Category Archives: WLE

CRP on water, land and ecosystems

ASSP / Capacity Strengthening / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Environment / Ethiopia / Extension / Farming Systems / ILRI / ILRIComms / Innovation Systems / Livestock-Water / NRM / Research / Water / WLE

Eight principles for land and water management in the Nile Basin

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The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) in Ethiopia distilled insights, findings and experiences into eight key messages which, taken together, contribute to new water and land management paradigm that enables poor smallholder farmers improve their food security, livelihoods and incomes while conserving the natural resource base. Continue reading →

ASSP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Event report / ILRI / Irrigation / Water / WLE

Small-scale irrigation to battle poverty and under-nutrition in Ethiopia

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The Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project recently convened partners at a workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from June 18–19, 2014. The project is part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative. It is a five-year project in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania aimed at benefiting the region’s farmers by improving effective use of scarce water supplies through interventions in small-scale irrigation. Continue reading →

East Africa / Ethiopia / Gender / Livestock-Water / NRM / WLE / Women

Beyond fetching water for livestock: A gendered sustainable livelihood framework to assess livestock water productivity

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A sourcebook from the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food, entitled ‘Addressing Water, Food and Poverty Problems Together—Methods, Tools and Lessons’ presents more than 50 articles on how to improve ecological and social resilience. One of the articles looks at ‘A gendered sustainable livelihood framework to assess livestock water productivity’. Continue reading →

ASSP / East Africa / Environment / Ethiopia / Extension / Food Security / Gender / ILRI / ILRIComms / Innovation Systems / Livelihoods / Livestock-Water / NRM / Participation / Research / Water / WLE

Power, partnership and participation: Nile Basin Development Challenge in summary

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The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) just published a summary of land and water research, lessons and outcomes generated by the Nile Basin Development Challenge in Ethiopia. Continue reading →

GIS / Humid Tropics / Interview / Opinion piece / Regions / Report / WLE

Small ruminants contribute to food security and nutrition in Zimbabwe

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“In addition to providing high-quality food products (meat and milk), livestock is the most important source of on-farm income and insurance in the low-input farming systems of semi-arid southern Africa.” ILRI’s sister center the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a long term partner where crops and livestock intersect in southern … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Cattle / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Uganda / WLE

Corralling cattle to improve the productivity of pasture lands affected by termites

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Researchers from the Department of Animal Science in Makerere University were excited, and with good reason, as they surveyed pasture land that had been corralled off in Nakosongala in the cattle corridor of Uganda. The team had been looking at options to improve livestock water productivity (LWP) in the Nile Basin. To their surprise, a … Continue reading →

Africa / East Africa / Ethiopia / Livestock Systems / Livestock-Water / NRM / Project / Water / WLE

The ‘happy strategies’ game: Matching land and water interventions with community and landscape needs

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In mid 2011, Catherine Pfeifer, ILRI/IWMI researcher in the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC), posed us a challenge: What kind of exercise could we do that would combine ‘expert’ knowledge of land and water practices with the needs of ‘landscapes’ and communities where these could be applied. The result should be some validated ‘best bet’ … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Food Security / Launch / Water / WLE

Worldwide research initiative launched to tackle global crises in water, food and the environment

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Today, at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London, an ambitious new research program was launched by the world’s largest consortium of agricultural researchers. It aims to address some of the world’s most pressing problems related to boosting food production and improving livelihoods, whilst simultaneously protecting the environment. The CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Livestock-Water / NRM / Report / Research / Water / WLE

Opportunities for water-efficient livestock production

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For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Don Peden, Tilahun Amede and Amare Haileslassie prepared an issue brief on ways to maximize the benefits derived from animal products per unit of water consumed … Is it true that animal production uses excessive and unsustainable volumes of water? How can the livestock sector reduce … Continue reading →

ILRI / Livestock / Livestock-Water / NRM / Opinion piece / Research / Water / WLE

Livestock and ILRI in the CGIAR’s Challenge Program on Water and Food

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For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Larry Harrington, from the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF), reflects on livestock and ILRI in its programs … The CPWF was formed in the early 2000’s with a programmatic focus on water scarcity, food security and poverty. It finished its first research phase … Continue reading →