Texas A & M University has announced (10 Jun 2013) that Neville Clarke, former chair of the board of trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (1995–2001), has been honoured with an award for his nearly four decades of exemplary service to international agricultural and rural development, helping to reduce world poverty and food … Continue reading
Livestock herding in Niger (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). The African livestock sector should be booming. Demand for animal-source foods is rising exponentially here. By mid-century, meat and milk consumption on the continent are expected to increase by a whopping 145% and 155%, respectively, over 2005/07 levels. As demand for livestock foods rises, so do the … Continue reading
An Indian woman and cow on the steps of a temple (photo on Flickr by Marsh Gardiner, earth2marsh). As reported in the New York Times this week, a fundamental, if largely unspoken, cultural shift is occurring in India, where more and more Hindus, many of whom were vegetarian, as well as people rising out of … Continue reading
A dairy cow on a smallholder farm in Ol Kalou, near Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Should farm animals share our cityscapes with us? While policies are often based on the prejudice that urban livestock keeping is unsafe, scientific evidence shows that poor people continue to benefit more than be harmed by raising livestock … Continue reading
Charging Bull (sometimes called the Wall Street Bull), a 3,200 kg bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica, near Wall Street in New York City (photo on Flickr by Randy Lemoine). ‘Africa still suffers from a lack of good quality data on livestock that could be used to measure and improve progress as well as inform policymaking … Continue reading
Goat in Nairobi slum (photo on Flickr by The Advocacy Project). ‘. . . [L]et’s consider what it means to raise urban livestock in the developing world, where people are poorer and hungrier, and cities are much more densely populated. It’s a starkly different picture of people and animals living together, and the question of … Continue reading
Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation). ‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law. ‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot … Continue reading
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
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
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
ILRI Clippings 