Category Archives: Kenya

Africa / Animal Health / ASF / Asia / Cameroon / Chad / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / ILRI / Kenya / Pigs / Project / Uganda

Researchers in Kenya funded to start work on development of a vaccine against African swine fever

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Smallholder pig producer family in Kiboga, Uganda (photo credit: ILRI/Danilo Pezo). ‘Scientists in Kenya have launched research of a vaccine to be used against African swine fever. The study is still at an early stage where scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are identifying antigens and best-bet delivery systems to be used. ‘“Research … Continue reading →

Asia / CCAFS / CGIAR / China / Climate Change / Drylands / East Africa / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / India / Kenya / Pastoralism / Policy / Report / South Asia

Reframing the pastoral narrative: Ancient mobile herding strategies to make a comeback in a hotter world

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Fulani boy in Niger herds his family’s animals (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Mobility to unlock scattered food, feed, water and other scarce and scattered essential resources is a human strategy as old as humankind itself—and one that remains key for pastoral livestock herders the world over. As the world warms and its natural resources become ever scarcer, it would … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Camels / Dairying / Disease Control / East Africa / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Pastoralism / Zoonotic Diseases

Keeping camels, and their keepers, free of disease in Kenya, where ‘raw’ camel milk is becoming popular

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Camels cover dozens of kilometres in search of water; average distances to watering points in the outskirts of Marsabit and Moyale, in the upper east corner of Kenya, run into dozens of kilometres (photo by Ann Weru/IRIN www.irinnews.org). ‘Camels are known for their ability to travel long distances across the desert without water. ‘But they’re also … Continue reading →

Drylands / Kenya

Kenya ministry asked to allocate greater resources to the livestock sector, particularly in arid areas

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Sheep and goats in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by gordontour). ‘The Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR) is asking the [Kenya] Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MALF) to reserve at least five per cent of the estimated funds its set to receive from the Treasury for the Department of Livestock. ‘These figures translate … Continue reading →

Biotechnology / East Africa / Food Security / Intensification / Kenya / Opinion piece / Policy

Kenya’s newly elected government advised to be bullish on agricultural biotechnology and genetically modified foods

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Cynthia Onzere, a staff member in the animal biotechnology laboratories of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Evelyn Katingi). ‘A newly elected government provides a country with a rare opportunity for a fresh start—and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s nomination this week of Felix Kiptarus Kosgey to become Kenya’s next Cabinet Secretary … Continue reading →

A4NH / Agri-Health / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

As livestock farming intensifies in poor countries, so can livestock–and livestock-to-human–diseases

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The health of people and their farm animals in Kenya and other developing countries are closely linked (photo credit: ILRI/Charlie Pye-Smith). ‘While livestock contribute about 40 per cent of the value of agriculture and forms a crucial part of household wealth [in Kenya and many other developing countries], experts now say keeping animals is spreading … Continue reading →

Animal Health / Cattle / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Kenya is working towards disease-free livestock zones to improve its livestock trade

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Herding cattle in Kenya (photo on Flickr by davida3 [Davida De La Harpe]). ‘The [Kenya] government has unveiled a plan to improve trade in livestock by vaccinating 61 million livestock in the next financial year. ‘According to budget estimates released on Thursday, the animals will be vaccinated against foot and mouth disease and other trade-sensitive diseases. … Continue reading →

Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Rwanda / Uganda

East African Dairy Development project: Kenya cows + chilling plants = milk markets (and profits) for farmers

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A Kenyan dairy farmer feeds her cow (photo on Flickr by eadairy). ‘A chilling tale of cows in Kenya shows how market access is key to impact investing. . . . ‘It started with a mid-term report I was handed called Milking for Profit. The report details a project that works to uplift subsistence dairy … Continue reading →

A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Nutrition / Policy / Report / Zoonotic Diseases

Keeping cows in the city, chickens under the bed: ‘The Atlantic’ magazine explores Africa’s urbanization

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Butcher shop in a slum in Kawangare, Nairobi, Kenya (picture on Flickr by Brad Ruggles). It’s not only people who are rapidly urbanizing in Africa: people migrating from rural areas are bringing their livelihoods with them, which in Africa largely means their cattle, goats, sheep, chickens and pigs. A scientific report from researchers based in … Continue reading →

Biodiversity / Drylands / East Africa / Environment / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Tanzania / Vulnerability / Wildlife

‘Green land grabs’: Livestock herders access to rangelands is being lost for conservation purposes

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Serengeti tree (photo credit: Jeff Haskins). ‘In the great plains of northern Tanzania, close to the world-famous Serengeti National Park, a bitter row has broken out over an attempt to designate 1,500sqkm of Loliondo District as a game-controlled area. ‘The Maasai herdsmen in the area say their cattle cannot survive without access to traditional dry-season … Continue reading →