The March -April issue of ‘Livestock Matter(s)’ provides a round-up of livestock development news, publications,presentations,images, and upcoming events from ILRI and its partners. Continue reading
Category Archives: ILRIComms
Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / ILRI / ILRIComms / Pastoralism / SLS
New ‘G-range’ tool predicts how climate change will affect rangelands, which cover 45% of the world’s surface
Scientists from Colorado State University have just put the final touches on an intersting tool called: G-Range. It’s a tool that can simulate generalized changes in rangelands through time, with simulations that may span a few to thousands of years. Continue reading
Australia / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Event / ILRI / ILRIComms / Insurance / Kenya / Launch / PIL / UK
Of cows, camels and ‘charity insurance’ on Kenya’s Somali frontier–The Economist
Insuring animals who range with semi-nomadic herders across some of the harshest terrain on earth had defeated all previous efforts. Eventually he came across the work of a Kenyan economist, Andrew Mude of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Nairobi. Mr Mude has developed an insurance model that uses satellite images to assess the impact of drought on the vegetation that camels, cows and goats need to survive. . . . Continue reading
Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Consumption / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Opinion piece / SLS
Having your cake and eating it too–Working both the production and consumption ends of ‘the meat question’
The Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) site has published (10 Apr 2014) an interesting comment on an interesting paper by Petr Havlík et al., Climate change mitigation through livestock system transitions, published in Feb 2014 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Continue reading
Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS
The roads not taken: Should 1bn overfed people eat less meat? Or 1bn hungry farmers become more efficient?
The Butcher, by Marc Chagall, 1910 (via Wikipaintings). Should you become vegetarian to help mitigate against global warming? Well, you could, or you might try just eating less meat, if you’re one of some 1 billion people chronically eating too much food. On the other hand, you might try helping some 1 billion small-scale livestock … Continue reading
Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS
Yet more evidence that agriculture–particularly livestock agriculture–needs to be part of climate discussions
The farmyard, by Marc Chagall, 1954 (via Wikipaintings). Without big interventions, the future of food security looks bleak. So says an article in One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World Website. The clear message from . . . the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is the urgent need for farmers to adapt to a changing … Continue reading
Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS
Research shows vast differences in livestock systems, diets and emissions–FCRN on PNAS paper
Tara Garnet, of the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN), at Oxford University, recently highlighted a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper, Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems, is written by livestock scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Kenya) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia). Continue reading
Next-generation ‘cows of the future’
A White House climate initiative has boosted a quixotic search for the “cow of the future”, a next-generation creature whose greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by anti-methane pills, burp scanners and gas backpacks. Continue reading
Australia / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Event / ILRI / ILRIComms / Insurance / Kenya / Launch / Pastoralism / PIL / UK / USA
Shelter from the storm (literally): As remote herders get drought-related insurance payments, the heaven’s open
Livestock market in Wajir, where Kenya’s remote, never-before-insured livestock herders are getting their first protection from drought (photo credit: ILRI/Riccardo Gangale). ‘It was almost inevitable that the day chosen to make the first drought insurance payments in Wajir, in the arid north-east of Kenya, would be the same day the rains came. ‘Herders who lost sheep, cattle … Continue reading
A4NH / East Africa / Feeds / Finland / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / ILRIComms / Kenya / Project
Kenya is hotspot for alfatoxin-related deaths–Report
‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has commissioned a research project that will ascertain the levels of aflatoxins in the milk consumed in Kenya. ‘Kenyans consume more than 145 litres of milk per person annually increasing the risks associated with milk-related aflatoxins. Because of the higher milk consumption, especially by young children, pregnant and nursing … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 