Pigs at the Drestry Farm Industry commercial pig farm, in India’s northeast state of Assam (Sonapur, Karchia Village; photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). In view of the pig production potential in . . . [India’s] Northeast and eastern states, a mission on pig production with focus on strengthening large pig-breeding farms and other infrastructure, incentives for producing … Continue reading
The main road running north to Ethiopia from Samburu land, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by meaduva). ‘Livestock could turn Kenya’s drought-stricken northern lands into an engine of job creation, rather than a sinkhole for emergency aid, the minister for the region has said. ‘Almost 4 million Kenyans needed food aid in early 2012 … Continue reading
A village woman in Niger feeds her sheep with forage she has collected (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) announced last week that they are building a closer crop and livestock partnership to better address poverty and malnutrition in Africa. The agreement and … Continue reading
In January 2010 the index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) pilot project was launched in Marsabit District of northern Kenya as an effort to help pastoralists manage drought risk, and its pernicious ex ante and ex post effects. A Brief from the I4 Index Insurance Innovation Initiative reports results based on the impact of insurance on households’ … Continue reading
Cavies (aka guinea pigs) in a special pig pantry off the side of a kitchen in Peru (photo on Flickr by Emile Hardman/QuintanaRoo). Could guinea pigs be a new protein source in Africa? In a special report on ‘Solutions for a hungry world’ by AlertNet, Emma Batha describes how the raising of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus), also called … Continue reading
Kenya safari (photo on Flickr by Shawna Nelles). ‘Afrikas Bevölkerung wächst rasch. Das bedroht einzigartige Ökosysteme. Sind Löwe, Gnu & Co. noch zu retten? ‘Doch außerhalb der Schutzgebiete, und das ist der größte Teil der Mara-Region, verschwinden die großen Wildtiere beängstigend rasch. Besonders betroffen sind die Büffel, Warzenschweine und Wasserböcke, Elen-, Topi- und Kongoni-Antilopen, Gnus, … Continue reading
Indonesian village devastated by flooding; climate change will bring about more severe floods and droughts (photo on Flickr by International Rivers). ‘As Asia’s monsoon season begins, leading climate specialists and agricultural scientists warn that rapid climate change and its potential to intensify droughts and floods could end Southeast Asia’s global dominance in rice production and … Continue reading
The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project held its semi annual steering committee meeting on April 17, 2012 in Addis Ababa. Representatives from the Oromia, SNNP and Tigray bureau’s of agriculture/research; IPMS rural development officers; CIDA representatives; and IPMS headquarters staff attended. Iain Wright chaired the meeting. The main agenda of the day was … Continue reading
A youth sets out with his weeding tool for his family’s sorghum plot in Katanga Village, near Fakara, in Niger (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Philip Thornton, a scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), who leads a research theme of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) on Data and … Continue reading
Rice residues after harvest, near Sangrur, southeast Punjab, India (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). There is a new report of mixed results about the viability of adopting ‘conservation agriculture’ to enhance soil health and sustain long-term crop productivity in the developing world, an approach advocated by many. The authors of the report work at five centres … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 