World hunger best cured by small-scale agriculture: report

Posted on 13 Jan 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

A move from industrial farming towards local food projects is our healthiest, most sustainable choice, says Worldwatch Institute The key to alleviating world hunger, poverty and combating climate change may lie in fresh, small-scale approaches to agriculture, according to a report from the Worldwatch Institute. The US-based institute’s annual State of the World report, published … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Biodiversity / Environment / Film and video / Ghana / Indigenous Breeds / Livelihoods / NRM / Southeast Asia / Trade / Vietnam / West Africa / WLE

Here be dragons–and lions: Agricultural growth and development in Asia and Africa

Posted on 2 Jan 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Dragon head detail on a gate to the walled Citadel of Hué, the former, imperial, capital of Viet Nam from the 17th to 19th centuries and national capital until 1945. Located in the middle of the country along the Perfume River, Hué’s Citadel, like Beijing’s Forbidden City, housed only emperors and their concubines and closest … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Niger / Women

Could Acacia trees solve Africa’s hunger problems?

Posted on 31 Dec 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

Decades of food delivery and ‘miracle’ seeds haven’t addressed underlying causes of hunger. But new efforts to replicate Africa’s original ecosystems are generating impressive, sustainable results Faith-based aid groups in Africa have a long and mostly admirable history of working to alleviate hunger. Too often, however, faith groups have focused their relief solely on food … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Environment / Farming Systems / West Africa

African farmers displaced as investors move in

Posted on 22 Dec 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

The half-dozen strangers who descended on this remote West African village brought its hand-to-mouth farmers alarming news: their humble fields, tilled from one generation to the next, were now controlled by Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and the farmers would all have to leave. “They told us this would be the last rainy season for … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Colombia / Environment / Latin America / Livestock

New consortium to quantify Latin American cattle greenhouse gas emissions

Posted on 7 Dec 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

Some of Latin America’s major cattle-producing countries will begin working as a team in 2011 to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions from their bovine industry—and to come up with options for reducing them. The planned consortium, made up of scientists from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Uruguay, was selected to receive financing from FONTAGRO … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Products / East Africa / Environment / Kenya

Biogas from cow dung: A good alternative?

Posted on 2 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

With the rising fuel costs, farmers in Kenya have come up with ways of generating power locally and cheaply. Biogas is increasing becoming a viable alternative to many farmers and especially those in high potential Central Highlands where dairying is common. Read more … (Kenya Agriculture Stories) Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Production / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Environment / ILRI / Livestock Systems / Poultry

Turkeys and spinach: Green foodies beware–the foods in our food systems are not always what they seem

Posted on 30 Nov 2010 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Seen at the Barrington Living History Farm (USA), this is most likely a Black-Spanish turkey, which was a common breed in the 19th century (photo credit: Big Grey Mare’s Photostream on Flickr / Carol Von Canon). Agricultural systems analyst Philip Thornton, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was interviewed last week by the American … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Environment / Kenya

Kenya to launch Africa’s first carbon exchange

Posted on 12 Nov 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

Kenya is to launch a climate exchange platform to facilitate the trading of carbon credits and help tackle climate change. The market will be the first of its kind in Africa, enabling all African countries to sell their carbon credits. The exchange is expected to be open for business by the middle of next year. … Continue reading →

Asia / Climate Change / Environment / Pakistan / South Asia

Keep funding pots for climate change and development issues separate: both are needed–Potsdam scientist

Posted on 12 Nov 2010 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Last month, the Ministry of Environment of Pakistan, in collaboration with One UN Joint Programme on Environment, based in Islamabad, which supports Pakistan in fulfilling its international obligations towards environmental treaties and agreements, organized an International Conference on Climate Change and Development, 21–22 October 2010, in Islamabad, Pakistan, to take stock of the unfolding effects of … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Environment / Ethiopia / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / Namibia

Reversing desertification with livestock in Zimbabwe

Posted on 9 Nov 2010 by ILRI Communications • 1 Comment

Overgrazing is often seen as a major cause of desertification. But by changing the way animals are managed, the Savory Institute (SI) and Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) have restored 2,700 hectares of degraded land close to Victoria Falls by increasing livestock numbers by 400 per cent. Having increased land productivity, water availability and … Continue reading →