Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Women

Ethiopia TV broadcasts series on the empowerment of rural women

The Improving the Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers project was recently approached by the producers of ‘Egna’ TV program, one of the well-known evening Ethiopian TV shows, to document the project’s work on rural women empowerment. Egna’s producer, Gelila Media and Advertisement PLC produce and broadcast TV shows focusing on ways that … Continue reading

Dairying / East Africa / ILRI / IPMS / Markets / Value Chains

Dairy value chains in Ethiopia: First-hand experience–what works and doesn’t–gained in field tours

On 9 November 2012, a group of value chain practitioners, consultants, advisors and professionals visited one of the dairy value chain sites of the Improving Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers Project (IPMS) in Ada District, Ethiopia. The group comprised participants of an international conference on Making Connections: Value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture. The … Continue reading

Buffalo / Cattle / Dairying / Directorate / Event report / ILRI / India / South Asia

India’s livestock development trajectory ‘exemplary’–Not only huge in aggregate but also small in scale and sustainable in nature

 ILRI’s Sapna Jarial translates a speech delivered by a village council president on field visit in Haryana, India, on 4 Nov 2012, made by ILRI management and board (photo credit: ILRI/Nils Teufel). Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, a German livestock researcher and activist ‘for socially responsible and ecologically sustainable livestock development’, asks in a recent blog post, ‘Whose … Continue reading

Agriculture / BecA / East Africa / Environment / Kenya / Research / Sweden / Women

BecA-ILRI featured on Swedish National Radio: New research frontiers

The Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub (BecA-ILRI) recently hosted Pelle Zettersten, a radio journalist from the Science department of Swedish National Radio. Zettersten was on a tour of East Africa to report recent scientific developments in the areas of agriculture, environment and energy, and the future plans by different countries as concerns science … Continue reading

A4NH / Animal Health / Cattle / Dairying / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

‘Crypto’ and other diseases we get from animals are on the rise in poor countries

Leonard Gitau, a small-scale livestock farmer in Dagoretti, Nairobi, speaks to journalists during a media tour of urban farmers in Nairobi on 21 Sep 2012 (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Sarah Ooko, special correspondent for the East African, reports that ‘animal to human diseases are on the rise’ in this region. ‘Zoonoses’ is the term used … Continue reading

East Africa / Event / ILRI / LIVESTOCKFISH / Pigs / Poultry / Uganda / Value Chains

Researchers and graduate students from three American universities visit ILRI Uganda

A group of researchers and graduate students from Iowa State University, North Carolina State University and the University of Delaware, working on poultry genomics visited the ILRI Office in Kampala on 27 October 2012. The group was led by Dr. Max Rothschild, Director of the Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, and accompanied by Mr. Gideon … Continue reading

Agriculture / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Environment / Ethiopia / Event report / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock-Water / Sheep / Small Ruminants

Crop-livestock farmers in Ethiopia’s Blue Nile Basin supported in climate adaptation

Last week a project to ‘enhance communities’ adaptive capacity to climate-change-induced water scarcity in drought-prone hotspots of the Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia’ held a farmers’ field day at Kabe Watershed. More than 90 farmers, researchers, extension experts, staff of non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders met to share lessons on what farmers have practiced and benefited … Continue reading

Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Event / ILRI / India / Markets / PPR / South Asia

Lessons from India’s smallholder dairy successes can help developing world–ILRI’s Jimmy Smith

On 4 Nov 2012, an ILRI delegation of 28 visited the village of Araipura, in the Karnal District in the Indian state of Haryana, where they held discussions with dairy farm families. The ILRI management team and board of trustees also visited the National Dairy Research Institute. (Photo credit: ILRI) ‘Operation Flood in Gujarat is … Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Film and video / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Report / Zoonotic Diseases

Slum livestock = Food? Income? Disease? All three?–Al Jazeera reports on ILRI research

Peter Greste, a journalist with Al Jazeera, recently accompanied veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert Delia Grace to the slums of Nairobi, to take a first-hand look at ‘urban farming’, livestock farming in particular. Grace works for the International Livestock Research Institute and leads a health component of a new multi-institutional CGIAR Research Program on … Continue reading

Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Film and video / ILRI / IPMS / Participation

Improved beekeeping radio series makes waves in Ethiopia

In 2011, Farm Radio International conducted a Participatory Agricultural Radio Series (PARS) related to two of the commodity value chains of the Improving the Productivity and Marketing Success (IPMS) project of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The series focused on apiculture in the Tigray region, and on fruit tree production in Sidama region. The PARS … Continue reading