Author Archives: Susan MacMillan

Africa / Drought / Drylands / Food Security / Forages / Genetics / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Landscapes of chronic hunger: Eating food aid in empty deserts and desert slums

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Untitled (Desert Landscape), by Salvador Dali, 1934 (source: Wikipaintings.org). Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Paul Salopek has published in Foreign Policy this week a feature article, at times lyrical and elegiac, stemming from a walking trip he and his wife made last August, as a great drought gripped the Horn of Africa, across a part of the arid Turkana … Continue reading →

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

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

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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 →

Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Of cell phones, satellites and livestock insurance in Kenya’s Chalbi Desert

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ILRI’s Brenda Wandera and Andrew Mude at the launch of the Kenya Government’s ‘Open Data Web Portal’ on 8 Jul 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/Muthoni Njiru). Brenda Wandera, who helps manage an Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and her boss, Andrew Mude, are the focus of an in-depth magazine … Continue reading →

Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI

Gates Foundation appoints Ethiopia representative

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This week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation appointed Haddis Tadesse as its representative to Ethiopia.   Tadesse will serve as the foundation’s liaison to the federal government of Ethiopia and the African Union. He also will help the foundation strengthen its relationships with health and development partners operating in Ethiopia, including donor agencies, international NGOs … Continue reading →

Article / Human Health / ILRI

Will lab-grown meat become an alternative to beef?

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Cattle in Mozambique coming in from the fields in the evening (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).  ‘The world’s first test-tube burger will be ready to eat within months. ‘It will look, feel and, it is hoped, taste, like a regular quarter-pounder, its creator Mark Post told the world’s premier science conference. . . . ‘The “ethical … Continue reading →

A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Asia / Consumption / Film and video / Food Safety / ILRI / Nutrition / Project

Safe food, fair food: Making milk and meat safe and affordable for the world’s poor

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Demand for milk and meat continues to rise in developing countries (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). The New Agriculturist recently reported on a Safe Food, Fair Food Project led by scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘Rising demand for livestock products is providing opportunities to improve the livelihoods of smallscale livestock farmers across Africa. … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / ASF / BecA / Burundi / Disease Control / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Project / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda / Vaccines

Devastating African disease of pigs gets new attention and funding

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African Swine Fever Workshop, July 2011, Nairobi; from left: Raymond Rowland (Kansas State University), David Odongo (ILRI), Richard Bishop (ILRI), Maria-Jesus Munoz (CISA-INIA) and Jose-Manuel Vizcaino (Head of OIE ASF World Reference Centre Madrid) on a visit to the new BecA-ILRI laboratories (photo credit: ILRI/Edward Okoth). New Agriculturist reported late last year on renewed research … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Climatic conditions linked to Horn’s 2011 drought persist–could spell another food crisis

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Somali dust storm (image on Flickr by Frank Keillor). ‘The climatic conditions linked to the drought in the Horn in 2011 have persisted, and some early warning officials say the aid community should brace themselves for a possible re-run of last year’s food crisis. . . . ‘According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Diseases / CBPP / Disease Control / ILRI / Launch / North America / Research / USA / Vaccines

US National Science Foundation’s BREAD funds Craig Venter and ILRI to battle cattle pneumonia in Africa

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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 →

Animal Diseases / Biotechnology / Diagnostics / Disease Control / Drylands / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Epidemiology / Event / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Research / RVF / Southern Africa / USA / Zoonotic Diseases

Could Rift Valley fever be a weapon of mass destruction? An insidious insect-animal-people infection loop explored

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The Fifth Plague: Livestock Disease, woodcut by Gustave Doré, 1866 (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons). Anthrax, bird flu , Ebola, HIV-AIDS, H1N1, H5N1, influenza, Rift Valley fever, SARS: What are the disease links between people, animals and environments? And what are we doing to protect ourselves against the next outbreak of a deadly infectious disease? … Continue reading →