Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / East Africa / Kenya / Research

In Kenya, better cows for better health

A parasite researcher from NYU is hoping to tackle African sleeping sickness in Kenya by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. Jayne Raper believes that to truly help people, sometimes you have to start with another species. In this case, cows. Unlike Raper, a parasite researcher at New York University, most … Continue reading

Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Food Security / Kenya

Third world food crises are caused by climate change

Globalization has proven that what happens in one area of the world invariably affects the whole planet. Right now in Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, and numerous other countries, people are experiencing severe droughts and flooding to an extent beyond anything they have ever witnessed before. Rising temperatures all over the world are causing malnourishment, starvation, and … Continue reading

Environment / Kenya / Wildlife

Wildlife threatened at Nairobi park

The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has implored the government to urgently consider land usage proposals intended to protect the migratory routes of animals. Senior Warden at the Nairobi National Park Michael Wanjau, is concerned that with the rapid encroachment of land in areas surrounding the park, animals will soon have no route to pass through … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Food Security / Kenya

Pastoralists: moving with the times?

With children severely malnourished, animals weak or dying, and people struggling to find water, exceptionally dry conditions in the Horn of Africa have added to the cumulative effect of three to four consecutive seasons of poor or failed rains. Severe shortages of pasture and water, combined with high food prices, have left an estimated 24 … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya

Satellites to help Kenyans insure against drought

Satellites measuring the greenness of Kenya from space are set to help insure livestock herders against droughts and mitigate the effects of climate change, experts said Friday. “This is a new approach to tackle an old problem,” Carlos Seré, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said of the satellite-based insurance for cattle, … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Kenya

Drought in Kenya: desperate measures in desperate times

The camel, its legs attached with branches, brays desperately, blood spurting from the cut artery; nomads in Turkana in Kenya’s extreme north have been reduced to sacrificing their animals to survive a bruising drought. “I brought this dromedary to have it killed and make a little money after the other one died of hunger with … Continue reading

Africa / Cattle / Genetics / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Research

Kenya’s first test tube calf

Three years after Kenya got its first test-tube babies, the Daily Nation can reveal another first from the world of test tubes – a healthy calf. The calf, which the Daily Nation has named Bully, is one of two test tube calves born three weeks ago in an experiment by veterinary scientists from the University … Continue reading

Cattle / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Research

In Kenya, better cows for better health

A parasite researcher in NYU is hoping totackle African Sleeping Sickness by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. She’s been planning the project since 2006, when she attended a workshop in Nairobi. At the meeting, local farmers explained how they need cattle to survive. Most of them can’t afford to … Continue reading