The man behind one of the most influential reports on climate change, Lord Stern, has highlighted the impact meat production has on greenhouse gas emissions. Part of it comes through methane made by the animals as they digest food. So which farm animals expel the most methane? A diet that relies heavily on meat production … Continue reading
Category Archives: Agriculture
Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Genetics / Pigs / Research
First draft of the pig: Researchers sequence swine genome
A global collaborative has produced a first draft of the genome of a domesticated pig, an achievement that will lead to insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution. A red-haired Duroc pig from a farm at the University of Illinois will now be among the growing list of domesticated animals that have had their genomes … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Food Security / Kenya
Pastoralists: moving with the times?
With children severely malnourished, animals weak or dying, and people struggling to find water, exceptionally dry conditions in the Horn of Africa have added to the cumulative effect of three to four consecutive seasons of poor or failed rains. Severe shortages of pasture and water, combined with high food prices, have left an estimated 24 … Continue reading
FAO/WFP publication: The state of food insecurity in the world economic crises—impacts and lessons learned
Did you know that: In Africa and Latin America, a 1 percentage-point increase in the ratio of remittances to GDP results in 0.29 percent and 0.37 percent declines, respectively, in the number of people living below the poverty line?. The impact of the financial crisis on remittances and more is discussed in this annual publication … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / ILRI / Livelihoods / Regions
Ireland—Minister Of State for overseas development launches ‘Khulungira: Harvesting hope in an African village’
Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr Peter Power, T.D., today launched an exhibition highlighting the potential of science for Africa’s smallholder farmers at the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre in Dublin. Leading international agricultural researchers, such as Dr Carlos Seré, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Dr Richard Jones, … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / ECF / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Research / Vulnerability
Livestock research addresses issues underlying the pastoral crisis in the Horn of Africa
Things Fall Apart Things have quickly fallen apart in this particular drought in the Horn’s vast drylands because of a toxic mix of underlying factors. Land Use Among the things not being redressed are land-use policies and practices that fail to account for population increases and thus are restricting herders to ever smaller, drier and … Continue reading
GCARD summary of Africa e-consultation available
The Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) has posted the results of a summary of an e-consultation on the future of agricultural research in Africa. Four regional e-consultations were conducted in preparation for a 28-31 March 2010 physical meeting in Montpellier, France. The summary of the African e-consultation, organized and summarized by the … Continue reading
Agriculture / ILRI / Innovation Systems / IPMS / Research
Integrating innovation systems perspective and value chain analysis in agricultural research for development: implications and challenges
This Working paper by Ponniah Anandajayasekeram and Berhanu Gebremedhin on Integrating innovation systems perspective and value chain analysis in agricultural research for development: implications and challenges was released on 8 October, 2009. The environment in which agricultural discovery and innovation occurs has been constantly changing with resultant significant influences on the organization and the social … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Cattle / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Livestock / Tanzania
Firm takes private route to fight cattle deaths
A private charity has renewed the fight against cattle deaths with the introduction of a new distribution channel for vaccine in the Kenyan market. Commercialisation of the vaccine is targeted at combating East Coast Fever, a livestock disease that kills millions of animals every year. “We are exploring ways of transferring the production and distribution … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Women
Gender and HIV/AIDS mainstreaming in a market-oriented agricultural development context: A training manual for frontline staff
This manual by Lemlem Aregu, Clare Bishop-Sambrook and Ranjitha Puskur of ILRI and Aresawum Mengesha, Ephrem Tesema and Zahra Ali – independent consultants on Gender and HIV/AIDS mainstreaming in a market oriented agricultural development context: A training manual for frontline staff was released on 7 October, 2009. This training manual is based on experiences from … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 