Category Archives: Agriculture

Agriculture / Article / BecA / Central Africa / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Kenya / Research

Science fund opens new agricultural research frontiers in Africa

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Ethel Makila writes in New Agriculturalist about an African fund that is leading to breakthroughs and opening new frontiers in the continent’s biosciences research (photo: ILRI/David White). This month (Mar 2013), New Agriculturalist features an article on the Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund. This is a fund that is managed by a state-of-the-art biosciences initiative located … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Production / Capacity Strengthening / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Extension / HUMIDTROPICS / Innovation Systems / Intensification / IPMS / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / Research / Value Chains

Commodities, innovation and action research in Ethiopia: Livestock live talk at ILRI on 27 March 2013

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers project is coming to an end. IPMS aimed to transform agricultural productivity and rural development in Ethiopia through market-oriented agricultural development. Project staff worked with the Ethiopian Government to try new and innovative approaches and technologies. The team worked to achieve this objective through four main … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / ILRI / Markets / Report

Africa’s food market could reach trillion dollars by 2030–World Bank

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The Butcher Shop by Ferdnand Leger, 1921 (via WikiPaintings). ‘A World Bank report launched last week has suggested that Africa’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030. ‘However, the pre-condition for such a development would be for agri-business SMEs to expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Biotechnology / East Africa / Event / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Research

Bio-Innovate’s next steps: Bio-Incubate, Bio-Communicate…

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The first Bio Innovate regional scientific conference (25-27 February 2013) ended last week with a focus on next steps and ‘big actions’ to come. On the last day, participants worked on three different strands: Crop productivity improvement and climate change adaptation Environmental management technologies Innovation incubation and value addition. The groups pondered bottlenecks in the enabling … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Burundi / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

‘Bio-economy’ of East Africa boosted by Bio-Innovate research program

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Seyoum Leta, Bio-Innovate Program Manager, at the First Bio-Innovate Regional Scientific Conference at the United Nations Conference Centre, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25–27 Feb 2013 (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). ‘Capacities in biosciences in various sectors are scarce and scattered in Africa, Bio-Innovate Program Manager Dr. Seyoum Leta said Monday in Addis Ababa at … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Climate Change / Ethiopia / Food Safety / Food Security / Research

Third Dialogue on Ethiopian agriculture to discuss agricultural research in the face of climate change and food security

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The third Dialogue on Ethiopian Agriculture with the theme “Agricultural Research for National Development in the Face of Climate Change and Food Security” will take place on March 9 and 10, 2013 at Haramaya University. The Dialogue aims to provide a platform to deliberate on policy issues and strategies pertaining to agricultural education, research, technology … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Biotechnology / East Africa / Event / Research

Bio-Innovate regional scientific conference to explore successes challenges in applying bioscience innovation in East Africa

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Eastern Africa will be the focus of a transformational forum to harness the power of biosciences innovations later this month, when more than 120 scientists, policy makers, the private sector, donors, and other stakeholders gather at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 1st Bio-Innovate Regional Scientific Conference at the United Nations Conference Centre,  from 25-27 February … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / CGIAR / Food Security / ILRI / Opinion piece / Research / USA

World Bank president on chicken wings, chicken feed, Super Bowl Sunday (and, ahem, CGIAR)

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Chicken wings cooked with honey and soy (photo on Flickr by TheDeliciousLife). World Bank President Jim Yong Kim became a champion and (sort of) celebrity spokesperson for agricultural-research-for-development this week to the delight of those of us in that (not so celebrity) world. The added bonus for the 700 or so staff of the International … Continue reading →

Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / Livestock-Water / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Value Chains / Water

New project promises better ‘LIVES’ for Ethiopia’s livestock and irrigation farmers

Posted on by • Leave a comment

A baseline survey was conducted for the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in Sidama (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region), Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma). ‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have launched a new project called “Livestock and [Irrigation] Value Chains for … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Production / Environment / Event / Livestock-Water / Water

How much water is in the meat on your plate? Livestock live talk at ILRI on 7 February 2013

Posted on by • Leave a comment

What is a ‘water footprint’ and why does it matter? How does the ‘livestock water footprint’ differ between developing and developed countries? These are some of the questions that Arjen Hoekstra, a renowned professor in water management from the University of Twente in the Netherlands, will attempt to answer when he gives a ‘livestock live talk’ … Continue reading →