Category Archives: ILRI

How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?
A4NH / AHH / Buffalo / Cattle / Consumption / Dairying / East Africa / Food Safety / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / India / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report / South Asia / Tanzania / Trade / Value Chains

How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?

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A new report from ILRI and IIED reviews the effectiveness of training and certification schemes designed to give small-scale ‘informal’ sellers of ‘raw’ and/or boiled or informally pasteurized milk and (in India) milk sweets greater market access in East Africa and South Asia. The report reviews such schemes in Kenya and Tanzania and in the state of Assam, in northwestern India. In all three countries, the informal sector dominates dairy marketing and trade and informal milk production and trade contribute significantly to the employment, livelihoods and nutrition of many millions of poor people. Continue reading →

‘Genomic time travel’ for better African cattle—New paper describes a ‘rich mosaic of traits’ and an ‘evolutionary jolt’
Africa / Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Breeds / Cattle / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Interview / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKCRP / News clipping / Pro-Poor Livestock / Resilience / Science paper

‘Genomic time travel’ for better African cattle—New paper describes a ‘rich mosaic of traits’ and an ‘evolutionary jolt’

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‘Scientists in Nairobi have discovered a new set of genetic markers in African cattle that signal beneficial characteristics, with a view to harnessing them for future generations.’—Nature Genetics Continue reading →

More on why outright banning of ‘wet markets’ (while ‘giving virologists the heebie-jeebies’) won’t work
Advocacy / Africa / Agri-Health / AHH / Animal Products / Asia / China / Consumption / COVID19 / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Markets / News clipping / OneHealth / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Uganda / Zoonotic Diseases

More on why outright banning of ‘wet markets’ (while ‘giving virologists the heebie-jeebies’) won’t work

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Many virologists do not want to see a blanket ban on wet markets. Rather, they prefer a more nuanced approach and more narrow regulation to control their most dangerous aspects. To understand why, it helps to unpick what wet markets are, and their role in the feeding of billions of people. Continue reading →

Ivan Morrison, of the University of Edinburgh, formerly of ILRAD, awarded the inaugural Plowright Prize for his lifelong research towards a vaccine for East Coast fever
Africa / Award / Cattle / Disease Control / ECF / Europe / ILRI / Kenya / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Staff / UK / Vaccines

Ivan Morrison, of the University of Edinburgh, formerly of ILRAD, awarded the inaugural Plowright Prize for his lifelong research towards a vaccine for East Coast fever

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RCVS Knowledge, the charity partner of the UK’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, has awarded its inaugural Plowright Prize to Professor William Ivan Morrison of the University of Edinburgh for his research combating the cattle disease East Coast fever. Ivan Morrison started his career at ILRAD, a predecessor of ILRI, where he worked from 1975 to 1990, leading, and building up, ILRAD’s research program on East Coast fever for many of those years. Continue reading →

The geometry of disease: A longitudinal calf cohort study in Kenya has yielded a unique database and biorepository
Agri-Health / AHH / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / Disease Control / East Africa / Epidemiology / ILRI / Kenya / LiveGene / Project / Science paper

The geometry of disease: A longitudinal calf cohort study in Kenya has yielded a unique database and biorepository

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The IDEAL project, first attempt to study the complete pathogen landscape of any species, has generated a unique dataset and biorepository for researchers of infectious diseases of cattle in East Africa. Continue reading →

Wildlife markets in the pandemic: Prohibit or preserve them? Ban or promote them?
Advocacy / Agri-Health / AHH / AMR / Animal Products / Consumption / COVID19 / Directorate / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Food Safety / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / Markets / Nutrition / OneHealth / Opinion piece / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Wildlife / Zoonotic Diseases

Wildlife markets in the pandemic: Prohibit or preserve them? Ban or promote them?

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ILRI and UN experts say preserve and protect the world’s ‘informal markets’ AND invest and enhance these markets, which provide billions of people
with food and incomes. Continue reading →

The seven deadly drivers of zoonotic disease pandemics
Agri-Health / AHH / Climate Change / COVID19 / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Epidemiology / Film and video / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / News clipping / OneHealth / Zoonotic Diseases

The seven deadly drivers of zoonotic disease pandemics

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A report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and ILRI last month makes the case for focusing on the causes of pandemics instead of treating the diseases as they emerge, an argument echoed by many in the field. Continue reading →

Do Kenya’s camel handlers face a threat from MERS? What we found
Agri-Health / AHH / Camels / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / MERS / News clipping / Zoonotic Diseases

Do Kenya’s camel handlers face a threat from MERS? What we found

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In Kenya, camels are a very popular animal to keep as livestock. There’s value in their meat and milk products and as a result, there are now over three million camels in the country. But there is a danger that the people who come into contact with camels, and their products, face getting the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). MERS is a disease in people caused by a coronavirus (MERS-CoV) which was first identified in Saudia Arabia in 2012. Continue reading →

Meat, milk and more for Africa: Four countries with successful livestock policy innovations to emulate
Africa / Animal Feeding / Animal Health / Animal Production / Capacity Strengthening / Directorate / Ethiopia / ILRI / Intensification / Mali / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report / South Africa / Uganda

Meat, milk and more for Africa: Four countries with successful livestock policy innovations to emulate

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A newly published Malabo Montpellier Panel report, Meat, Milk & More: Policy innovations to shepherd inclusive and sustainable livestock systems in Africa, ‘highlights options for sustainably promoting growth in the livestock sector, drawing from what four African countries—Ethiopia, Mali, South Africa, and Uganda—have done successfully in terms of institutional and policy innovation as well as programmatic interventions. Continue reading →