This week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Get yourself updated with this useful short overview on the rising global problem of antimicrobial resistance by reading this ‘Factbox’ from Thomson Reuters Foundation. Continue reading
Category Archives: Bangladesh
ILRI scientist to direct USAID international project to reduce post-harvest food losses
Jagger Harvey will lead the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss at the university. The $8.5 million project is helping the countries of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana and Guatemala reduce the amount of food that is lost or contaminated after harvest. Continue reading
Short ‘Livestock and Fish’ animated video on what ‘capacity development’ is, what it does, why and with whom
What is the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish doing to develop capacity to enhance smallholder agricultural value chains in Asia, Africa and Latin America? Take a look at this wonderfully animated 6-minute video to find out. Continue reading
New livestock maps pinpoint ‘danger zones’ for possible spread of deadly H7N9 strain of bird flu
A recent paper that maps the global distributions of the world’s major livestock species has already been used to advance understanding of where surveillance efforts should be targeted to prevent the possible spread of a lethal bird flu virus now circulating in poultry populations in China, where it has killed 62 people. The original mapping work, led by Tim Robinson, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and published at the end of May, was immediately put to practical use in locating large regions in South and Southeast Asia that would suit the new lethal virus. Continue reading
Draconian bans on urban livestock in developing countries ‘not the answer’–Guardian on ILRI report
Customers at a milk bar in Ndumbuini in Kabete, Nairobi (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Mark Tran in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog warns us this week not to keep chickens under our beds. On the other hand, he infers, chicken bought on the street in poor countries may be safer to eat than that from … Continue reading
Scaling sustainable and equitable agri-food and livestock value chains
In April 2012, the ‘Seas of Change’ international learning workshop will be held in the Netherlands.To help guide the workshop, the organizers of the initiative have collated a number of case studies pointing to successes in scaling inclusive agri-food market development. Several livestock and dairy examples are included in the case studies: Bangladesh, dairy and livestock … Continue reading
Climate models need to shift focus from global to regional
(Picture on Flickr by Zoriah.) A new report focusing on eastern and western Africa and the South Asian Indo-Gangetic Plains, which span parts of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, on the ability of global climate models to predict regional climate events such as monsoon rains and temperatures—and found mixed results. ‘The models have a reasonable capability in … Continue reading
Livestock reduce poverty in Asia – Stories from IFAD
TagCloud from the International Fund for Agricultural Research (image credit: IFAD). An Asia and Pacific newsletter published by the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations that works to eradicate poverty and hunger in developing countries, has published a new edition, on the topic of livestock. IFAD projects supporting poultry … Continue reading
Backyard poultry keeping and poverty reduction in South Asia: Good practices and good returns
A chicken forages beneath a farm cart in Brahampur (Arwa Village), in West Bengal, India, near drying patties of cow dung that will be used as cooking fuel (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Programme, a joint initiative of the National Dairy Development Board of India and the United Nations Food and … Continue reading
Animal surveillance needed to stop bird flu and other human epidemics–World Bank
ILRI has worked with Indonesia to control bird flu using participatory disease surveillance and control approaches (photo credit: ILRI/Jost). The World Bank this week reports that since the beginning of this year, the H5N1 bird flu virus has re-emerged, killing people in Egypt and across Asia. Experts say we need to invest in stronger human … Continue reading