Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Food Security / Interview / Knowledge and Information / Research

At Rio+20 agriculture and environment must become ‘best friends’ – Frank Rijsberman

Farm landscape in Lalibela, northern Ethiopia (photo on Flickr by Philip Kromer). ‘In the run-up to RIO+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), CGIAR, the global agricultural research partnership, issued a call-to-action. In this seven-point plan, CGIAR outlines how agricultural research for development can contribute to a more sustainable, food-secure future. ‘Bruce Campbell, Director … Continue reading

Agriculture / CGIAR / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / Launch / Policy

Crop, tree, water, livestock and fish scientists call for action at Rio+20 sustainable development summit

CGIAR centres and initiatives signing a 7-point ‘CGIAR Call to Action’ at the June 2012 Rio+20 UN sustainable development summit. Mark Kinver at the BBC reports today on a global group calling for decision-makers at the June Rio+20 sustainable development summit to take a concerted approach to agricultural policy, based on science. The International Livestock … Continue reading

CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / NRM / Opinion piece

Move our global food systems into a ‘safe space’–Memo to G8 from CGIAR’s Bruce Campbell

Watch this elegant 6-minute film: How to fed the world by 2050: Actions in a changing climate. Film summary: To achieve food security in a changing climate, the global community must operate within three limits: the quantity of food that can be produced under a given climate; the quantity needed by a growing and changing … Continue reading

CCAFS / CGIAR / Environment / NRM / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

‘Developing countries are where it’s at in reducing livestock’s ecological hoofprint’ – (promiscuous agricultural) geographer

Visual capture of livestock talk by Andy Jarvis (CIAT and CCAFS), ‘The Elephant in the Room—Or Is It a Cow?’—to the Inter-Agency Donor Group (IADG) for livestock at the Work Bank in Washington DC, in Apr 2012 (figure credit: CIAT). Andy Jarvis, a senior scientist and biodiversity expert at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture … Continue reading

Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / UK

CGIAR report says farming needs ‘climate-smart’ revolution to feed the world–BBC

Cattle grazing field in Nicaragua. A new report from CGIAR warns that changes are needed in agriculture and food consumption around the world if future generations are to be adequately fed (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). A Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, which is an initiative of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture … Continue reading

Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Report / Vulnerability

Worldwatch Institute project highlights CGIAR report on farm regions on collision course with climate change

Mali women collect firewood for cooking on the dry bed of the Niger River (photo on Flickr by United Nations). The Worldwatch Institute’s ‘Nourishing the Planet’ project this week highlights a report illustrating food-insecure regions where climate change is likely to exacerbate hunger and malnutrition. The report was published in 2011 by the International Livestock … Continue reading

CGIAR / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Kenyan herders cope with drought by buying livestock insurance

Sake Dabasso Halake stands proudly in front of Equity Bank’s Marsabit branch. She smiles, clutching an envelope filled with 16,000 Kenyan shillings that she just received. It was her insurance payout for the 10 cows she lost during the drought. Photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins. Jeff Haskins, director of the Nairobi office of Burness … Continue reading

Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / CGIAR / Directorate / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Nutrition / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

‘Livestock is the Cinderella of agricultural development’–An interview with Jimmy Smith

A lengthy interview with ILRI’s new director general Jimmy Smith is the leading post on the home page of the Syngenta Foundation website in Nov 2011 (image credit: Syngenta Foundation; credit for photo of Jimmy Smith: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). ‘Jimmy Smith is the new Director General of [the International Livestock Research Institute] in Nairobi. He recently … Continue reading

CGIAR / ILRI / Livestock Systems / Opinion piece / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Where distinctions matter: Differentiating global livestock systems and regions ‘essential’

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, some senior ILRI staff were provoked to chime in on the need to differentiate research data, results and messages about livestock production systems … Map showing differences in the levels of meat consumed in the world (map by Worldmapper). What set off ILRI’s staff are some … Continue reading

Agriculture / CGIAR / Food Security / Research

Greater coherence among agricultural research bodies to be urged at Montpellier G20 meeting

An opinion piece by Mark Tran in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog yesterday (12 Sep 2011) argues that the G20 faces obstacles in its efforts to spread good farming practices, and that a lack of coherence among agricultural research bodies is a major obstacle. ‘Spreading good ideas and practices in farming sounds like a simple enough … Continue reading