‘A Hyderabad-developed poultry breed has brought about a sea change in the lives of farmers in Mon district of Nagaland. ‘Reduced mortality rates of Vanaraja-bred birds, developed by the project directorate on poultry, Hyderabad, and increased income, has resulted in farmers asking for more supplies of the breed from the Nairobi-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute … Continue reading
Livestock genetic diversity is key to global food security; this is the native black pig of the mountainous region of northern Vietnam (photo on Flickr by Rock Portrait Photography). ‘Germany, Norway and Switzerland have contributed a first donation of $1,000,000 to a new, FAO [United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization]-managed fund designed to help developing … Continue reading
A chicken forages beneath a farm cart in Brahampur (Arwa Village), in West Bengal, India, near drying patties of cow dung that will be used as cooking fuel (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme, a joint initiative of the National Dairy Development Board of India and the United Nations Food and … Continue reading
An elderly Somali woman arrives at Dadaab refugee camp, in northern Kenya; despite the dangers, thousands of refugees every week are making the journey south from Somalia into Kenya, walking for weeks across the desert and braving attacks by armed robbers and wild animals; Dadaab is now the world’s largest refugee camp, supporting more than 370,000 … Continue reading
Map of drought-afflicted areas in the Horn of Africa as of 28 June 2011 (map credit: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, web-posted on the ReliefWeb website). ‘. . . [A]fter the worst drought in 60 years, more than 10m people in the Horn of Africa need emergency food aid. Livestock have … Continue reading
A kilometre outside Waridaad village, in Somalia, carcasses of dead sheep and goats stretch across the landscape; this and other regions of the Horn of Africa are suffering from one of the driest years in memory; severe shortages of food and water, along with spiralling food prices and the deaths of livestock, have plunged many … Continue reading
Despite the dangers, thousands of refugees every week are making the journey to Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, walking for weeks across the desert and braving attacks by armed robbers and wild animals; Dadaab is now the world’s largest refugee complex, currently supporting more than 370,000 people (11 July 2011) (photo on Flickr by Oxfam International). In … Continue reading
Worm-resistant red Masai sheep, an indigenous ‘hairless’ sheep kept by Maasai herders, in Kenya (photo credit: ILRI). Catalyst, the Australian Broadcasting Company’s well-regarded science television program, yesterday (14 Jul 2011) broadcast an episode on research being conducted in Kenya to conserve the native livestock of Africa. Okeyo Mwai, an animal geneticist working at the International … Continue reading
The worst drought in 60 or so years is biting deeper into countries in the Horn of Africa; artists from around the world painted canvases illustrating the human impact of climate change in their countries; 16 of these canvases were being exhibited at the UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan, Poland, in Dec 2008 (image credit: … Continue reading
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited ILRI’s Nairobi campus on 12 Jul 2011: Here, the Chancellor is rising from signing ILRI’s visitors’ book, with German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner, Kenya Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei and ILRI Director General Carlos Seré looking on (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). Nairobi’s Daily Nation newspaper reported yesterday (12 Jul 2011): ‘Kenya has … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 