Wildlife populations are declining severely in many protected areas and unprotected pastoral areas of Africa, researchers from leading universities and international research institutes said. Continue reading
Author Archives: Susan MacMillan
Call for papers for the All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture in Nairobi this October
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), together with the Animal Production Society of Kenya (APSK), the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF), the All Africa Society for Animal Production (AASAP) and other partners, is helping to organize the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture (AACAA). Held every four years, the conference will take place 27–30 Oct 2014 at the Kenyatta international Convention Centre, in Nairobi’s central business district. Continue reading
ILRI at the Africa Livestock Conference and Exhibition (ALiCE) 2014 Conference in Uganda
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) participated actively in the African Livestock Conference and Exhibition (ALiCE2014), the theme of which was ‘Developing livestock value chains and improving livelihood in Africa’, held at the Speke Resort & Conference Centre, in Kampala, Uganda, 18–20 June 2014. Continue reading
Gates-funded East African Dairy Development project expands into Tanzania
More than 200 participants attended the launch of the Tanzanian phase of the East Africa Dairy Development project in late March 2014, among them players in the country’s dairy sector, including dairy processors, officials from the Tanzania Dairy Board, dairy farmers, banks, microfinance organisations and ILRI. Continue reading
New livestock maps pinpoint ‘danger zones’ for possible spread of deadly H7N9 strain of bird flu
A recent paper that maps the global distributions of the world’s major livestock species has already been used to advance understanding of where surveillance efforts should be targeted to prevent the possible spread of a lethal bird flu virus now circulating in poultry populations in China, where it has killed 62 people. The original mapping work, led by Tim Robinson, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and published at the end of May, was immediately put to practical use in locating large regions in South and Southeast Asia that would suit the new lethal virus. Continue reading
New ‘G-range’ tool predicts how climate change will affect rangelands, which cover 45% of the world’s surface
Scientists from Colorado State University have just put the final touches on an intersting tool called: G-Range. It’s a tool that can simulate generalized changes in rangelands through time, with simulations that may span a few to thousands of years. Continue reading
White gold: Experts assess dairy opportunities in East Africa and Ethiopia
The Inter-Agency Donor Group on pro-poor livestock research and development (IADG) recently completed a successful Dairy Expert Consultation in Uganda. The three-day event in Masaka-Mbarara gathered over 50 dairy experts from six East African countries and beyond, and took place from April 1-3, 2014. Continue reading
Of cows, camels and ‘charity insurance’ on Kenya’s Somali frontier–The Economist
Insuring animals who range with semi-nomadic herders across some of the harshest terrain on earth had defeated all previous efforts. Eventually he came across the work of a Kenyan economist, Andrew Mude of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Nairobi. Mr Mude has developed an insurance model that uses satellite images to assess the impact of drought on the vegetation that camels, cows and goats need to survive. . . . Continue reading
Having your cake and eating it too–Working both the production and consumption ends of ‘the meat question’
The Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) site has published (10 Apr 2014) an interesting comment on an interesting paper by Petr Havlík et al., Climate change mitigation through livestock system transitions, published in Feb 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Continue reading
The roads not taken: Should 1bn overfed people eat less meat? Or 1bn hungry farmers become more efficient?
The Butcher, by Marc Chagall, 1910 (via Wikipaintings). Should you become vegetarian to help mitigate against global warming? Well, you could, or you might try just eating less meat, if you’re one of some 1 billion people chronically eating too much food. On the other hand, you might try helping some 1 billion small-scale livestock … Continue reading