Michael Pollan (credit: The Essential Bioneers) The following comments were made by Michael Pollan, US food systems activist, journalist and writer of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Rules and other popular books, in ’10 Questions with Michael Pollan’, Time Magazine, 1 February 2010. Q: Can you tell us what your current diet is? And if it … Continue reading »
Monthly Archives: July 2010
Agriculture / Directorate / PA / Research
Get involved with the CGIAR Mega Program consultations
Message from Mr Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary, Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) ‘Following requests at the recent (July 2010) CGIAR Fund Council meeting, the CGIAR Consortium Board has now compiled and made available a list of all the consultations with partners that are being organized by the CGIAR Centers around their development of proposed … Continue reading »
Animal Breeding / Biotech / Europe / North America / PA
Cloned livestock gain a foothold in Europe
‘Many Europeans recoil at the very idea of cloning animals. But a handful of breeders in Switzerland, Britain and possibly other countries have imported semen and embryos from cloned animals or their progeny from the United States, seeking to create more consistently plump and productive livestock. ‘And although no vendor has publicly acknowledged it, meat … Continue reading »
Agriculture / Environment / Food security / Forages / Kenya / Tanzania
The ‘Magic’ that will reduce fertilizer reliance
The performance of the agriculture sector, which experienced a growth of 4 per cent in the last few years, should cause a shudder to stakeholders at a time when the country is all songs for the green revolution. Any measure directed towards revamping agriculture must take cognizance of the underlying causes. The small agricultural growth … Continue reading »
Environment / ILRI / LivestockFutures / PA / PLE
Livestock and the environment: The pendulum swings back
A recent New Scientist cover story (17-23 July 2010), What happens if we all quit eating meat? Why eating greens won’t save the world, is the latest in a string of publications over many months that suggest that more considered opinions are forming around livestock-environment issues. Rather than demonizing animal production and advocating that the world go … Continue reading »
Animal Feeding / Crop-Livestock / Ethiopia / Fodder / Forages / ILRI / PA
Scientists improving pasture content
Better days are dawning for farmers faced with problems of pasture for their livestock, now that scientists majoring in crop production research are improving on the nutritional content of pasture here. The scientists from the National Crop Resources Research Institute at Namulonge Department of Forage Research Programme are currently conducting research on various types of … Continue reading »
Animal Feeding / Fodder / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / MarketOpps / PA / Pastoralism
Cactus could feed East African livestock, say scientists
A succulent, wild-growing cactus that has been widely dismissed as a noxious weed could sustain African livestock during drought, according to scientists at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). A paper by John Kang’ara and Josiah Gitari, animal nutritionists at KARI, concludes that Opuntia species — the prickly pear or paddle cacti — have extreme … Continue reading »
Pig farmers in western Kenya help control epilepsy
A recent article in The New York Times highlights the findings of a research project focused on improving pig production and health in western Kenya that the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) played a role in supporting. ILRI has been involved for several years in the efforts of the Cysticercosis Working Group of Central and … Continue reading »
WSU takes big role in fighting animal diseases
Researchers at Washington State University are working to prevent diseases from moving from animals to humans, and they will soon have a new state-of-the-art facility to help them. The Pullman school broke ground Friday 25 June on the $35 million headquarters for its new School for Global Animal Health. The building was funded with a … Continue reading »
Africa / Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Biotech / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / PA
Imported cattle threaten African livestock diversity and continent’s food supply
‘Even though locally-adapted, diversified agriculture and farming is a key component of both food security today and in a warmer more climate-stressed future, the Big Ag trend is still towards less crop diversity and more uniformity. Here’s a perfect example of the downside of that: The International Livestock Research Institute says urgent action is needed … Continue reading »
