Professor Eyassu Seifu is a Professor of Dairy Science and Technology in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN). He received a BSc degree in Animal Sciences (1992) and MSc degree in Animal Production (1998) from Alemaya University of Agriculture in Ethiopia; and PhD in Food Science (2004) from the University of Pretoria. Before joining BUAN in 2012, he worked for Haramaya University in Ethiopia for 20 years. He has authored/co-authored over 90 research outputs (journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings), supervised more than 30 graduate students (MSc and PhD) and is a member of many professional associations. He contributed to the training and education of tens of hundreds of students in Ethiopia and Botswana for over 30 years and served as examiner (internal and external examiner, chairperson) of 49 MSc and PhD theses in different universities in Ethiopia, Botswana and South Africa. He has a proven research leadership and management capabilities and sourced research funds from different donor organizations. Moreover, he provided various services to the university, the profession and the community with dedication and commitment. Among the research activities that Professor Seifu was involved in, his work on camel milk and camel milk products stands out. His research mainly focused on exploring the possibilities of processing camel milk and development of value-added dairy products from camel milk through optimization of operating parameters and standardization of the manufacturing protocols for the products. Professor Seifu made significant contributions to the development of camel milk dairy products (yoghurt, cheese, butter, milk powder) and contributed new knowledge to the science behind camel milk processing. Moreover, together with his PhD student, he isolated and identified lactic acid bacteria from traditional fermented camel milk with promising potential to be used as a starter culture for processing of camel milk. Professor Seifu is currently leading (as a Principal Investigator) a research project entitled “Livelihood diversifying potential of camel-based food security and climate-smart sustainable development in Botswana” and established the Camel Research Group at BUAN. The main objective of the project is to investigate the potential of camels in Botswana for climate-smart sustainable development, food and nutrition security through innovative feed production and product value addition.
