Dr. Elia Lolem currently provides technical animal health services to the County of Turkana through the County Directorate of Veterinary Services. Elia has supported development and humanitarian livestock programs funded by donors in South Sudan and Kenya for over 10 years. He has previously worked with the Catholic Diocese of Torit, South Sudan, and VSF-Belgium in Kenya.

Dr. Elia has supported and coordinated various studies and consultancies including a research study on ‘Productivity and Economic value of Livestock in Karamoja Region, ‘towards an economic valuation of livestock Systems in Karamoja’. This was conducted by Karamoja Resilience Support Unit, KRSU-Tufts University funded by USAID. The study covered the Kaabong, Kotido, Abim, Moroto, and Amudat districts of Uganda in March-June 2019. He has also coordinated the implementation of the National NARIGP project domiciled in the Turkana County Department of Agriculture from 2020-2023. The project implemented livestock/crop value chains under NARIGP funded by the World Bank. The value chains included; sorghum/cowpeas intercrop, sheep/goat meat, chicken, and Apiculture value chains. He has also undertaken various surveys in Turkana County under a partnership between the county government and sector partners on livestock value chains, pastoral livelihoods, sustainability, resilience, and climate change.

Dr. Elia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Nairobi, a Diploma in Animal Health and Production from the University of Nairobi, and a Certificate in Animal Health and Production from AHITI-Nyahururu. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics from the University of Nairobi. His Master’s Thesis focuses on livestock disease response, pastoral perception, and digital technology’s role in supporting livestock disease response among the pastoral communities in Northern Kenya.