Overcoming the threats to agriculture and food security in a changing climate requires a strong scientific evidence base to both help smallholder farmers choose resilient strategies and to guide development policy and investments. Building on a Bioversity and CCAFS systematic review of the role of diversification in agricultural systems, the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research is … Continue reading »
Category Archives: Launch
CRP37 / Dairying / East Africa / ILRI / Launch / MarketOpps / Markets / PA / Project / Tanzania / Value Chains
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 »
Dairying / Drylands / Feeds / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / PA / Pakistan / Pastoralism / Project / Small Ruminants / South Asia
Four-year US$30-million Agricultural Innovation Project launched in Pakistan
A flock of Makhi Cheeni goats near Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan (photo credit: ILRI/M Sajjad Khan). ‘The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) launched a new project to expand the use of modern technologies in Pakistan’s agriculture sector. ‘PARC Chairman Dr … Continue reading »
Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / Livestock-Water / PA / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Value Chains / Water
New project promises better ‘LIVES’ for Ethiopia’s livestock and irrigation farmers
A baseline survey was conducted for the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in Sidama (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region), Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma). ‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have launched a new project called “Livestock and [Irrigation] Value Chains for … Continue reading »
Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Biotech / Cattle / Central Africa / Disease Control / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Kenya / Launch / PA / Southern Africa / Vaccines
Vaccine developed by KARI, supported by ILRI, is ‘milestone in control of Africa’s livestock diseases’
Faith Kivuti with her mother milking a cow in Kenya (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). A vaccine to protect cattle against a lethal disease known as East Coast fever has been launched in Kenya, where Kenya Livestock Development Minister Mohammed Kuti says the development ‘is a big relief to livestock farmers in East, Central and … Continue reading »
Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Film and video / Indigenous Breeds / Launch / PA / Women
Women are the (invisible) guardians of livestock diversity–New FAO study
Ethiopian woman churning butter the traditional way (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). A new study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations argues that to succeed, livestock breed conservation efforts must empower women. ‘Women livestock keepers worldwide must be recognized as the major actors in efforts to arrest the decline of indigenous breeds, … Continue reading »
Directorate / Event / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / PA
Minding your three E’s: From ‘economically viable’ to ‘ecologically sound’ to ‘ethically acceptable’
Across most of Africa and South Asia, most cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats are still raised in the open, in rangeland, common land or backyard systems, and are still largely ‘grass-fed’. But that is changing fast as farm land holdings get smaller and range and common lands and migratory herding corridors disappear under development. Above, … Continue reading »
Agriculture / Directorate / Food security / ILRI / Launch / PA / Policy
Crop, tree, water, livestock and fish scientists call for action at Rio+20 sustainable development summit
CGIAR centres and initiatives signing a 7-point ‘CGIAR Call to Action’ at the June 2012 Rio+20 UN sustainable development summit. Mark Kinver at the BBC reports today on a global group calling for decision-makers at the June Rio+20 sustainable development summit to take a concerted approach to agricultural policy, based on science. The International Livestock … Continue reading »
Agriculture / CRP5 / Food security / Launch / Water
Worldwide research initiative launched to tackle global crises in water, food and the environment
Today, at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London, an ambitious new research program was launched by the world’s largest consortium of agricultural researchers. It aims to address some of the world’s most pressing problems related to boosting food production and improving livelihoods, whilst simultaneously protecting the environment. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land … Continue reading »
Africa / Animal Diseases / Biotech / CBPP / Disease Control / ILRI / Launch / North America / PA / Research / USA / Vaccines
US National Science Foundation’s BREAD funds Craig Venter and ILRI to battle cattle pneumonia in Africa
Dinner with philanthropist Bill Gates at the home of genome-czar J Craig Venter in La Jolla, California, in 2008 (photo by jurvetson on Flickr). ‘Gates asked the most astute and detailed questions about microbiology’, JCVI reports, and said, ‘DNA is the most interesting software there is.’ The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates … Continue reading »
