to muster the cattle because they moved forward steadily towards the working area when the drone came up gradually behind them,” said Good Call Media Co-owner, Nik Wood, who was in charge of the filming project.

“It was amazing to see such dynamic workshops proving so popular on the farm,” said Nik. “With over 60 delegates taking part it was an excellent example of organisation by the Ceva team.”

With an African population expected to grow from 1.3 billion inhabitants in 2018 to 2.7 billion by 2050, improved methods of livestock production are considered one of the major levers to answer the food challenge this continent is facing.

It is in this context that Ceva Intertropical Africa organised its first forum which aimed to share experiences from initiatives across Africa with various stakeholders.

The various technical sessions were an ideal opportunity to understand the need for a global zootechnical approach to reproduction. The speakers showed different technical solutions adapted to the different specificities of this zone. Guy Charbonnier, a consultant at Reprotech, pointed out, “It is impossible to implement the same methods of breeding livestock in Europe to Africa”. He was leading one of the practical workshops held during the event on a dairy farm in Kigali.

The different feedback presented by local stakeholders, brought more light to the key points of success for the implementation of a sustainable genetic improvement approach in Intertropical Africa.

Ceva Intertropical Africa and Good Call Media, especially wanted the partners, IMV Imaging, IMV Technologies, Coopex and Illumina. Their participation in this seminar allowed everyone to share their internationally renowned expertise in breeding and genetic improvement.