The following is the sixth and final post in a series of reports from the Ethiopian village of Koraro, an important testing ground for the Millennium Village Project, an experiment in global development strategy spearheaded by economist Jeffrey Sachs. The reports, written by Jeff Marlow, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, consider … Continue reading
Category Archives: Countries
Agriculture / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Research
Africa to benefit from high-calibre labs
African scientists and students now have access to world-class laboratory facilities, with the opening of an agricultural biosciences research facility at the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) campus in Nairobi, Kenya. The laboratory facility meets the standards of the world’s most developed countries, said an ILRI spokesperson, and will enable Africans to “venture into new … Continue reading
BecA / Central Africa / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Research
New bioscience research facility to boost innovation
A world-class bioscience research facility that has opened its doors in Nairobi is set to move Africa closer to the developed world in agricultural technology. The aptly named Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA) centre at the International Livestock Research Institute hub brings together a critical mass of scientists from Africa and abroad and is … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock
Livestock – the lifeline of hundreds of millions of people
Livestock production in developing and developed countries are different. Livestock beneficial for developing nations is harmful for developed countries. While rising consumption of meat, milk and eggs is one of the factors in epidemics of obesity and heart disease in developed countries, consumption of meat and milk in developing countries is associated with good rather … Continue reading
Africa / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock
Livestock farmers to receive compensation
Livestock farmers in North Eastern Kenya will be compensated against loss of their animals from drought following the launch of an insurance product targeting the sector. The compensation will ensure that pastoralists do not suffer losses when their livestock die from drought, disease or flooding. Read more … (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation) Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Botswana / Drought / Insurance / Southern Africa
Agriculture insurance finally launched in Botswana
Agriculture insurance has finally been launched for the first time in Botswana with the facilitation of the Agricultural Hub, as the sector tries to move towards full commercialisation. This week, Agrinsure Botswana a joint venture effort between South Africa’s Farmers Technical Insurance Services Company (FTISC) and Alexandra Forbes Botswana, was officially unveiled to stakeholders in … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Diseases / Disease Control / East Africa / Epidemiology / ILRI / Livestock / Markets / Trade / Uganda
Livestock trade is culprit in sleeping sickness spread
Scientists baffled by the continued spread of sleeping sickness through Uganda have discovered that it is livestock markets that are driving the disease. A team from Uganda and the United Kingdom analysed the incidence of the serious Rhodesian form of sleeping sickness, which is carried by cattle, in two newly affected districts. They confirmed that … Continue reading
Asia / Livestock / Markets / Southeast Asia / Vietnam
Vietnam livestock industry under review
The animal husbandry and poultry sectors will be reviewed and restructured so that they develop in a sustainable and competitive manner, an official said at a conference in HCM City yesterday. Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Animal Husbandry Department, said under the Livestock Development Strategy, the country would … Continue reading
Equity Bank and UAP will insure Kenyan herders against drought
Equity Bank Ltd. and UAP Insurance Ltd. will insure livestock in northern Kenya against starvation and are offering the first African insurance program that will use satellite images to predict drought. The index-based product will initially be sold to herders of camels, cows, goats and sheep in Kenya’s arid Marsabit district, the Nairobi, Kenya-based International … Continue reading
Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock / Pastoralism / Research
Kenyan herders to be offered livestock insurance against drought
Herders in northern Kenya who suffered large cattle losses during recent droughts are to be offered livestock insurance in a pioneering project that uses satellite imagery of available grazing to determine when payouts occur. The scheme, billed as a world first by the International Livestock Research Institute, is being launched today in the arid Marsabit … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 