Category Archives: Animal Production

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

The roads not taken: Should 1bn overfed people eat less meat? Or 1bn hungry farmers become more efficient?

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The Butcher, by Marc Chagall, 1910 (via Wikipaintings). Should you become vegetarian to help mitigate against global warming? Well, you could, or you might try just eating less meat, if you’re one of some 1 billion people chronically eating too much food. On the other hand, you might try helping some 1 billion small-scale livestock … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

Yet more evidence that agriculture–particularly livestock agriculture–needs to be part of climate discussions

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The farmyard, by Marc Chagall, 1954 (via Wikipaintings). Without big interventions, the future of food security looks bleak. So says an article in One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World Website. The clear message from . . . the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is the urgent need for farmers to adapt to a changing … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

Research shows vast differences in livestock systems, diets and emissions–FCRN on PNAS paper

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Tara Garnet, of the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN), at Oxford University, recently highlighted a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper, Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems, is written by livestock scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Kenya) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia). Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / ASSP / BecA / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Research / Sheep / Small Ruminants

Review of sheep research and development projects in Ethiopia

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This working paper reviews and documents sheep research projects/activities in Ethiopia and provides an overview of major research outputs, dissemination of research results, impacts on the sheep industry, and the gaps in research. Thoughts on the future directions of sheep research are also presented. Sheep research and development in Ethiopia dates back to the early … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Animal Production / ASSP / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / LIVESTOCKFISH / Poultry / Report

Characterizing and improving village chicken production in Ethiopia

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This ILRI project report describes the characteristics of village chicken production and marketing, analyses its contributions to farmers’ livelihoods, and presents options for improving the traditional village breeding practices in Horro and Ada’a woredas in the central and western highlands of Ethiopia. For the survey, a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used which includes … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Event / ILRIComms / Intensification / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / PIL / Policy / Southeast Asia / Value Chains / Vietnam

Vietnam’s household livestock farming set for growth

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Young water buffalo and rice fields in Mai Chau (an ethnic Thai village), in Hoa Binh Province, northwest Vietnam. Household livestock production is set to become the leading form of livestock production in the country (photo on Flickr by Lon&Queta). ‘Household livestock production should be developed to reach a larger scale and higher professional level, participants … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

What livestock eat (and don’t eat) determines how productive, and efficient, they are–PNAS study

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Napier grass (aka ‘elephant grass’), a major feed supplement for dairy cows and other ruminant animals in Kenya (photo credit: Jeff Haskins). Even though research has shown that [greenhouse gas] GHG emissions from the Western world far outweigh those from the developing world, livestock keeping methods in Africa are increasingly becoming a key subject. Europe, … Continue reading →

A4NH / Animal Production / Dairying / Nutrition / Uganda

Improved dairy cows in Uganda: Pathways to poverty alleviation and improved child nutrition

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The introduction and dissemination of improved dairy cow breeds in Uganda is arguably the most significant step taken to develop a modern and commercial dairy industry in the country over the last two decades. This IFPRI study uses a nationally representative sample of Ugandan households to rigorously examine the impact of adoption of improved dairy … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / ASSP / Cattle / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Report / West Africa

Guidelines to plan animal breeding programs in West Africa

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This ILRI project report by Karen Marshall is designed to assist partners of the project ‘Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa (PROGEBE)’ in structuring the plans behind their national-level animal breeding programs. It, however, will also be useful to others documenting breeding plans for developing country livestock production systems, outside of this specific project. Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Article / Cattle / Dairying / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / Pastoralism / PIL / Value Chains

East Africa Dairy Development Project featured in Kenya Airways’ February 2014 Msafiri in-flight magazine

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I was travelling on a short flight from Nairobi to Mombasa yesterday and was glad to read about the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners of the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) Project in the Kenya Airways in-flight magazine in the seat pocket in front of me. A four-page full-feature article (see pages 100-104) … Continue reading →