Agriculture / Article / BecA / Central Africa / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Kenya / Research

Science fund opens new agricultural research frontiers in Africa

Ethel Makila writes in New Agriculturalist about an African fund that is leading to breakthroughs and opening new frontiers in the continent’s biosciences research (photo: ILRI/David White). This month (Mar 2013), New Agriculturalist features an article on the Africa Biosciences Challenge Fund. This is a fund that is managed by a state-of-the-art biosciences initiative located … Continue reading

Agriculture / Burundi / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

‘Bio-economy’ of East Africa boosted by Bio-Innovate research program

Seyoum Leta, Bio-Innovate Program Manager, at the First Bio-Innovate Regional Scientific Conference at the United Nations Conference Centre, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 25–27 Feb 2013 (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). ‘Capacities in biosciences in various sectors are scarce and scattered in Africa, Bio-Innovate Program Manager Dr. Seyoum Leta said Monday in Addis Ababa at … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Project / Vulnerability

Livestock herders in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia insured against drought for first time

Cattle herders at Goraye in Ethiopia’s lowland Oromiya region (photo on Flickr by Andrew Heavens). ‘The drylands of East Africa are home to millions of pastoralists, herders who move from place to place in search of water and pasture for their livestock. Drought years are tough for these families, who depend on their animals—cows, goats, … Continue reading

Africa / Event / Kenya

Towards competitive and sustainable world-class livestock sectors – Africa livestock stakeholders to meet in Kenya

The Kenya Livestock Producers Association (KLPA) in collaboration with East Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) and Eastern and Southern Africa Dairy Association (ESADA) and other partners in the livestock sector in Africa and beyond will meet up at the African Livestock Conference and Exhibition (ALiCE 2013) to be held on June 26th – 29th 2013 in … Continue reading

A4NH / Article / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Intensification / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

The profits of livestock farming in Nairobi’s slums: Better health and wealth

Sheep look for food outside the house of Josephine Napkonde, 78, who lives in a slum in Nairobi and looks after 5 children abandoned by a relative (photo on Flickr by HelpAge International/Frederic Courbet). ‘Kahawa Soweto is a slum on the northeast edge of Nairobi, Kenya. . . . It’s a densely packed area, and it’s not … Continue reading

Animal Feeding / China / Indonesia / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Vietnam

Sweet potato roots and leaves for ‘cow cafeterias’ and ‘pig pantries’ in East Africa

An East African researcher holds handfuls of sweet potato roots and leaves, to be used as animal feed (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). ‘Pressures from climate change and population growth are increasing the competition for grains as food or livestock feed in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. But sweet potato, which can grow in harsh … Continue reading

Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / Central Africa / Disease Control / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Kenya / Launch / Southern Africa / Vaccines

Vaccine developed by KARI, supported by ILRI, is ‘milestone in control of Africa’s livestock diseases’

Faith Kivuti with her mother milking a cow in Kenya (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). A vaccine to protect cattle against a lethal disease known as East Coast fever has been launched in Kenya, where Kenya Livestock Development Minister Mohammed Kuti says the development ‘is a big relief to livestock farmers in East, Central and … Continue reading

Agriculture / Animal Production / Cattle / Dairying / Kenya / Knowledge and Information

Livestock and mobile technology: Livestock live talk at ILRI on 11 December 2012

Su Kahumbu, a Kenyan social entrepreneur (TED Global Fellow 2010) and  2010 winner of Apps4Africa award for the  the iCow application, a cow management platform that helps small-scale farmers manage their dairy cows, will give a presentation on ‘livestock and mobile technology’ at the ILRI Nairobi campus John Vercoe Auditorium, on 11 December 2012, from 1500-1600 hours. View the event announcement: The iCow … Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / CCAFS / Climate Change / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Food Security / Kenya / RVF / Zoonotic Diseases

Healthy Futures project examines ways to understand vector-borne diseases, climate change and food security

Together with regional stakeholders, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) generated so-called ‘socio-economic scenarios’.  These scenarios aim to explore key regional socio-economic and governance uncertainties for food security, environment and livelihoods through integrated qualitative-quantitative descriptions of plausible futures to 2030. The CCAFS vision has been to use these scenarios with … Continue reading

Agriculture / BecA / East Africa / Environment / Kenya / Research / Sweden / Women

BecA-ILRI featured on Swedish National Radio: New research frontiers

The Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub (BecA-ILRI) recently hosted Pelle Zettersten, a radio journalist from the Science department of Swedish National Radio. Zettersten was on a tour of East Africa to report recent scientific developments in the areas of agriculture, environment and energy, and the future plans by different countries as concerns science … Continue reading