‘The Green Revolution of the 1960s raised crop yields and cut hunger – and also saved decades worth of greenhouse gas emissions, a study concludes. ‘US researchers found cumulative global emissions since 1850 would have been one third as much again without the Green Revolution’s higher yields. ‘Although modern farming uses more energy and chemicals, … Continue reading
In the May/June 2010 issue of Foreign Policy, agricultural policy analyst Robert Paarlberg argues that the trendy food causes of rich countries, whose sustainable mantra is ‘organic, local and slow’, ‘is no recipe for saving the world’s hungry millions’. ‘Too much food production is already organic, local and slow in the developing world,’ he says. … Continue reading
Brian Perry, a former senior scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, now a visiting professor of tropical veterinary medicine at the University of Oxford, in the latest issue of a newsletter produced jointly by Oxford, the Jenner Institute and the International Animal Health Institute, all in the United Kingdom, writes: … Continue reading
‘”If 1989 saw the end of the ‘Second World’ with Communism’s demise, then 2009 saw the end of what was known as the ‘Third World.’ We are now in a new, fast-evolving multi-polar world economy in which some developing countries are emerging as economic powers, others are moving towards becoming additional poles of growth, and … Continue reading
Brian Perry, a former scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and a continuing collaborator with ILRI, now a visiting Professor at the University of Oxford, writes a column, ‘Our Man in Africa’, for the Dick Vet News, of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Perry’s column in the … Continue reading
In science as in politics, easily grasped arguments grab headlines. And those that polarize issues can have even greater force. The Climategate saga that hit the press just before the Copenhagen conference on climate change late last year managed both to make headlines and to further polarize stands on whether climate is or is not … Continue reading
The Marsabit district in rugged northern Kenya is the size of Ireland. It has ten tribes and seven languages but only 160,000 people. The manager of the local branch of Equity Bank says it takes two crunching days of driving his jeep through burning deserts to reach some of his customers. Marsabit depends on cattle, … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 