Corinna Hawkes, director of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London, UK, asks all of us concerned with ‘food systems’ of one kind or another to think beyond ’empty signifiers’, even beyond visions for better food systems, and to get back to a fundamental question—what should be the purpose of food systems? If we can reach agreement on that, she argues, we can then set about creating diverse visions and actions, suiting diverse circumstances, for fulfilling that agreed-upon purpose. Continue reading
Category Archives: Agriculture
Australian body calls for RENEWABLE FOOD (aka ‘regenerative agriculture’ or ‘circular food economies’) as well as renewable energy
The Commission for the Human Future’s second round table conference on global threats and solutions has called for a worldwide effort to transform global food production to a system that is renewable, healthy and fair to all. Continue reading
Food safety: how can consumers make a difference?
As we celebrate World Food Day on 7 June 2020, it is crucial that governments recognize the importance of better food safety in informal markets. One way to encourage them to take food safety seriously is by harnessing the power of consumer demand. Continue reading
How CTA helped me develop the ILRI CapDev Grand Challenge—Wellington Ekaya
Wellington Ekaya, head of capacity development at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), recently talked about his work with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in an article on the CTA Blog. Continue reading
Addressing Africa’s deteriorating food security should be Africa’s top priority—World Bank
World Bank/Brookings report: ‘A key priority for Africa over the next decade should be to address a deteriorating food security situation that is compounded by the effects of climate change, declining agricultural productivity, and rapid population and urbanization growth.’ Continue reading
Thursday Links (November/December 2019)
A monthly round-up of recent articles, blog postings and tweets about livestock, aid and other topics that may be of interest to International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) staff and partners, compiled by David Aronson. (This is a dual month issue of Thursday Links in anticipation of the December holidays.) This is a good long-form article … Continue reading
Tropical agriculture conference takes unexpected turn: Toward optimism
The future of livestock in the developing world was one of the principal themes at the third International Tropical Agriculture (TropAg) Conference held from 11-13 November 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. The conference focused on the challenge of feeding the world’s ever-growing population, which is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. The greatest challenges will … Continue reading
ILRI and partners celebrate World Food Day 2019
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ILRI, and the Ministry of Agriculture celebrated the World Food Day on 16 October 2019 at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Continue reading
CGIAR and Somali officials and donors come together at ICRAF to support agricultural development in Somalia
With livestock and cropping the backbone of the country, leaders from 11 of the 15 CGIAR centres met with Somali officials last month at ICRAF to map ways that CGIAR dryland agricultural research could accelerate and enhance Somalia’s development. Continue reading
Enlarging on the EAT-Lancet planetary diet report—A fresh look by CSIRO’s Mario Herrero, one of the authors
Mario Herrero, a scientist formerly with ILRI and now serving as chief research scientist of agriculture and food at Australia’s CSIRO, recently gave a seminar at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The title of Herrero’s 19 Sep 2019 seminar was ‘Can we feed the planet and stay within planetary boundaries’. He focused on the EAT-Lancet Report on healthy diets (Commission Food in The Anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems, 16 Jan 2019), to which he contributed, along with 36 other experts. Continue reading