Simple livestock production changes could help both farmers and the environment

Posted on 2 Nov 2010 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Typical smallholder livestock household in Berhampore Village, West Bengal, India (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). The following excerpts are from an article by Philip Thornton published yesterday (1 November 2010) in a Global Food Security Blog. Thornton cites a new paper he and his colleague Mario Herrero have published in a prestigious scientific journal that outlines how … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Consumption / Environment / Livestock Systems

Is eating meat actually good for the planet?

Posted on 21 Oct 2010 by Susan MacMillan • 2 Comments

A young girl carries a slab of beef amongst traders in Goro town, Ethiopia, on market day. (Photo credit: ILRI/Mann) ‘The modest proposal may sound heretical to many eco-conscious eaters, but eating meat may actually be good for the planet after all. In his new book, Meat: A Benign Extravagance, Simon Fairlie aims to debunk … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Animal Products / Dairying / Livelihoods / Livestock / Pro-Poor Livestock

Prospects for small-scale dairying

Posted on 8 Oct 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Since 2003, the Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Farm Comparison Network have been compiling and analyzing information on dairy sector development and dairy household economics over a wide range of countries across the globe. This book brings these studies together and provides a … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Insurance / Livestock / Livestock Systems / PIM / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock

Livestock sector policies and programs in developing countries: A menu for practitioners

Posted on 1 Oct 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 2 Comments

Interventions to strengthen the livestock sector in the developing world help reduce poverty and hunger because hundreds of millions of rural households rely heavily on livestock to sustain their livelihoods. Farm animals generate opportunities for on- and off-farm employment and provide important supplements to the cereal-based diets of the less well-to-do. At the same time, … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Animal Products / Asia / Biodiversity / India / Indigenous Breeds / Latin America / Livestock / Markets / Somalia / South Africa

Marketing local breeds to improve livestock diversity and livelihoods

Posted on 24 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 3 Comments

Throughout the world and over centuries, small-scale livestock keepers and pastoralists have developed animal breeds that are well suited to their local conditions. These breeds are hardy and disease-resistant; they can survive on little water and scant vegetation. They can continue producing meat and milk in areas where modern, imported breeds succumb without expensive housing, … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Climate Change / East Africa / Feeds / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock Systems

Kenya – Preying on small uneducated farmers

Posted on 22 Sep 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

A new study by the International Livestock Research Institute has found that reductions in greenhouse gases could be worth $1 billion dollars to poor livestock farmers if they could sell saved carbon on international markets. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by livestock operations in tropical countries — a major contributor to climate change — could be … Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Crop-Livestock / Livestock Systems / North America / USA

How to save the grasslands: Bring in more cattle

Posted on 20 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

To many, the Western grasslands still reflect the essence of this country: the vast plains that begin with prairie and bump up against the Rockies, home to herds of cattle and the cowboys that run them. Yet this indelible image belies the facts, as much of the nation’s rangeland has been degraded by overgrazing. Land … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Animal Products / Livelihoods / Livestock / Markets / UK

Could new farm animals provide a future for the livestock sector?

Posted on 20 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

The future for livestock farmers could be pretty bleak if we believe everything we read in the press. Is meat really going to give you cancer? Is producing beef wrecking the rainforests and the planet? Are farting cows really a major contributor to climate change? Will millions starve if we don’t all become vegetarians? A … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Climate Change / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / Fodder / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Southern Africa

Livestock systems in Swaziland: Adapt or perish

Posted on 19 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

A changing climate will prompt changes in behaviour across southern Africa. And when it comes to adaptation, Swazi farmer Bongani Phakathi is a frustrated man a few steps ahead of his neighbours. Traditionally, livestock in Swaziland grazes in the fields during winter, eating what’s left behind after maize and other crops are harvested. But Phakathi … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Climate Change / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / Livestock Systems

Better feed and genes could cut livestock emissions – but only if animals survive, farmers say

Posted on 19 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

In the heart of Namori village, in the outskirts of Mwea Game Reserve in Eastern Kenya, Samuel Muturi Karobia chops fodder into manageable pieces for his two Friesian dairy cattle. Karobia bought the two animals three years ago after he sold off a herd of 11 locally bred cattle. It was a great decision, he … Continue reading →