The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Addis Abeba recently requested assistance to undertake a review of the Embassy’s portfolio to identify possible ways and means of addressing/integrating appropriate climate change and environmental concerns in existing programs and projects supported by Norway. Read more … [Norad] Continue reading
Author Archives: ILRI Communications
Africa / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia
For Ethiopia’s farmers, climate change compounds food crisis
LOKE, Ethiopia — Standing amidst a group of scrawny fellow Ethiopian farmers, Tuke Shika points to the scorching sun when asked why his food reserves have dwindled this year. “The weather has changed, it’s not as it used to be before,” he laments. “The rains are increasingly erratic, and we are getting less and less … Continue reading
The livestock sector – our key to regional economic integration
The Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahboub Maalim, underscored the central role that the livestock sector is playing in delivering IGAD’s revitalised agenda of regional economic integration. He further commended the IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative for its progress as the secretariat’s de facto livestock arm, in forging regional cooperation and harmonisation. Speaking in a meeting … Continue reading
Livestock towards livelihood of small farmers in India
In India, of the 72% of the rural population,57% of the households (over 100 million) keep livestock as their only or important source of livelihood. Many of these (32%) small-scale livestock keepers have no access to land and depend on livestock as the only source of livelihood and the number of rural landless households is … Continue reading
These innovations have legs
Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute recently visited Ethiopia as part of a project evaluating environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty, and tellong stories of hope and success in food production from all over Africa. Her Ethiopia visit began at ILRI. She blogs … Farmers confront more challenges than ever before: climate change, … Continue reading
Yemen: Ramping up the fight against screw worm
Yemen’s Agriculture Ministry is boosting efforts to combat the livestock disease screw worm, which is threatening the livelihoods of rural inhabitants, particularly in coastal and central regions, according to ministry officials. Read more … (IRIN) Continue reading
Climate change threatens region’s most traded crops
Maize and beans, East Africa’s most traded and consumed commodities, are being threatened by climate changes. A new study published in the peer-review journal on Agricultural Systems, projects that climate change will have highly variable impacts on East Africa’s vital maize and bean harvests over the next two to four decades. This is presenting growers … Continue reading
Conquering the cattle plague
Peter Roeder and Karl Rich contributed a case study to the IFPRI project ‘Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development’ Focused on ‘the global effort to eradicate rinderpest’, the case shows that “concerted effort by national veterinary services in both industrialized and developing countries, aided by international organizations, has brought the once dreaded rinderpest livestock … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / East Africa / Kenya / Research
In Kenya, better cows for better health
A parasite researcher from NYU is hoping to tackle African sleeping sickness in Kenya by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. Jayne Raper believes that to truly help people, sometimes you have to start with another species. In this case, cows. Unlike Raper, a parasite researcher at New York University, most … Continue reading
Agriculture / Climate Change / ILRI / Livestock / Research
No simple solution to livestock and climate change
For many people the terms ‘greenhouse gas’ and ‘climate change’ conjure up images of smokestacks billowing noxious clouds, gridlocked traffic, the cracked bottom of a dried-up lake bed, or a polar bear clinging to a melting ice floe. Rarely do you see images of farmers ploughing fields, planting seeds or feeding animals. Indeed, until recently, … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 