The long and short of it: Put as much effort into building resilience as into feeding the hungry–BBC’s Andrew Harding

Posted on 15 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Goats drinking water at an Oxfam-funded borehole in Dilmanyale Village, South Wajir District, in northern Kenya; many people move to the village because of this water source, but once the animals have finished drinking they must walk over 10 km to get to pasture (photo on Flickr by Anna Ridout/ Oxfam International). Andrew Harding, the BBC’s … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Food Security / Kenya

The bigger picture: We can no longer afford random acts of (unconnected) aid

Posted on 13 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Roger Thurow, US journalist and senior fellow for Global Agriculture and Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, describes the paradox of great harvest and great hunger existing at the same time in Kenya, a country he often visits and reports on. ‘It is less than two hundred miles from the village of … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Farming Systems / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Hillary Clinton at IFPRI urges US government to invest in, not cut, a ‘Feed the Future’ program giving farm aid to Africa

Posted on 12 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on 11 August 2011 about the need to invest in aid for small-scale farmers in Africa and other poor regions as well as help in mitigating the ongoing drought/hunger/famine crisis in the Horn of Africa (photo credit: Yassir Islam, HarvestPlus). … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Eritrea / Ethiopia / Food Security / Geodata / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

We had effective famine early warning systems in place in the Horn: So what went wrong?

Posted on 11 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Village scene in Gash-Barka, a region of Eritrea considered a breadbasket and with some 3.5 million head of livestock (photo on Flickr by Charles Fred). Scientist Chris Funk, who is part of a Climate Hazard Group at the University of California at Santa Barbara and also works with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), … Continue reading →

CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability

Is famine in the Horn of Africa linked to climate change or not?

Posted on 8 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Duncan Green, director of research at Oxfam GB, in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog today, argues that whether or not the more frequent droughts occurring in the Horn of Africa are due to human-enhanced ‘climate change’, and whether or not this region is likely to get wetter or drier in future (neither of which we can … Continue reading →

Agriculture / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya

Daily Nation calls on scientists to ‘come out boldly’ to help Kenya adapt to climate change

Posted on 8 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Kenya minister of livestock development Hon Mohammed Kuti and Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi at the launch of an ‘Index-based livestock insurance’ scheme in Marsabit, in January 2010; led by ILRI scientists, this project is making livestock insurance available to Kenya’s northern pastoralists for the first time (photo credit: ILRI/Mude). An editorial in Kenya’s Daily … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

‘Better grazing holds key to coping better with Kenyan droughts’–David Western

Posted on 7 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Korr, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Hello Hillary). In the face of the great drought engulfing the Horn of Africa, David Western, a savanna ecosystems expert who is chairman of the African Conservation Centre and a former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, in Nairobi, Kenya, makes a persuasive case for better management … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / ASF / Disease Control / ILRI / India / Pigs / South Asia / Vaccines

ILRI finalizing action plan to curb classical swine fever in India’s northeast

Posted on 6 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A pig on a farm in Nikhekhu Village, Dimapur, Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘The Nairobi-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute is undertaking a comprehensive study on the mortality of pigs in [India’s] Northeast because of classical swine fever and will suggest effective mechanisms for its prevention and control. ‘The study will focus on Assam, Nagaland … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Nutrition / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Famine has spread to 3 new areas of southern Somalia–situation likely to deteriorate further

Posted on 4 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Projected food security situation in southern Somalia for August through December 2011 (map by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia [FSNAU]). Two critical agencies—the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU)—reported this week (2 Aug 2011) that famine thresholds have been surpassed in … Continue reading →

Dairying / Drought / East Africa / Food Security / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability

Snapshot of Somalia: A country dominated by livestock and livestock peoples