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

Posted on 18 Mar 2013 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

‘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 »

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

Posted on 27 Jan 2013 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

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 »

CRP37 / East Africa / Event / ILRI / Pigs / Poultry / Uganda / Value Chains

Researchers and graduate students from three American universities visit ILRI Uganda

Posted on 9 Nov 2012 by Liya Dejene • Leave a comment

A group of researchers and graduate students from Iowa State University, North Carolina State University and the University of Delaware, working on poultry genomics visited the ILRI Office in Kampala on 27 October 2012. The group was led by Dr. Max Rothschild, Director of the Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, and accompanied by Mr. Gideon … Continue reading »

Agri-Health / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / CRP4 / Emerging Diseases / ILRI / MarketOpps / North America / PA / Pigs / Poultry / Zoonotic Diseases

The looming danger of diseases spread from farm animals to people–CNN

Posted on 9 Oct 2012 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

A CNN report this week on ‘The looming zoonotic danger’ makes use of some astounding figures developed by veterinary epidemiologist Delia Grace and her team at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Kenya. ‘We’ve seen an unprecedented rise in infectious diseases in recent decades, 75 percent of which are “zoonotic,” meaning they come … Continue reading »

Africa / Policy / Poultry / Report

New MDGs 2.0 Report – What Does the World Really Want?

Posted on 18 Sep 2012 by Liya Dejene • Leave a comment

The UN-led process for determining the next round of global development goals is officially underway. This will be an extremely important effort, which will likely have profound implications for both the developing and developed world for decades. Against this backdrop, the ONE Campaign and other groups have been advocating for a radical, yet extremely simple, … Continue reading »

Animal Breeding / Animal Feeding / China / Genetics / Intensification / PA / Pigs / Poultry / Trade / USA

Exporting American livestock genetics to China: Grain to follow?

Posted on 24 Apr 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Min piglets at the experimental station at the Institute for Animal Science, in Beijing, China (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). America is breeding farm animals for China, Reuters and the New York Times report, to supply China with more meat. ‘. . . In a country where pork is a staple, the demand for a protein-rich … Continue reading »

Canada / CRP4 / East Africa / Epidemiology / Event report / Farming Systems / Food security / Geodata / ICT / Livestock / Poultry / Seeds / Uganda

New consortium to investigate environmental changes spreading diseases between animals and people in Africa

Posted on 21 Mar 2012 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Malawi crop-and-livestock farmer (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). One of the drivers of disease in Africa, a continent with a particularly heavy disease burden, are environmental changes that help to spread infectious pathogens between animals (both wild and domestic) and people. That is why the start of a new research program, in which the International Livestock … Continue reading »

Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / BecA / Biodiversity / Biotech / Disease Control / East Africa / Event / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / PA / Poultry / Vaccines / Women

Small livestock, big impact

Posted on 8 Mar 2012 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Kenyan geneticist and new PhD Sheila Ommeh (right) works at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa Hub (BecA Hub) and ILRI’s animal health laboratories in Nairobi, Kenya, studying Africa’s native chicken breeds (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). ‘Sheila Ommeh, a poultry geneticist at the International Livestock Research Centre in Nairobi, hopes to introduce a disease-resistant chicken … Continue reading »

Africa / BecA / Biodiversity / Biotech / Capacity Strengthening / Event / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / Opinion piece / PA / Poultry / Women

Changing the face of agriculture in Africa–one (emerging woman) leader at a time

Posted on 4 Mar 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

CGIAR AWARD Fellow Sheila Ommeh, working at ILRI-BecA, gives a presentation on the importance of conserving and better using Africa’s native chicken breeds for World Bank vice president Rachel Kyte on 2 Feb 2012 at the World Agroforestry Centre (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). The Huffington Post this week carries a blog by Sir Gordon Conway, professor of … Continue reading »

Africa / Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Biotech / Disease Control / East Africa / Epidemiology / Ethiopia / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock / Poultry / Project / Research

Tackling poultry diseases in Ethiopia

Posted on 5 Dec 2011 by Peter Ballantyne • Leave a comment

Developing countries such as Ethiopia have many indigenous chicken varieties which are well adapted to local environments as they are excellent foragers, better able to avoid predator attacks and demonstrate better immunity to common diseases. However, due to relatively low genetic potential and poor levels of husbandry, most of these indigenous chicken breeds grow slowly … Continue reading »

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