Farmers coping with on-going drought in southern Africa need better weather advice and insurance
Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Article / ASSP / Cattle / Chickens / Crop residues / Dairying / Drought / Food Security / Goats / ILRI / Insurance / Poultry / Resilience / Sheep / Small Ruminants / South Africa / Southern Africa / Zimbabwe

Farmers coping with on-going drought in southern Africa need better weather advice and insurance

A new regional push, focused on promoting four key actions to adapt agriculture and curb growing hunger, could help, Ajayi said. The best ways to assist southern Africa’s farmers, agricultural experts said, are by increasing their access to insurance for crop failure and livestock deaths, and giving them better weather advice via mobile phone. Continue reading

AGRF session on transforming dairy value chains in Africa: Pathways to prosperity
Africa / Animal Health / Animal Production / Dairying / Event / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / PIL / Vaccines / Value Chains

AGRF session on transforming dairy value chains in Africa: Pathways to prosperity

Originally posted on ILRI policies, instititions and livelihoods program:
On 8 September 2016, the International Livestock Research Institute and partners hold a working session at the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum on transforming dairy value chains in Africa: Pathways to prosperity. Speakers from ILRI, GALVmed, Land O’Lakes and Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries…

Food prize puts Kenyan researcher on global map—Kenya’s ‘Business Daily’ newspaper
Article / Award / Communications / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Resilience / SLS / Staff / USA / Vulnerability

Food prize puts Kenyan researcher on global map—Kenya’s ‘Business Daily’ newspaper

Even with the Tuesday announcement that he had won the award, Andrew Mude, who holds a doctorate in economics, remains a modest man committed to resolving the dilemma that pastoral communities, especially in northern Kenya, have endured for decades. When he was named winner of the 2016 World Food Prize’s Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application this week, he could barely hold back his emotions, as the reality of his achievement hit home. Continue reading

Breaking the devastating impacts of drought in the Horn of Africa—Kenyan wins global agricultural research award
Article / Award / CCAFS / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Staff / Vulnerability

Breaking the devastating impacts of drought in the Horn of Africa—Kenyan wins global agricultural research award

Kenyan scientist Andrew Mude won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application on Tuesday for developing livestock insurance, using state-of-the-art technologies, for herders in East Africa’s drylands. Continue reading

Animal Products / ILRI / Livestock / Middle East / PIL / PIM / Report / Research / Somalia / Trade

Saudi livestock market requirements, implications for Somaliland

Livestock are the backbone of the Somaliland economy accounting for about 60% of the country’s gross domestic product, 70% of employment opportunities and 85% of export earnings, and about 15% of total government revenue. Despite being Somaliland’s biggest livestock export market, little is known about marketing channels, grading and pricing of Somaliland livestock in Saudi Arabia. A recent research report, sheds a light on these key issues and how they affect Somaliland exporters. Continue reading

Greenhouse gas emissions from African cattle excreta less than estimated
Article / Cattle / CCAFS / Climate Change / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Mazingira / SLS

Greenhouse gas emissions from African cattle excreta less than estimated

Using the state-of-the-art laboratory established in 2015 in Nairobi called the Mazingira Center, scientists are measuring greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in Africa, key to improving the accuracy of emissions data for both national reporting and mitigation. Already, scientists found that Tier 1 emission factors established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) overestimate both methane and nitrous oxide emissions from cattle excreta, given typical smallhoder practices in Eastern Africa. Continue reading

Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Animal Production / AVCD / Dairying / Disease Control / ECF / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / PIL / Project / Vaccines / Value Chains

Protecting cattle against East Coast fever to boost dairy production in western Kenya

Since early 2016, AVCD dairy has been working to facilitate farmers’ awareness on the availability and access to ECF vaccines. ILRI has partnered with the county government to expand the distributional reach of the vaccine and improve vaccine delivery. Continue reading

Africa / ASSP / CGIAR / East Africa / Ethiopia / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Research

In Ethiopia, collaboration by CGIAR and national partners is delivering integrated development solutions

Within the wider CGIAR phase 2 portfolio development process, ‘site integration’ and country coordination plans are being developed by CGIAR centres and their partners and stakeholders in 20 developing countries. The aim is to ensure that CGIAR efforts contribute to national, as well as international, priorities and goals and ensure that the CGIAR programs and centres coordinate their efforts in each country. Continue reading