Using East Africa’s bio-resources to increase and sustain the region’s food production

Posted on 5 Apr 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Seyoum Leta, manager of the Bio-Innovate Program (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). Last month, the Zecco (Trading) website published news of the official launch of a Bio-Innovate Program that will work on smart ways to use the region’s bio-resources to increase food production in sustainable ways in six countries in eastern Africa. Bio-Innovate is funded by the … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Biotechnology / Canada / Environment / Fish / Food Security / North America / Pigs / Research

Eco-friendly GM pigs under development in Ontario

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

Min piglets at the experimental station at the Institute for Animal Science, in Beijing, China (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Jeremy Cooke of the BBC reports in this video on a genetically modified pig, dubbed ‘Enviro-Pig’, being developed in Ontario that may be among the first of GM farm animals developed for human consumption. (Salmon genetically modified … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Asia / Extension / Film and video / India / Knowledge and Information / South Asia

Video with farmers helps to amplify agricultural extension and learning

Posted on 3 Apr 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

In February 2011, Rikin Ghandi spoke to people on the ILRI campus about the work of Digital Green to reinforce agricultural extension through the use of participatory video with farmers. More on Digital Green Continue reading →

Disease Control / ILRI / Malaysia / Markets / Middle East / Somalia

Saudi Kingdom to double livestock imports from the Horn of Africa

Posted on 1 Apr 2011 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

‘Livestock traders in Somaliland welcomed the latest development in Saudi Arabia after the kingdom announced on Friday it will increase livestock imports from the Horn of Africa by two-fold by 2012. ‘A press release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water said Saudi Arabia plans to import close to 2 million heads of a livestock … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Cattle / Dairying / Livelihoods / Malawi / Pro-Poor Livestock / Southern Africa / Women

A woman and her cow: Of bovine bank loans and entrepreneurship

Posted on 1 Apr 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

In Khulungira Village, in central Malawi, farmer Jinny Lemson, 32, started acquiring livestock with her husband ten years ago as an investment. Neither grew up with animals. First they bought chickens, then goats, then pigs, sheep, and cows. They also have ducks, cats and dogs. They grow all the feed on their farm. ‘Our life … Continue reading →

Livelihoods / Malawi / NRM / WLE

Balanced on a knife edge between sorrow and hope: 48 ‘least-developed countries’

Posted on 30 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A young girl, Geneleti Luis, in Khulungira Village, in central Malawi. Malawi is one of the world’s 48 least developed countries. Khulungira is 27 km from the nearest paved road and 50 km from the nearest town. There is no electricity and no running water. No one here owns a car or a motorcycle and … Continue reading →

Goats / India / Livelihoods / Pro-Poor Livestock / Small Ruminants / South Asia

Surreal moment teaching ‘goat economics’ to Bill Gates and Warren Buffett

Posted on 29 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Woman herding goats in Nagar Village, Tonk District, Rajasthan, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Vikram Akula, founder and chairperson of the SKS Microfinance, in a blog he wrote for 800CEOread, tells the following charming story of how he ended up meeting with some of the richest people in the world to explain to them how the … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

‘Bio-Innovate Program is opportunity for Kenya and the region’–Shaukat Abdul Razak (NCST)

Posted on 28 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Shaukat Abdul Razak and Björn Häggmark cut a cake to celebrate the launch the Bio-Innovate Program on 16 March 2011; looking on is ILRI director general Carlos Seré (right) and other invited guests (photo credit: ILRI/Mungai). The Africa Science News Service reports on a recently launched Bio-Innovate Program at the InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘. … Continue reading →

Animal Products / Asia / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / India / South Asia / Zoonotic Diseases

Safety of animal source foods with an emphasis on the informal sector in India

Posted on 27 Mar 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Animal source foods, such as milk, dairy products, eggs, fish and meat, are important sources of nutrition and their production and processing supports the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers, traders, retailers and other value chain actors (many of them women) while providing cheap and nutritious food to large numbers of poor consumers. In India … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Dairying / East Africa / Genetics / ILRI / Kenya / Uganda

Top-quality cows for local East African environments

Posted on 26 Mar 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

SciDevNet this week carries a dairy genetics story. ‘Dairy farmers in East Africa could soon benefit from superior, affordable cattle breeds through a US$1 million research project. ‘The Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) initiative aims to help smallholders take full advantage of the region’s booming dairy sector and improve their incomes by giving them access … Continue reading →