Category Archives: South Africa

Africa / Agriculture / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / CRP12 / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock / Livestock Systems / PLE / Project / Research / South Africa / West Africa

Experts meet in Addis Ababa to design new agricultural research project for Ethiopian Highlands

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Around 60 experts are meeting at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa on 30th and 31st January to plan an exciting new research project that aims to transform agricultural systems in the Highland of Ethiopia. As in many part of Africa, farming systems in the Ethiopian Highlands are a mix of crop … Continue reading »

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Burkina Faso / Caribbean / Climate Change / CRP7 / Food security / ILRI / Latin America / LivestockFutures / Mali / Niger / PA / PLE / South Africa

Climate change threatens ability of the poorest people to feed themselves

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Number of malnourished children per square km, from the advance copy of ‘Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics,’ by ILRI scientists Polly Ericksen et al., published on 3 June 2011 (map credit: ILRI/CCAFS). The BBC reports on a new study saying that some areas in the tropics face famine … Continue reading »

Africa / Asia / Caribbean / China / Egypt / Food Safety / Food security / India / Indonesia / Kenya / Laos / Latin America / Livelihoods / Malawi / Nutrition (human) / PA / Pigs / Poultry / South Africa

Do a billion people really go to bed hungry? Or is a television more important than food?

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Foods of Khulungira Village, in central Malawi: Fish stew (nsomba zophika), boiled maize (chimanga chophika), mixed beans with salt and oil (nyemba zophika), dried mushrooms with groundnuts (bowa wofutsa), pumpkin leaves with pumpkin blossoms and potatoes (nkhwani wophatikiza ndi maungu anthete ndi kachewere wophika) and boiled eggs with tomato, onions, oil and salt (mazira ophika ndi … Continue reading »

Africa / Animal Production / Animal Products / Asia / Biodiversity / India / Indigenous Breeds / Latin America / Livestock / Markets / Somalia / South Africa

Marketing local breeds to improve livestock diversity and livelihoods

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Throughout the world and over centuries, small-scale livestock keepers and pastoralists have developed animal breeds that are well suited to their local conditions. These breeds are hardy and disease-resistant; they can survive on little water and scant vegetation. They can continue producing meat and milk in areas where modern, imported breeds succumb without expensive housing, … Continue reading »

Africa / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / South Africa / Southern Africa

Rangeland management must listen to locals

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South Africa must build bottom-up needs-based policies for communal livestock grazing. ‘Nothing about us without us!’ It’s a popular slogan in development work and one that agricultural policymakers should embrace to ensure their decisions address rural communities’ needs. Recent experience with communal cattle keeping in South Africa is again providing valuable lessons on why and … Continue reading »

Africa / Animal Feeding / Dairying / Livestock / South Africa

Feedlots can be environmentally friendly

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Koos Coetzee of South Africa’s Milk Producers’ Organisation argues that intensive livestock-production systems can be sustainable for people and the environment. He argues: “It’s erroneously believed that low-input production systems hold the key to sustainable dairy production” “We need efficient high-input production systems that use technology to produce enough food for our growing population. Farmers … Continue reading »