Category Archives: ILRI

Agriculture / Animal Production / Australia / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Interview / Pro-Poor Livestock

Supporting the world’s smallholder livestock keepers can increase food supplies while reducing absolute poverty

Posted on by • Leave a comment

A young boy in Kenya feeds his family’s improved dairy cows (photo credit: East Africa Dairy Development project). ‘The head of the global livestock research centre (ILRI) in Kenya says smallholder farmers will be essential in providing the animal protein needed to feed nine billion people by 2050. ‘Dr Jimmy Smith’s comments are in response … Continue reading →

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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

Posted on by • 1 Comment

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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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 →

Agriculture / Animal Production / Asia / Buffalo / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / Humid Tropics / HUMIDTROPICS / Livelihoods / PIL / Southeast Asia / Vietnam

Is there an integrative role for livestock in agricultural systems? Positive insights from Vietnam

Posted on by • Leave a comment

I have just come back from Sapa, Vietnam, where I helped facilitate the launch meeting for the situational analysis of the CGIAR Humidtropics Research Program in northwest Vietnam. After the meeting, and to get a better idea of the situation of the farming systems we will be studying with our local research and development partners, I … 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

Posted on by • Leave a comment

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 →