Herding cattle in Kenya (photo on Flickr by davida3 [Davida De La Harpe]). ‘The [Kenya] government has unveiled a plan to improve trade in livestock by vaccinating 61 million livestock in the next financial year. ‘According to budget estimates released on Thursday, the animals will be vaccinated against foot and mouth disease and other trade-sensitive diseases. … Continue reading »
Category Archives: Markets
Under SPS and markets, we work on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) issues, growing market requirements for food safety and quality that constrain market access by smallholders (including appropriate development of smallholder dairy markets).
East African Dairy Development project: Kenya cows + chilling plants = milk markets (and profits) for farmers
A Kenyan dairy farmer feeds her cow (photo on Flickr by eadairy). ‘A chilling tale of cows in Kenya shows how market access is key to impact investing. . . . ‘It started with a mid-term report I was handed called Milking for Profit. The report details a project that works to uplift subsistence dairy … Continue reading »
ILRI and Lahore livestock institute talk collaboration for development of Pakistan’s livestock sector
A farmer herds his cattle in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Some 30–35 million rural Pakistanis are engaged in livestock raising, with families typically keeping 2–3 cattle or water buffalo and 5–6 sheep or goats, which help them to generate 30–40% of their household income from livestock; find this and more recent information on Pakistan’s livestock sector here (photo … Continue reading »
Small stock connections lead to better business for goat keepers in Zimbabwe
Feed is scarce for livestock in the dry season, farmers can lose up to 30% of their herds in these three months (photo on Flickr by ICRISAT/Swathi Sridharan). Willie Dar, director general of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), highlights the success of taking a ‘value chain’ approach to improving goat … Continue reading »
Commodities, innovation and action research in Ethiopia: Livestock live talk at ILRI on 27 March 2013
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 »
Dairy market hubs giving Tanzanian farmers better access to services given funding boost
Irish Minister of State for Trade and Development, Joe Costello, signs the guest book at the MoreMikIT office launch in Morogoro, Tanzania, 12 Mar 2013; witnessing the event are ILRI’s Amos Omore and Stuart Worsley (second and third from left) (photo credit: ILRI/Amos Omore). ‘Ireland’s minister of state for Development and Trade Joe Costello earlier this … Continue reading »
Africa’s food market could reach trillion dollars by 2030–World Bank
The Butcher Shop by Ferdnand Leger, 1921 (via WikiPaintings). ‘A World Bank report launched last week has suggested that Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030. ‘However, the pre-condition for such a development would be for agri-business SMEs to expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated … Continue reading »
Small-scale buffalo-keeping in India goes big time–With exports a quarter of world’s beef market
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 »
CTA ‘Making the Connection Conference’: Lessons for livestock value chains in developing countries
The Niamana Livestock Market in Bamako, the largest in Mali (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). This post is written by Jo Cadilhon, an agro-economist in ILRI’s Changing Demand and Market Institutions team. It’s been three weeks now since I attended the conference on Making the connection: Value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture organized by CTA in … Continue reading »
Dairy value chains in Ethiopia: First-hand experience–what works and doesn’t–gained in field tours
On 9 November 2012, a group of value chain practitioners, consultants, advisors and professionals visited one of the dairy value chain sites of the Improving Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers Project (IPMS) in Ada District, Ethiopia. The group comprised participants of an international conference on Making Connections: Value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture. The … Continue reading »