Livestock are coming to the fore of sustainable development to-do lists
Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / ILRI / Intensification / Pro-Poor Livestock / SLS

Livestock are coming to the fore of sustainable development to-do lists

Analysis published in Nature Climate Change estimates that livestock could account for up to half of the mitigation potential of the global agricultural, forestry and land-use sectors, which are the second largest source of emissions globally, after the energy sector. Continue reading

Insurance helps Kenyan livestock herders cope with drought
Article / Drought / Drylands / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / North Africa / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Rangelands / SLS / Vulnerability

Insurance helps Kenyan livestock herders cope with drought

‘The index-based insurance program is run by the Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and funded by the British, U.S. and Australian governments and the European Union. The donors subsidize the cover to make it affordable for pastoralists. Continue reading

First non-travel-associated MERS in Africa–Researchers report past MERS-CoV infections in two Kenyans
Agri-Health / Article / Camels / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Human Health / ILRI / ILVAC / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / MERS / Pastoralism / Zoonotic Diseases

First non-travel-associated MERS in Africa–Researchers report past MERS-CoV infections in two Kenyans

Researchers at the Nairobi, Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and at the University of Bonn Medical Center in Germany have found evidence of MERS-CoV antibodies in archived blood samples from two of 1,122 Kenyan livestock handlers, collected between 2013 and 2014. Continue reading

ILRI biosciences hub and vaccine development named global public goods by heads of BMGF and DFID
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Article / BecA / Biotechnology / Capacity Strengthening / Disease Control / ECF / ILRI / ILVAC / LIVESTOCKFISH / Opinion piece / Research

ILRI biosciences hub and vaccine development named global public goods by heads of BMGF and DFID

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and Nick Hurd, international development minister for Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), argue in the Guardian’s Global Development blog this month that the world needs to put science at the heart of development. Two of the examples of success that they cite are initiatives of ILRI. Continue reading

Unpacking transdisciplinary research (the REALLY hard science)
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Diseases / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Epidemiology / Event report / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Opinion piece / Pests / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / RVF / Trypanosomiasis / Zoonotic Diseases

Unpacking transdisciplinary research (the REALLY hard science)

The following excerpt is the beginning of a candid and thoughtful article by Ian Scoones, of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), at Sussex University, about an international symposium, One Health for the Real World: zoonoses, ecosystems and wellbeing, that took place at the Zoological Society of London last week (17–18 Mar 2016). Continue reading

What is ‘complexity thinking’ and what does it have to do with development/aid?
Books and chapters / ILRI / LIVESTOCKFISH / Participation / Pastoralism / Policy / Scaling

What is ‘complexity thinking’ and what does it have to do with development/aid?

book by Burns and Worsley (available in hardback, paperback and eBook formats) will be of interest to all those looking to make a greater difference in international development (that is, in development parlance, to take solutions to scale). ‘Navigating Complexity in International Development: Facilitating Sustainable Change at Scale’, published by Practical Action Publishing, Oct 2015, 198 pages. Continue reading