Buffalo / Cattle / Dairying / Directorate / Event report / ILRI / India / South Asia

India’s livestock development trajectory ‘exemplary’–Not only huge in aggregate but also small in scale and sustainable in nature

 ILRI’s Sapna Jarial translates a speech delivered by a village council president on field visit in Haryana, India, on 4 Nov 2012, made by ILRI management and board (photo credit: ILRI/Nils Teufel). Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, a German livestock researcher and activist ‘for socially responsible and ecologically sustainable livestock development’, asks in a recent blog post, ‘Whose … Continue reading

A4NH / Animal Health / Cattle / Dairying / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

‘Crypto’ and other diseases we get from animals are on the rise in poor countries

Leonard Gitau, a small-scale livestock farmer in Dagoretti, Nairobi, speaks to journalists during a media tour of urban farmers in Nairobi on 21 Sep 2012 (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Sarah Ooko, special correspondent for the East African, reports that ‘animal to human diseases are on the rise’ in this region. ‘Zoonoses’ is the term used … Continue reading

Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Event / ILRI / India / Markets / PPR / South Asia

Lessons from India’s smallholder dairy successes can help developing world–ILRI’s Jimmy Smith

On 4 Nov 2012, an ILRI delegation of 28 visited the village of Araipura, in the Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana, where they held discussions with dairy farm families. The ILRI management team and board of trustees also visited the National Dairy Research Institute. (Photo credit: ILRI) ‘Operation Flood in Gujarat is … Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Film and video / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Report / Zoonotic Diseases

Slum livestock = Food? Income? Disease? All three?–Al Jazeera reports on ILRI research

Peter Greste, a journalist with Al Jazeera, recently accompanied veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert Delia Grace to the slums of Nairobi, to take a first-hand look at ‘urban farming’, livestock farming in particular. Grace works for the International Livestock Research Institute and leads a health component of a new multi-institutional CGIAR Research Program on … Continue reading

Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Film and video / Indigenous Breeds / Launch / 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

A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

Cattle in the capital, managed well, can improve nutrition and health in Kenya’s slums

Leornard Gitau, a small-scale livestock farmer in Dagoretti, Nairobi speaks to journalists during a media tour of urban farmers in Nairobi on 21 Sep 2012 (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). In the Nairobi suburb of Dagoretti, ‘Leonard Gichuru Gitau is a city dweller, but it doesn’t take a detective to see that he is also a … Continue reading

Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / ILRI / Report

Farmers across the globe will have to switch to climate-hardy crops and farming–CGIAR report

Taking a young goat to market at Mieso, in the Mirab Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). Nature News reports on a new CGIAR study that says ‘One-third of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture’ and advises farmers to abandon vulnerable crops in the face of climate change. ‘The global … Continue reading

Animal Feeding / Crop residues / Dairying / East Africa / Goats / ILRI / Intensification / Kenya / Pigs / Project / Rwanda / Tanzania

Sweet potato–sweet solution: Food for people, feed for animals

Cassava, potato and sweet potato  trials at high altitude in Rwanda (photo credit: ILRI/Albert Mwangi). ‘Pressures from climate change and population growth are increasing the competition for grains as food or livestock feed in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. But sweet potato, which can grow in harsh climatic conditions with minimal inputs, can provide … Continue reading

A4NH / Animal Diseases / Article / Bangladesh / Bird flu / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Film and video / ILRI / Kenya / Nigeria / Uganda / Zoonotic Diseases

Draconian bans on urban livestock in developing countries ‘not the answer’–Guardian on ILRI report

Customers at a milk bar in Ndumbuini in Kabete, Nairobi  (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Mark Tran in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog warns us this week not to keep chickens under our beds. On the other hand, he infers, chicken bought on the street in poor countries may be safer to eat than that from … Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / Animal Diseases / East Africa / Epidemiology / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / West Africa / Zoonotic Diseases

Urban agriculture: Where suburbs and farms, pathogens and livestock, meet and mix

A dairy farm in Dagoretti, a suburb of Nairobi, Kenya, where lines between city-life and farm-life are blurred (photo credit: Tristan McConnell). Tristan McConnell reported in the GlobalPost yesterday that ‘In modern Africa, it can be hard to tell where the city ends and the countryside begins. Rural Kenyans flocking to the city in ever-greater numbers … Continue reading