Category Archives: Ethiopia

Africa / Animal Production / Canada / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Livestock / Markets / Project / Value Chains

Canadian parliamentarians see how markets work for Ethiopian farmers

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Members of the Canada-Africa Parliament Association on their visit to Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet). On 10–11 October 2011, six members of the Canada-Africa Parliament Association (4 parliamentarians and 2 senators) visited Ethiopia. At the request of the Canadian Embassy, the CIDA-funded IPMS project at ILRI organized a field visit to Ada’a District—one of the project’s … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Sudan / Vulnerability

Keeping famine at bay in the Horn of Africa

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A young boy herds a flock of goats on the road to Wajir from Garissa in northeastern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN). Debora MacKenzie writes in New Scientist this week that low-key projects keep Horn of Africa famine at bay. ‘Drought in the Horn of Africa threatens 13 million people with starvation and is … Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Ethiopia / Fodder / Forages / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Livestock / Value Chains / Vietnam

Fodder adoption to enhance the livelihoods of poor livestock keepers: Lessons from a three-country study

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Feed scarcity in smallholder systems is a key constraint to improved livestock production in developing countries. However, development efforts which have taken a narrow technology-focused approach to dealing with feed scarcity have had limited success. The IFAD-supported ‘Fodder Adoption Project’  ran between 2007 and 2010 and aimed to address issues around inadequate livestock fodder at … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Animal Products / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / Markets

Livestock production and marketing in Ethiopia

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Livestock is an important sub-sector within Ethiopia’s economy in terms of its contributions to both agricultural value-added and national GDP. Between 1995/96 and 2005/06, it averaged 24% of agricultural GDP and 11% of national GDP. At the household level, livestock are crucial to the lives of pastoralists, agro-pastoralists, and smallholder farm households; they help to … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Insurance / Kenya / Somalia / Vulnerability

Drought-tolerant crops and crop and livestock insurance can help farmers fight effects of drought in the Horn

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‘A partnership between academics and a beer company, which sent sorghum prices soaring in East Africa, has been highlighted as a way of harnessing agricultural research to fight the effects of drought such as the one in the Horn of Africa. . . . ‘The example was highlighted at a press briefing in Nairobi last … Continue reading →

Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Launch

IFAD country office opens on ILRI Addis Ababa campus – will enhance effectiveness and deepen partnership

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On 11 August 2011, In the presence of IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze and other dignitaries, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) opened a country office on the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa. In this video, IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze refers to the new country office as a ‘milestone’: Watch more videos from the event: … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Research for resilience: Helping the Horn’s food producers better absorb climate shocks

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Lloyd Le Page (left), chief executive officer of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, and Namanga Ngongi, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, at a news briefing convened by the Consortium at the Nairobi campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) on ‘Research options for mitigating drought-induced food crises’ … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Problems in the Horn of Africa ‘ought not to be’–KARI’s David Mwangi

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Consortium media briefing held at ILRI on 1 Sep 2011 on drought in the Horn: Panelists from left to right, Jeff Hill, director of policy in the Bureau of Food Security at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); David Miano Mwangi, assistant director for animal production at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

East Africa can–and should–help livestock herders cope better with drought

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Dasanech nomadic homes near Omorate, in southern Ethiopia (photo on Flickr by Carsten ten Brink). Cathy Majtenyi of Voice of America reported on meetings in Nairobi this week to look at options for mitigating drought-induced food shortages. They say pastoralism is the best land-use practice in the region’s drylands and are looking at ways to help … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

‘It’s not drought, but vulnerability to drought, that’s eroding food security in the Horn’–USAID’s Jeff Hill

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Jeff Hill, Director of Policy at the Bureau of Food Security, at the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), speaks at a news briefing on ‘Research Options for Mitigating Drought-induced Food Crises,’ 1 Sep 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/Samuel Mungai). Mark Tran reports in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog on yesterday’s meeting of experts on … Continue reading →