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
Category Archives: AHH
Animal and Human Health program
More on why outright banning of ‘wet markets’ (while ‘giving virologists the heebie-jeebies’) won’t work
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
The geometry of disease: A longitudinal calf cohort study in Kenya has yielded a unique database and biorepository
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?
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
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
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
Scientists stress need, amid COVID-19, to maintain focus on everyday zoonotic diseases of the world’s poor
Most diseases that transmit from animals to humans (zoonoses) are not of the headline-grabbing, world-stopping variety write Eric Fèvre and Naomi Marks. They are an everyday reality for millions of people whose lives are quietly blighted or prematurely ended by diseases transmitted through farming and food systems. Continue reading
Food safety: how can consumers make a difference?
As we celebrate World Food Day on 7 June 2020, it is crucial that governments recognize the importance of better food safety in informal markets. One way to encourage them to take food safety seriously is by harnessing the power of consumer demand. Continue reading
FOOD SAFETY: In support the traditional—and essential—food markets of low-income countries
On this World Food Safety Day (7 June 2020), staff of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) make the case for supporting traditional markets to improve food safety. Continue reading
FOOD SAFETY: A point of departure for preventing diseases originating in the world’s food systems
To mark World Food Safety Day today, 7 June 2010, three of the world’s leading food safety experts investigate opportunities for building back better food systems and nutrition in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading