Category Archives: Animal Production

Africa / Animal Production / Event / ILRI / MarketOpps / PA / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project

Help Africa’s small-scale livestock producers tap growing markets for animal proteins—FAO livestock economists

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Saulosi Tchinga is a potato, maize, soya, sheep and chicken farmer in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). ‘The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday called on African governments to implement policies that will help the continent’s small livestock producers to tap the growing demand for animal proteins. ‘FAO Livestock Economist Uga Pica-Ciamarra told journalists … Continue reading »

Animal Production / Cattle / CRP5 / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Nile Basin / Pastoralism / PLE / Uganda

Corralling cattle to improve the productivity of pasture lands affected by termites

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Researchers from the Department of Animal Science in Makerere University were excited, and with good reason, as they surveyed pasture land that had been corralled off in Nakosongala in the cattle corridor of Uganda. The team had been looking at options to improve livestock water productivity (LWP) in the Nile Basin. To their surprise, a … Continue reading »

Agri-Health / Animal Production / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / Health (human) / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock Systems / MarketOpps / PA / Pigs / Poultry

Misuse of antibiotics and ‘factory farming’ of animals: Alarm bells sound

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‘The Spoonful of Milk’ by Marc Chagall, 1912 (via WikiPaintings). ‘. . . It is estimated that about 70% of the world’s antibiotics are fed to farm animals: the precise amount used in agriculture is poorly recorded. But what seems sure — as the number of intensively farmed animals grows — is that their use increases too, … Continue reading »

Agriculture / Animal Production / Capacity Strengthening / Crop-Livestock / CRP12 / CRP37 / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Extension / Innovation Systems / Intensification / IPMS / Livestock / Markets / Research / Value Chains

Commodities, innovation and action research in Ethiopia: Livestock live talk at ILRI on 27 March 2013

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The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers project is coming to an end. IPMS aimed to transform agricultural productivity and rural development in Ethiopia through market-oriented agricultural development. Project staff worked with the Ethiopian Government to try new and innovative approaches and technologies. The team worked to achieve this objective through four main … Continue reading »

Animal Production / Animal Products / Buffalo / ILRI / India / Markets / PA / South Asia / Value Chains

Small-scale buffalo-keeping in India goes big time–With exports a quarter of world’s beef market

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Buffalo in a village homestead in the Himalayan foothills of northern India (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). ‘Alas for the sacred cow: Beef exports from India are expected to surge 30 per cent this year, giving this country a quarter of the world market. ‘This is a good-news story in a lurching economy. Livestock industries, from eggs … Continue reading »

Africa / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / Biodiversity / Books and chapters / Cattle / Countries / CRP37 / Goats / Guinea / ILRI / Livestock / Mali / Research / Sheep / West Africa

Management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in Guinea and Mali

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Although livestock play a central role in rural development in West Africa, traditional livestock systems are in general characterized by high mortality rates, low reproductive rates and low offtake rates. Furthermore, the presence of trypanosome-infected tsetse flies in the subhumid and humid areas seriously holds back the potential for livestock production. The region’s endemic ruminant … Continue reading »

Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Food security / ILRI / Opinion piece / PA / Research / USA

World Bank president on chicken wings, chicken feed, Super Bowl Sunday (and, ahem, CGIAR)

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Chicken wings cooked with honey and soy (photo on Flickr by TheDeliciousLife). World Bank President Jim Yong Kim became a champion and (sort of) celebrity spokesperson for agricultural-research-for-development this week to the delight of those of us in that (not so celebrity) world. The added bonus for the 700 or so staff of the International … Continue reading »

Animal Production / Dairying / Gender / ILRI / PA / Poultry / PovertyGender / Report / Small Ruminants / Women

Taking stock of women in livestock development project: Issues, tips, tools, and a checklist

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Yulita Cosmas, a chicken farmer in central Malawi, with one of her hens (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). A publication, ‘Understanding and Integrating Gender Issues into Livestock Projects and Programmes: A Checklist for Practitioners’, from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is due to be published soon. It is being produced by Francesca Distefano, … Continue reading »

Agriculture / Animal Production / Environment / Event / Livestock-Water / PLE / Water

How much water is in the meat on your plate? Livestock live talk at ILRI on 7 February 2013

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What is a ‘water footprint’ and why does it matter? How does the ‘livestock water footprint’ differ between developing and developed countries? These are some of the questions that Arjen Hoekstra, a renowned professor in water management from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, will attempt to answer when he gives a ‘livestock live talk’ … Continue reading »

Animal Production / Livestock

Animal production and global food security: Livelihoods for poor owners and food for rich consumers

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The January 2013 issue of Animal Frontiers looks at the contribution of animal production to global food security. The first of two special issues edited by Maggie Gill, this issue “takes a high-level perspective, exploring the relationship between people and animals (including fish) in developing countries, through trade and particularly in terms of nutrition.” Articles … Continue reading »