Agriculture / Australia / Climate Change / Directorate / ILRI / ILRIComms / Interview

Why small-scale farmers and livestock keepers should be the focus of the global food security agenda–Jimmy Smith

A cow grazes in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region of Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma). More than a thousand delegates are attending the International Grassland Congress in Sydney, Australia, this week, a meeting that only takes place every four years. Giving the opening keynote presentation on Mon 16 Sep 2013 was Jimmy Smith … Continue reading

Australia / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Nutrition / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

ILRI’s Jimmy Smith interviewed in Australia at International Grasslands Congress today

The world’s small-scale farmers and livestock keepers can be a large part of the solution to feeding the world sustainably to 2050. This was the message yesterday (16 Sep 2013) of Jimmy Smith, who opened the International Grasslands Congress in Sydney this week. Australia’s ABC News interviewed Smith earlier today about his presentation. Sample tweets … Continue reading

Animal Feeding / CGIAR / East Africa / ILRI / ILRIComms / LIVESTOCKFISH / South America

Secrets of Brachiaria: An African pasture grass holds enormous promise for reducing greenhouse gases

Brachiaria trials at CIAT’s headquarters in Colombia. This improved forage grass has been shown to inhibit nitrification, helping to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (photo credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer). ‘Much has been written about why eating more red meat could be bad for your health while also harming the environment. But new studies to … Continue reading

Animal Breeding / ASSP / Australia / Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / Ethiopia / Genetics / ILRI / ILRIComms / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / Project / Tanzania / Uganda

Gates Foundation awards grant to improve dairy cattle breeds and reduce poverty in East Africa

Staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) visited a field site of the Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) project in June 2011 (photo credit: BMGF/Lee Klejtnot). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a USD1.3-million grant to researchers at the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England (UNE),  in Australia, … Continue reading

Animal Feeding / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / FFD / ILRIComms / India / Intensification / LIVESTOCKFISH / MAIZECRP / South Asia / Trade

Underused maize stover could (should) replace popular sorghum stover as livestock feed in parts of rainfed India

Maize harvest in the village home of Jashvir Singh Tomar, in northern India, which ILRI scientists visited during a field day held as part of a workshop to develop a tool for feed technology screening and prioritization in Dehradun, India (photo credit: ILRI/Peter Ballantyne). New research by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the the International … Continue reading

Award / Dairying / ILRI / ILRIComms / India / Markets / Pro-Poor Livestock / South Asia / Women

‘Milk: Symbol of a free India’–16-year-old wins award in Commonwealth Society essay competition

Nirja Bhatt, a silver medal winner in the 2013 Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition (photo credit: Purvi Mehta-Bhatt). Nirja Bhatt, a 16-year-old student at Navrachana International School Vadodara, in Gujurat, India, has won a Silver Award in the ‘senior’ category of this year’s Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition. This year’s topic, ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’, received more … Continue reading

ILRI / ILRIComms / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Roundup

Livestock Matter(s): ILRI news ’roundup’ August 2013

This August issue of ‘Livestock Matter(s) presents a round-up of livestock development news, publications, presentations, images and upcoming events from ILRI and its partners. Download a print version – or sign up to get Livestock Matter(s) in your mailbox each month. Corporate news Ethiopian State Minister for Livestock Development visits ILRI Gebregziabher Gebreyohannes, newly appointed State Minister for Livestock Development … Continue reading

Agri-Health / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Disease Control / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRIComms / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Presentation / Scaling

Scaling up quality agro-vet livestock services with SIDAI. ‘Livestock live talk’ at ILRI, 5 September 2013

Livestock farmers in Africa struggle to access good quality inputs, effective knowledge and fair markets. Regulation of the livestock input sector is very weak in Kenya, allowing unqualified people to open shops selling veterinary pharmaceuticals; many of which are counterfeit or under-strength. This leads to extensive misuse of drugs through poor diagnosis and administration of products. … Continue reading

Agriculture / BecA / Environment / ILRIComms / Project

Draft report on sustainable agriculture and food systems available for public comment

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative for the United Nations, is looking for feedback on their draft report ‘Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems’ from organizations, academics, researchers, civil society, the private sector, government officials and the general public. The SDSN’s Thematic Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems released a … Continue reading

Agriculture / ASSP / CCAFS / Climate Change / ILRI / ILRIComms / Presentation

Can smallholders mitigate global warming? ‘Livestock live talk’ at ILRI, 14 Aug 2013

Smallholder food producers in the developing world are most at risk of global warming. A World Bank report, Turn down the heat, released 19 Jun 2013, says Africa and Asia, home to most of the world’s poorest of the poor, will bear the brunt of widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat waves and more intense cyclones if … Continue reading