Author Archives: Susan MacMillan

Africa / Animal Breeding / Asia / Bangladesh / Biodiversity / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Pakistan / South Asia / Southeast Asia / Sri Lanka / Vietnam

ILRI calls for steps to conserve the animal genetic resources of developing countries

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‘The International Livestock Research Institute is calling for immediate, practical steps to preserve developing countries’ dwindling animal genetic diversity. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization says almost 10 percent of the world’s livestock breeds have become extinct in the last six years. Twenty percent of the 7,616 breeds documented in the FAO’s Global Databank … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Books and chapters / East Africa / Kenya / Research / Tanzania / Uganda

‘New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa’ launched by five East African heads of state

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The 12th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community is taking place today, 3 December 2010, at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge, Arusha, Tanzania. President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and current chairman of the summit, as well as presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Climate Change / Food Security / Latin America

‘Gloomy’ future for agriculture in a much warmer world–climate change researcher Gerald Nelson

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Farmer Celeste Sitoe with her maize harvest in Lhate Village, outside Chokwe, in Gaza Province, southern Mozambique (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). The Associated Press today broke a story that researchers are predicting a ‘gloomy’ future for agriculture in the face of greater and faster warming of the world than expected. ‘. . . [O]n our current … Continue reading →

Africa / Asia / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / Latin America

‘Globe faces daunting task’–Climate change researcher Bruce Campbell

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Science News reports this week that the prices of global food prices are rising along with global temperatures and that global warming may have already begun outpacing the ability of farmers to adapt. ‘Since summer, signs of severe food insecurity—droughts, food riots, five- to tenfold increases in produce costs—have erupted around the globe. Several new … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Directorate / ILRI

‘We’re not getting traction on climate change’–Carlos Sere

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ILRI director general Carlos Seré warns of the impacts of a world 4 degrees warmer on hundreds of millions of African small-scale food producers. As a United Nations climate meeting gets under way in Cancún, Mexico, this week, Carlos Seré, a Uruguyan agricultural economist and director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), warns policymakers … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Production / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Environment / ILRI / Livestock Systems / Poultry

Turkeys and spinach: Green foodies beware–the foods in our food systems are not always what they seem

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Seen at the Barrington Living History Farm (USA), this is most likely a Black-Spanish turkey, which was a common breed in the 19th century (photo credit: Big Grey Mare’s Photostream on Flickr / Carol Von Canon). Agricultural systems analyst Philip Thornton, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was interviewed last week by the American … Continue reading →

Africa / Climate Change / ILRI

Forscher warnen: Vier Grad sind zwei zu viel

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‘Um nicht mehr als zwei Grad Celsius soll sich die Erde erwärmen. Darauf hatten sich die Teilnehmer des letzten Klimagipfels verständigt. Zu Beginn des diesjährigen UN-Klimatreffens im mexikanischen Cancún an diesem Montag ist allerdings fraglicher denn je, ob dieses unverbindliche Minimalziel überhaupt noch erreicht werden kann. Zum einen, weil weiter verbindliche Ziele zur Treibhausgasminderung fehlen. ‘Zum … Continue reading →

Africa / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI

Could rising temperatures overwhelm Africa’s adaptive capacity and resilience?

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‘A new study warns of the potential problems Africa faces from rising temperatures. ‘The Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) says the continent must learn to adapt to shorter growing seasons. The report was released as the U.N. Climate Change Conference is held in Cancun, Mexico. ‘Most warnings about climate change are based on a … Continue reading →

Africa / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / Livelihoods

Climate change may force many southern African crop-and-livestock farmers to migrate–ILRI director general Carlos Sere

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‘The unsolved puzzle of what to do with people forced from their homes by the effects of climate change—a hot topic a couple of years ago—seems to have slid down the agendas of aid agencies, policy makers and the media. . . . [A] comprehensive international framework for dealing with environmental migrants is still a … Continue reading →