Author Archives: Susan MacMillan

Drought / East Africa / Event / Film and video / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

News agency interviews herders who received drought insurance payouts in Kenya’s Marsabit District

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Insurance payouts for Kenyan drought victims, posted 26 Oct 2011 by Agence France Press TV: Runtime 2:06. Agence France Presse TV has posted on YouTube an interesting 2-minute video piece on the first-ever insurance payments made to pastoral herders in northern Kenya’s remote Marsabit Dictrict, following a great drought in the Horn of Africa that … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Unusual project cushions drought impacts on poor livestock herders in drought-ravaged Horn

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Some people in Kenya’s Marsabit District who in recent months lost up to a third of their cattle and other livestock to a great drought in the Horn of Africa received insurance payments last week; this man awaits his payout following a village meeting in Dirib Gombo, where it began to rain just two weeks … Continue reading →

Books and chapters / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / Environment / Food Security / Geodata / Insurance / Livestock-Water / NRM / Pastoralism / Vulnerability / Water / Wildlife / WLE

Rethinking drylands: Time to unlock their (big, neglected) potential

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A herd of livestock near Marsabit town, in Kenya’s remote northern pastoral drylands (image on Flickr by Neil Palmer/CIAT). It’s time to unlock the potential of the world’s drylands, which cover more than one-third of the earth and are home to a third of humanity, half of whom—one billion—live in poverty and hunger. The current famine … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Photo / Vulnerability

New satellite-based insurance scheme makes first payments to drought-hit pastoralists in the Horn

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The carcass of a donkey in northern Kenya; like many other animals in recent weeks, this animal lay down to die just as seasonal rains arrived in the region following a prolonged drought. Photographer Neil Palmer explains: ‘Already weakened by months of near-starvation, the animals were unable to endure the colder weather that followed the … Continue reading →

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

Maasai livestock herders in Kenya paid to conserve the wildlife that share their rangelands

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Nairobi cityscape in the background of Nairobi National Park (photo on Flickr by Luigi Guarino). ‘As pastoralists in the North Rift grapple with the drought that has affected more than 12 million East Africans, a new model to pay the residents for conserving the ecosystem in reserves and parks is helping them to diversify income … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

First-ever livestock insurance payouts made in Marsabit

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At a village meeting last Friday in Dirib Gombo, in Kenya’s northern Marsabit District, farmers who took out livestock insurance receive their first payout after a prolonged drought here and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). ‘An innovative insurance scheme to help East African farmers recover from the devastating drought is … Continue reading →

Africa / Asia / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / Food Security / ILRI / Impact Assessment / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Drought responses–New briefing paper on lessons still to learn

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‘Maasai herding’, painting by Kahare Miano (photo credit: ILRI/Dave Elsworth). A new 19-page briefing paper provides a synthesis of key lessons learnt from evaluations of relief and recovery responses to past slow-onset disasters—particularly drought, and food and livelihoods insecurity. The paper is intended for people working in relief and recovery operations for slow-onset disasters—those who … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Food Security / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / Nutrition / Pastoralism / Presentation / Somalia / Vulnerability

Livestock critical to livelihoods and life in Africa – USAID advisor

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Kenya cow bell, on loan from Gary K Clarke, of Cowabunga Safaris, for Africa Everyday Exhibit (image credit: Topeka & Shawnee Country Public Library). Livestock keeping means food security and livelihoods for the world’s poorest people. That’s the message delivered by Joyce Turk, senior livestock advisor at the United States Agency for International Development, at … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Project / Vulnerability

Remote Kenya livestock herders receive their first drought insurance payouts

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ILRI staff help local livestock herders in Kenya’s Marsabit District understand how they might benefit from a new ‘index-based’ livestock insurance policy scheme, which is providing 650 herders who paid for this insurance with their first payout this month, following the loss of forage due to a drought that hit Marsabit as well as much … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Article / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / Environment / Farming Systems / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / NRM / Research / WLE

A BIG conversation starts on ways to increase food supplies while protecting environments and eradicating hunger

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An animated 3-minute video clip by the University of Minnesota’s Institute for the Environment. Justin Gillis has published an interesting piece this week in the Green Blog of the New York Times on a big study just published in Nature by Jon Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. … Continue reading →