‘Bio-Innovate Program is opportunity for Kenya and the region’–Shaukat Abdul Razak (NCST)

Posted on 28 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Shaukat Abdul Razak and Björn Häggmark cut a cake to celebrate the launch the Bio-Innovate Program on 16 March 2011; looking on is ILRI director general Carlos Seré (right) and other invited guests (photo credit: ILRI/Mungai). The Africa Science News Service reports on a recently launched Bio-Innovate Program at the InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘. … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Dairying / East Africa / Genetics / ILRI / Kenya / Uganda

Top-quality cows for local East African environments

Posted on 26 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

SciDevNet this week carries a dairy genetics story. ‘Dairy farmers in East Africa could soon benefit from superior, affordable cattle breeds through a US$1 million research project. ‘The Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) initiative aims to help smallholders take full advantage of the region’s booming dairy sector and improve their incomes by giving them access … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Central Africa / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Swedish-funded Bio-Innovate Program tackling 6 ‘orphan’ food crops of East Africa

Posted on 23 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Portrait of Joyce Ledson, a farmer growing four ‘orphan’ food crops of the poor—beans, cassava, potato and sweet potato—as well as the ubiquitous maize, in Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘. . . Six orphan crops chosen for a five-year programme called Bio-resources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio Innovate) are sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Burundi / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

New program to provide grants to East Africa’s bioscientists

Posted on 18 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Seyoum Leta, manager of the Bio-Innovate Program, speaks at the program’s official launch this week at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). ‘A Bioresources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) programme has been launched to provide grants to bioscientists working to improve food production and environmental management in East … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Brazil / China / Consumption / Egypt / Food Security / India / Middle East / Philippines / Vietnam

The great global food crunch: Was scarce food the tinderbox for Middle East turmoil?

Posted on 15 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Ancient Egyptian cow relief (photo credit: ILRI/Elsworth). The Washington Post’s op-ed columnist Robert J. Samuelson argued yesterday that the turmoil in the Middle East is related to a global food squeeze. ‘Here’s a question about the Mideast turmoil for future historians: How much did food inflation contribute? We know some basic facts. Middle East countries … Continue reading →

Agriculture / CCAFS / Climate Change / Food Security / NRM / WLE

Some animals are more equal than others in their greenhouse gas emissions

Posted on 13 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

The current essay published on the AgClim Letters blog of the ‘Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security’ Research Program this week praises the sensibleness of a recent background study for a Foresight report that ‘provides valuable insight into how our farming and food industry in the UK can contribute to the transition to a green … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Asia / Bangladesh / Disease Control / Egypt / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / ILRI / Indonesia / North Africa / Southeast Asia / Zoonotic Diseases

Animal surveillance needed to stop bird flu and other human epidemics–World Bank

Posted on 11 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

ILRI has worked with Indonesia to control bird flu using participatory disease surveillance and control approaches (photo credit: ILRI/Jost). The World Bank this week reports that since the beginning of this year, the H5N1 bird flu virus has re-emerged, killing people in Egypt and across Asia. Experts say we need to invest in stronger human … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Capacity Strengthening / Women

Closing the gender gap for development

Posted on 8 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • 2 Comments

Village food seller in Nigeria (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). From the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) comes this news. ‘Investing in closing the gender gap in agriculture could bring the number of undernourished people in the world down by 100-150 million people. This is one of the conclusions of the State of Food and … Continue reading →

CCAFS / Climate Change / Ethiopia / ILRI

State of climate change work in Ethiopia assessed

Posted on 8 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

An Ethiopian livestock herder in the rain (picture credit: ILRI/Habtamu). A one-day workshop on climate change in Ethiopia, organized by the Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia (CCF-E) and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research, was held at the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, campus of International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), yesterday (8 March 2011). At this workshop, the … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Diseases / Asia / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / ILRI / Zoonotic Diseases

BBC’s ‘Farming Today’ interviews ILRI’s Delia Grace on links between farm animals and human diseases