Category Archives: Biotechnology

Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Sweden funds innovations to drive crop production in 6 East African countries

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Swedish aid and diplomatic colleagues at the official launch of the Bio-Innovate Program in March at ILRI, with Claes Kjellström, representative of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) at the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi (middle); Kikki Nordin, Regional Team Leader of SIDA’s Environment and Economic Development department (left); and Björn Häggmark, Deputy Head of Mission at … Continue reading →

Biotechnology / East Africa / Kenya / Seeds

Small-scale Kenyan farmer argues for letting Kenyans grow GM crops

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Gilbert arap Bor, a small-scale farmer and member of the Truth about Trade & Technology Global Farmer Network, makes an argument in the Daily Nation (Kenya) for letting farmers here grow genetically modified crops. ‘The season of Lent is upon us–the time of year when Christians around the world prepare for Easter through prayer, charity, and … Continue reading →

BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Biosciences hub for East African agricultural innovations launched

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Poster announcing the official launch of the Bi-Innovate Program at ILRI (photo credit: ILRI). SciDev.Dev this week reports on the official launch of a new biosciences hub operating in Nairobi, Kenya, and serving 6 countries in East Africa. ‘A hub to connect and fund East African agricultural researchers, and assist them in reaching out to … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Biotechnology / Burundi / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Using East Africa’s bio-resources to increase and sustain the region’s food production

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Seyoum Leta, manager of the Bio-Innovate Program (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). Last month, the Zecco (Trading) website published news of the official launch of a Bio-Innovate Program that will work on smart ways to use the region’s bio-resources to increase food production in sustainable ways in six countries in eastern Africa. Bio-Innovate is funded by the … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Biotechnology / Canada / Environment / Fish / Food Security / North America / Pigs / Research

Eco-friendly GM pigs under development in Ontario

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Min piglets at the experimental station at the Institute for Animal Science, in Beijing, China (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Jeremy Cooke of the BBC reports in this video on a genetically modified pig, dubbed ‘Enviro-Pig’, being developed in Ontario that may be among the first of GM farm animals developed for human consumption. (Salmon genetically modified … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

‘Bio-Innovate Program is opportunity for Kenya and the region’–Shaukat Abdul Razak (NCST)

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Shaukat Abdul Razak and Björn Häggmark cut a cake to celebrate the launch the Bio-Innovate Program on 16 March 2011; looking on is ILRI director general Carlos Seré (right) and other invited guests (photo credit: ILRI/Mungai). The Africa Science News Service reports on a recently launched Bio-Innovate Program at the InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘. … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Central Africa / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Swedish-funded Bio-Innovate Program tackling 6 ‘orphan’ food crops of East Africa

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Portrait of Joyce Ledson, a farmer growing four ‘orphan’ food crops of the poor—beans, cassava, potato and sweet potato—as well as the ubiquitous maize, in Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘. . . Six orphan crops chosen for a five-year programme called Bio-resources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio Innovate) are sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Canada / Capacity Strengthening / Central Africa / Directorate / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Research

Kenya President Mwai Kibaki officially opens state-of-the-art biosciences facilities at ILRI’s Nairobi campus

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(Left to right): Knut Hove, chairman of the board of trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); Carlos Seré, director general of ILRI; His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki; Bruce Scott, director of Partnerships and Communications at ILRI; Segenet Kelemu, director of the BecA Hub; and Gertrude Ngeleshi, training officer at ILRI, await the President … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Biotechnology / North America / USA

Exceptional–dead–cattle now cloned in the US

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‘Some of the cattle cloned to boost food production in the US have been created from the cells of dead animals, according to a US cloning company. Farmers say it is being done because it is only possible to tell that the animal’s meat is of exceptionally high quality by inspecting its carcass. ‘US scientists are … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Biotechnology / Disease Control / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Pastoralism / Vaccines

Masai herders buy vaccine to protect their cattle from lethal disease

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Photo credit: ILRI / Mann ‘When asked about the success of vaccination against East Coast fever (ECF) in northern Tanzania, Dr Lieve Lynen, is remarkably modest. And yet more than 500,000 animals have been vaccinated against ECF in Tanzania since 1998, largely due to the work of Lynen’s pharmaceutical company VetAgro Tanzania, which has led … Continue reading →