CGIAR Research Programs
Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. This first brief explains what innovation platforms are and how they work, and it describes some of their advantages and limitations. Continue reading
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
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
As promised six months ago, the Humidtropics situational analysis being conducted in the Northwest Vietnam action site is now ready to share its first lessons. This preliminary research activity of the Humidtropics CGIAR research program has been coordinated by Steve Staal, Regional Representative for Southeast Asia of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It has … Continue reading
Ethiopian livestock-keeper and her children (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). Livestock production may have a bigger impact on the planet than anything else. A new study from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shows how the effects vary from country to country — and points the way toward a more sustainable future. Below, Time Magazine‘s senior … Continue reading
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
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
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
A farm in Bangladesh with just enough room for one cow, which, adequately fed and cared for, efficiently produces enough milk for household consumption and manure for maintaining a small garden plot and fish pond (photo on Flickr by WorldFish). ‘Farmers could earn more and protect the environment by using technologies and practices that reduce … Continue reading
Goat herds return home at sunset in northern Kenya (photo credit: USAID/Donatella Lorch). ‘[Hussein] Ahmed, a pastoralist in Marsabit district in arid and semi-arid northern Kenya, lost all his animals in 2011 during one of the worst droughts in the region for over 60 years. . . . “Before that [I lost my animals] to cattle rustlers … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 