West Africa’s ancient (humpless) N’Dama and East Africa’s Improved Boran cattle are two of the continent’s important indigenous breeds (photo credit ILRI/Elsworth). The Economist reports in its current issue (21 October 2010) that things are not going so well at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Biodiversity
Africa / Asia / Biodiversity / CGIAR / Genebank / Indigenous Breeds / Latin America / Uganda / Vietnam
At the UN biodiversity meeting in Japan this week: Should endangered livestock breeds as well as crop varieties be saved?
Africa’s native Ankole cattle, in Uganda (photo credit: East African Dairy Development project). Jeremy Cherfas, of Bioversity International, one of 15 centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), headquartered in Rome, summarizes below the importance of conserving animal genetic resources in material the CGIAR is exhibiting at the meeting of the United … Continue reading
We have just ten years to stem biodiversity losses, UN Nagoya meeting hears
A native chicken of Mozambique (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Richard Black, the environment reporter at the BBC, reports from Nagoya, Japan, yesterday (18 October 2010) that delegates at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will consider adopting new set of targets for 2020 that aim to tackle biodiversity loss. ‘The UN biodiversity convention meeting has … Continue reading
Guidelines developed to help countries improve their animal genetic resources
Animal genetic resources for food and agriculture comprise an essential component of the biological basis for world food security. Hundreds of millions of poor rural people keep livestock and often rely on their animals to provide multiple products and services. In harsh environments where crops will not flourish, livestock keeping is often the main or … Continue reading
Africa / Asia / Biodiversity / Climate Change / Environment / Latin America
Greatest warming is in the North, but biggest impact on life is in the tropics
Even though global warming is not increasing temperatures in the tropics as much as in the northern temperate zone and the Arctic, the metabolic effects on cold-blooded creatures that live there, such as this caiman lizard, will be greater than on creatures living farther north. (Credit: Tim Vickers/Wikimedia Commons) Newswise and the University of Washington … 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
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
How cattle colonized the world
Cattle and other livestock being trekked north in a great annual transhumance that takes place during the cropping season in Niger (photo by ILRI/Mann). Over at Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog, Luigi Guarino has this to say about a new paper in Evolutionary Anthropology summarizing the history of domestic cattle, based on the latest molecular marker data. … Continue reading
Biodiversity / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Epidemiology / Kenya / Mozambique / Southern Africa / Tanzania / Wildlife
Veterinarian Steve Osofsky on smart ways of tackling wildlife, livestock and human health in tandem
Photo credit: ILRI / Mann Steve Osofsky, wildlife veterinarian and Director of Wildlife Health Policy at the international Wildlife Conservation Society, spoke with Laurel Neme on her ‘The WildLife’ radio show and podcast about the intersection between wildlife, livestock and human health, and how paying attention to all three in tandem leads to better outcomes … Continue reading
Animal Breeding / Asia / Biodiversity / India / Indigenous Breeds / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / South Asia
Genetic documentation battling livestock extinction in India
With the country’s rich pool of livestock resources facing threat from extinction due to loss of habitat and shortage of green fodder, a unique initiative to retain and register genetic characteristics through documentation has helped in reviving many breed. Read more … (Financial Express) National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources Continue reading
Africa / Animal Production / Biodiversity / Cattle / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock
Imported cattle threaten African livestock diversity
Even though locally-adapted, diversified agriculture and farming is a key component of both food security today and in a warmer more climate-stressed future, the Big Ag trend is still towards less crop diversity and more uniformity. Here’s a perfect example of the downside of that. Read more … (Treehugger) Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 