Beef cattle grazing on American rangelands—not feedlots—could be net carbon sink
Animal Production / Cattle / Climate Change / Environment / North America / Rangelands / Science paper / Soils / USA

Beef cattle grazing on American rangelands—not feedlots—could be net carbon sink

A new research paper by Michigan State University scientists analyses the impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems and finds that eEmissions from the multi-paddock grazing system were offset completely by soil carbon sequestration and that soil carbon sequestration from well-managed grazing may help to mitigate climate change. Continue reading

DFID/UKAid fund British, ILRI, African genetics research to advance African livestock development
Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Biotechnology / Cattle / CGIAR / Climate Change / CTLGH / Dairying / East Africa / Europe / Genetics / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Launch / LiveGene / Poultry / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Trypanosomiasis / UK / Vaccines / Zoonotic Diseases

DFID/UKAid fund British, ILRI, African genetics research to advance African livestock development

During the visit Ms Mordaunt also announced plans to develop the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health, which is based in both Edinburgh and Nairobi. The centre uses the most recent scientific advances in genetics and genomics that are being used by farmers in the UK and apply these to help smallholder dairy and poultry farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading

Illegal land sales imperil unique treasure—by Jimmy Smith
Communications / Directorate / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Opinion piece / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Illegal land sales imperil unique treasure—by Jimmy Smith

The following opinion piece was written by Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). and published in the Daily Nation (Kenya) on 15 January 2018.
The vibrant and rapidly growing local livestock sector contributes more than 40 per cent of revenues and employs half of the labour force in Kenya’s agriculture industry.
Now, the greedy actions of a few are threatening the future of many millions of people and decades of livestock research.
Also lost in the lawless Kapiti land grab is that the Ilri station is a vital wildlife corridor and dispersal area for Kenya’s Southern Conservancy Area. Continue reading

Jimmy Smith speaks in Australia on the pursuit of a ‘low-emissions cow’ and other livestock matters
Animal Breeding / Australia / Directorate / ECF / Genetics / ILRI / News clipping / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Jimmy Smith speaks in Australia on the pursuit of a ‘low-emissions cow’ and other livestock matters

‘Visiting Brisbane in November for the International Tropical Agriculture Conference for 2017, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute Dr. Jimmy Smith discussed with Devex a range of new and exciting programs his organization is delivering to help create climate and disease resistant livestock for Africa.’ Continue reading

Thinking ‘beyond the farm’—On Germany’s longstanding commitment to agricultural research for development
Agriculture / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Environment / Event report / Film and video / Food Security / Germany / ILRI / Mazingira / Policy / Presentation / Research / SLS

Thinking ‘beyond the farm’—On Germany’s longstanding commitment to agricultural research for development

Watch and listen to Stefan Schmitz, head of Food, Agriculture & Rural Development at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as he delivers a short (6-minute) filmed presentation at one of several linked collaborative events led by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and held on the sidelines of the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 7 Nov 2017 in Bonn, Germany. Continue reading

Celebrate World Antibiotic Awareness Week by updating yourself on why health experts are so concerned
AMR / Animal Health / Bangladesh / Brazil / China / India / Indonesia / Nigeria / Thailand / Vietnam

Celebrate World Antibiotic Awareness Week by updating yourself on why health experts are so concerned

This week is World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Get yourself updated with this useful short overview on the rising global problem of antimicrobial resistance by reading this ‘Factbox’ from Thomson Reuters Foundation. Continue reading

ILRI and Farm Ink ‘Facebook project’ to track livestock diseases in Kenya among five winners of research grants
Animal Diseases / Award / Communications / Data / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Event report / Geodata / ILRI / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / LiveGene / News clipping / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Zoonotic Diseases

ILRI and Farm Ink ‘Facebook project’ to track livestock diseases in Kenya among five winners of research grants

The CGIAR Platform on Big Data in Agriculture has awarded five research proposals USD100,000 each during its inaugural convention 19–22 Sep 2017. Using Facebook to track the spread of livestock diseases and your smartphone to diagnose crop diseases in realtime, could soon be a reality thanks to a series of research grants awarded by the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture. Continue reading

India’s Nagaland State launches AI scheme for pigs following the state’s landmark pig breeding policy
AHH / Animal Breeding / Film and video / ILRI / India / News clipping / Pigs / Pro-Poor Livestock / South Asia

India’s Nagaland State launches AI scheme for pigs following the state’s landmark pig breeding policy

‘With per capita consumption of pork in Nagaland highest in the country, Nagaland Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services department has launched artificial insemination (AI) of pigs in the State on a pilot basis to boost pig production, double farmers’ income as also to eliminate diseases in pigs.The department launched the project in association with ILRI, ICAR-National Research Centre on Pigs, North East India Development Agency and Tata Trust. Continue reading

The Ethiopian Society of Animal Production celebrates its silver jubilee with several awards to ILRI and partners
ACGG / Animal Production / Award / BecA / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Event report / ILRI / LIVES / Livestock / Research

The Ethiopian Society of Animal Production celebrates its silver jubilee with several awards to ILRI and partners

The Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP) celebrated its silver jubilee last month. The event was marked on 24-25 August 2017 at Haramaya University where ESAP held its 25th Annual Conference on the subject ‘Livestock – a driver for economic development’. Continue reading