Artists from around the world have painted canvases illustrating the human impact of climate change in their countries. Sixteen of these canvases were exhibited at UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland, in December 2008 (artist: Ashley Cecil; image on Flickr by Piotr Fajfer / Oxfam International). Bryan Walsh delves into a rich discussion of the possible … Continue reading
Category Archives: Climate Change
Africa / Camels / Cattle / CCAFS / Climate Change / Goats / ILRI / Kenya / Small Ruminants
Climate change causing plant and animal species to move poleward, away from equator
These camels in northern Kenya are part of a large herd that will cover dozens of kilometres in search of water (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN). USA Today reports on a new paper in the prestigious journal Science that increasing temperatures are pushing plant and animal species to move uphill and northward at much … Continue reading
Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Eritrea / Ethiopia / Food Security / Geodata / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability
We had effective famine early warning systems in place in the Horn: So what went wrong?
Village scene in Gash-Barka, a region of Eritrea considered a breadbasket and with some 3.5 million head of livestock (photo on Flickr by Charles Fred). Scientist Chris Funk, who is part of a Climate Hazard Group at the University of California at Santa Barbara and also works with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), … Continue reading
CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability
Is famine in the Horn of Africa linked to climate change or not?
Duncan Green, director of research at Oxfam GB, in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog today, argues that whether or not the more frequent droughts occurring in the Horn of Africa are due to human-enhanced ‘climate change’, and whether or not this region is likely to get wetter or drier in future (neither of which we can … Continue reading
Agriculture / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya
Daily Nation calls on scientists to ‘come out boldly’ to help Kenya adapt to climate change
Kenya minister of livestock development Hon Mohammed Kuti and Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi at the launch of an ‘Index-based livestock insurance’ scheme in Marsabit, in January 2010; led by ILRI scientists, this project is making livestock insurance available to Kenya’s northern pastoralists for the first time (photo credit: ILRI/Mude). An editorial in Kenya’s Daily … Continue reading
Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability
United Nations upgrades drought in southern Somalia to famine status
An elderly Somali woman arrives at Dadaab refugee camp, in northern Kenya; despite the dangers, thousands of refugees every week are making the journey south from Somalia into Kenya, walking for weeks across the desert and braving attacks by armed robbers and wild animals; Dadaab is now the world’s largest refugee camp, supporting more than 370,000 … Continue reading
Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Southern Africa / Vulnerability
Coping with weather variability–urgent in Africa whether or not it is due to climate change
The worst drought in 60 or so years is biting deeper into countries in the Horn of Africa; artists from around the world painted canvases illustrating the human impact of climate change in their countries; 16 of these canvases were being exhibited at the UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan, Poland, in Dec 2008 (image credit: … Continue reading
More livestock is climate change key…
Livestock are the best tool available to arrest the impact of environmental degradation on climate change, grazing management pioneer Allan Savory told Australians this week. Mr Savory, who gave the keynote address to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Bonn a fortnight ago, admits that his assessment is counter-intuitive and “extremely unpopular” when … Continue reading
Animal Frontiers: From fork to farm – the carbon footprint in animal agriculture
The inaugural issue of a new journal – Animal Frontiers‘ – has just been launched by the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP), and the Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS). Each issue will consist of invited peer-reviewed articles that present several international perspectives on the status of … Continue reading
CSIRO research to reduce methane emissions from livestock
Australia’s CSIRO is undertaking an extensive research program focused on developing practical solutions for significantly reducing methane emissions from livestock such as sheep and cattle. Incorporating research at the cellular, animal, and landscape levels, it is working on three related projects: Microbiological research to understand methane production in the rumen and to develop biological methods for reducing this … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 