Category Archives: Countries

Africa / Animal Production / Article / Cattle / Dairying / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / Pastoralism / PIL / Value Chains

East Africa Dairy Development Project featured in Kenya Airways’ February 2014 Msafiri in-flight magazine

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I was travelling on a short flight from Nairobi to Mombasa yesterday and was glad to read about the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners of the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) Project in the Kenya Airways in-flight magazine in the seat pocket in front of me. A four-page full-feature article (see pages 100-104) … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Asia / Crop-Livestock / Event / Farming Systems / Humid Tropics / HUMIDTROPICS / PIL / Research / Vietnam

Condensing lots of information into a situational analysis report: think about key messages

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As promised six months ago, the Humidtropics situational analysis being conducted in the Northwest Vietnam action site is now ready to share its first lessons. This preliminary research activity of the Humidtropics CGIAR research program has been coordinated by Steve Staal, Regional Representative for Southeast Asia of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It has … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Feeding / Biodiversity / Crop residues / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Feeds / Forages / Genebank

ILRI upgrades its nutrition analysis laboratories in Addis Ababa

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On 10 January, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) inaugurated new nutrition laboratories at its Addis Ababa campus. Feed quality is in good hands again. The importance of feed quality Feed quality reflects the ability of a given feed to meet the daily nutrient needs of animals consuming the feed. Tremendous variation exists in nutrient … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Production / Article / East Africa / Livelihoods / Livestock / PIL / Pro-Poor Livestock / Tanzania / Value Chains

In Africa, livestock are a catalyst for economic growth—Livestock data study findings

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Investing in smallholder farmers who own livestock in rural Africa, such as these women in Tanzania, is a catalyst for economic growth (photo credit: ILRI/Deo Gratias Shayo). Last October (2013), the World Bank reported on the findings of a case study on ‘Livestock and Livelihoods in Rural Tanzania.’ The study assessed opportunities and barriers to … Continue reading →

Biodiversity / Ethiopia / FFD / Forages / Genebank / ILRI

ILRI’s forage genebank achieves good harvest of seeds in Ethiopia

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Every year International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)’s forage genebank plants about 900 accessions of forage germplasm to be regenerated (to produce new and more viable seeds) or multiplied (to increase the amount of seeds to make them available for distribution). Four field sites across Ethiopia are used to grow the 1500 different accessions (they needs … Continue reading →

Biodiversity / East Africa / Ethiopia / FFD / Forages / Genebank / ILRI / Seeds

Collaboration with Brazil expands Napier grass diversity in ILRI’s forage genebank

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From May 2011 to May 2013, the Africa-Brazil Marketplace sponsored a project to introduce Napier grass elite lines for screening for stunt resistance to provide feed for improved smallholder dairy productivity. The project was a partnership between the Forage genebank of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and EMBRAPA Dairy Cattle … Continue reading →

Biodiversity / Ethiopia / FFD / Forages / Genebank / Germany / Seeds

German SES expert supports ILRI Addis Ababa genebank

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In 2012, ILRI’s Forage Diversity team hosted Senior Experten Service – SES scientist Evelyn Möller. Since then, she has visited Addis Ababa 3 times (Nov-Dec 2012; April – May 2013 and Nov-Dec 2013). Her assignment was to help ILRI improve the quality control of its genebank laboratories, more specifically regarding plant health diagnostic techniques and … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Farming Systems / HUMIDTROPICS / Innovation Systems / LIVESTOCKFISH / Opinion piece / Participation / PIL / PIM / Research / UK / Value Chains

Joining the PARADE: Lessons on participatory agricultural research by a livestock economist

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I joined the PARADE workshop from 9 to 11 December 2013. PARADE stands for Participatory Agricultural Research: Approaches, Design and Evaluation. The PARADE event held this week was an expert meeting at Saint Anne’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom. It was sadly not a vibrant, colourful and noisy display of human diversity… Then again, perhaps it … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Botswana / Capacity Strengthening / CapDev / Event / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / LIVESTOCKFISH / Southern Africa

Animal genetic resources workshop: Uniting Africa in preserving our future

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A workshop on Animal Genetic Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa was recently held in Gaborone, as an ILRI-SLU capacity building Project in collaboration with the FAO, AU/IBAR and Team Africa. The workshop ran from 26 to 29 November 2013 with the main objectives of catalyzing and enhancing regional collaboration in order to improve training in animal breeding and genetics for sustainable use of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR), plan and undertake research for development in prioritized areas of AnGR and improve capacity development including outreach activities in the relevant areas among others. Continue reading →