The Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahboub Maalim, underscored the central role that the livestock sector is playing in delivering IGAD’s revitalised agenda of regional economic integration. He further commended the IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative for its progress as the secretariat’s de facto livestock arm, in forging regional cooperation and harmonisation. Speaking in a meeting … Continue reading
Category Archives: Agriculture
These innovations have legs
Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute recently visited Ethiopia as part of a project evaluating environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty, and tellong stories of hope and success in food production from all over Africa. Her Ethiopia visit began at ILRI. She blogs … Farmers confront more challenges than ever before: climate change, … Continue reading
Climate change threatens region’s most traded crops
Maize and beans, East Africa’s most traded and consumed commodities, are being threatened by climate changes. A new study published in the peer-review journal on Agricultural Systems, projects that climate change will have highly variable impacts on East Africa’s vital maize and bean harvests over the next two to four decades. This is presenting growers … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / East Africa / Kenya / Research
In Kenya, better cows for better health
A parasite researcher from NYU is hoping to tackle African sleeping sickness in Kenya by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. Jayne Raper believes that to truly help people, sometimes you have to start with another species. In this case, cows. Unlike Raper, a parasite researcher at New York University, most … Continue reading
Agriculture / Climate Change / ILRI / Livestock / Research
No simple solution to livestock and climate change
For many people the terms ‘greenhouse gas’ and ‘climate change’ conjure up images of smokestacks billowing noxious clouds, gridlocked traffic, the cracked bottom of a dried-up lake bed, or a polar bear clinging to a melting ice floe. Rarely do you see images of farmers ploughing fields, planting seeds or feeding animals. Indeed, until recently, … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Kenya / Pastoralism
Herding in Africa, ancient practice being wiped away
In the Horn of Africa region, millions of families are desperate for food and water. Several seasons of failed rains is slowly turning into a major catastrophe. In Kenya an estimated 100,000 livestock have been lost to the current season. Read more … (World Sentinel) Continue reading
Agriculture / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Livestock / Somalia / Trade
Somalia: Livestock-based economy receives major boost
Somalia’s livestock-based economy has received a major boost as its major market, Saudi Arabia lifts its 11 year ban on imported livestock from Somalia. The lift comes after many Somali farmers suffered from the severe east African droughts that dried the soil and dehydrated livestock to death. Last month, a U.S. based NGO embarked on … Continue reading
Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Ethiopia / ILRI / Vaccines
Tufts researchers recognized for eradicating cattle disease
Researchers at Tufts’ Feinstein International Center (FIC) played a leading role in Ethiopia’s successful eradication of a viral disease that kills cattle and destabilized a large group of people dependent on the livestock for survival. The Ethiopian government, along with a team from FIC and the Tufts School of Medicine, in July celebrated the official … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Regions / Research
Climate change could create agricultural winners and losers in East Africa, new study warns
As African leaders prepare to present an ambitious proposal to industrialized countries for coping with climate change in the part of the world that is most vulnerable to its impacts, a new study points to where and how some of this money should be spent. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Agricultural Systems, the study projects … Continue reading
Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / East Africa / ILRI
Hope is Alive!
“The workshop concluded with visits to local research facilities, including the International Livestock Research Institute’s Biosciences of Eastern and Central Africa (BecA) Hub. Private donors and investors have provided more than $10 million in funding for expansion of the facilities and training. “The BecA Hub showed me the country was actively seeking solutions,” Monteros said. … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 