This ILRI project report by Karen Marshall is designed to assist partners of the project ‘Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa (PROGEBE)’ in structuring the plans behind their national-level animal breeding programs. It, however, will also be useful to others documenting breeding plans for developing country livestock production systems, outside of this specific project. Continue reading
Category Archives: LIVESTOCKFISH
CRP on Livestock and Fish
Vaccine cliff-hanger (‘parasite page-turner’) on Gates’ blog
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation blog, Impatient Optimists, is running a piece about ‘an unusual story . . . unfolding in Africa, where the battle against a cattle-killing disease called East Coast fever is quickly becoming a cliff-hanger.’ The article is written by Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), … Continue reading
New battle starts up against the ‘cancer/malaria’ of cattle in Africa
‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has launched the project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the fight against the disease that the agency says kills an animal every 30 seconds in East and Central Africa. Continue reading
India discusses micronutrient initiative – a silent solution to hidden hunger
On 24 January 2014, India’s National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) organized a national-level experts’ meeting to discuss the issue of hidden hunger – a chronic lack of vitamins and minerals needed to survive, develop and live healthy and productive lives – and the ways of addressing this serious problem. Purvi Mehta, Head of International Livestock … Continue reading
On a cancer killer of cattle in Africa–Voice of America interviews ILRI’s Vish Nene
New research is underway to develop an advanced vaccine against East Coast fever — a parasitic disease that killed more than one-million cattle in Africa last year. Continue reading
Scientists launch consortium to control a lethal disease of cattle in Africa
A team of scientists has formed a global consortium to help save millions of domestic cows from a killer parasite that plagues some 11 sub-Saharan Africa countries by developing a vaccine. Continue reading
Joining the PARADE: Lessons on participatory agricultural research by a livestock economist
I joined the PARADE workshop from 9 to 11 December 2013. PARADE stands for Participatory Agricultural Research: Approaches, Design and Evaluation. The PARADE event held this week was an expert meeting at Saint Anne’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom. It was sadly not a vibrant, colourful and noisy display of human diversity… Then again, perhaps it … Continue reading
Animal genetic resources workshop: Uniting Africa in preserving our future
A workshop on Animal Genetic Resources in Sub-Saharan Africa was recently held in Gaborone, as an ILRI-SLU capacity building Project in collaboration with the FAO, AU/IBAR and Team Africa. The workshop ran from 26 to 29 November 2013 with the main objectives of catalyzing and enhancing regional collaboration in order to improve training in animal breeding and genetics for sustainable use of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR), plan and undertake research for development in prioritized areas of AnGR and improve capacity development including outreach activities in the relevant areas among others. Continue reading
Field Crops Research special issue on dual-purpose maize for food and feed
The inability of livestock keepers to feed their animals adequately throughout the year remains the major technical constraint in most livestock systems, particularly in smallholder systems in emerging countries. Meeting the demand for meat and milk in a way that poor livestock keepers benefit more from their animal assets will require sustainable production of more … Continue reading
Disease-resistant cattle for Africa
Boran cattle grazing at Kapiti Ranch, in Kenya (photo credit: ILRI). ‘Plans are under way to develop a cow that is resistant to trypanosomiasis at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘The disease is known as nagana in animals and sleeping sickness in human beings. ‘“Since animals carry parasites that cause trypanosomiasis, a resistant cow … Continue reading