A focus on focus: Reining in an eclectic past to make a bigger difference

Posted on 8 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Tom Randolph, an American agricultural economist recently appointed director of a new multi-centre CGIAR Research Program (3.7: Livestock and Fish), reflects on ILRI’s longstanding strategic path toward greater disciplinary integration to achieve greater coherence and impact. An agricultural economist who came … Continue reading →

BecA / CBPP / Diagnostics / Disease Control / ECF / Film and video / ILRI / Kenya / PPR / Tanzania / Uganda / Vaccines

‘Out of the lab and into the field–with our clients’: Phil Toye on getting the balance in animal health research right

Posted on 8 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Phil Toye, an Australian immunologist who leads ILRI’s animal health research on development of diagnostics and vaccines for diseases of farm animals in Africa and other developing regions, reflects on the changes he’s seen at ILRI. Toye first came to ILRI’s … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Report / Research

Information systems on domestic animal genetic resources

Posted on 8 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • 1 Comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Tadelle Dessie, Yetnayet Mamo and Okeyo Mwai prepared an issue brief on the Domestic Animal Genetic Resources Information System (DAGRIS) … In developing countries, lack of accurate information on the diversity and status of existing farm animal genetic resources is believed to exacerbate the alarming rate … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Animal Production / ILRI / Livestock / Poultry / Report / Research

Why chicken research for development?

Posted on 8 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • 1 Comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Tadelle Dessie prepared an issue brief on the importance of research on poultry … He argues that chicken production promises considerable potential to improve the livelihoods of rapidly increasing populations of developing countries. For many poor people in developing countries, chickens are the only type of … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Capacity Strengthening / CapDev / Film and video

Investing in people = investing in long-term benefits

Posted on 7 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Purvi Mehta, head of capacity strengthening, reflects on ILRI’s capacity development activities. ‘I joined ILRI in 2009. Before working at ILRI, I was director of a non-governmental organization in India that worked with the government and over 68,000 farmers in technology … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Biodiversity / Ethiopia / Film and video / Forages / Genebank / Seeds

ILRI Genebank preserves forages to help farmers produce more food

Posted on 7 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Alexandra Jorge, who has taken over from Jean Hanson as manager of ILRI’s Genebank, reflects on ILRI’s forage research and the importance of the forage seeds genebank hosted at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ‘I joined ILRI in Ethiopia … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Livestock-Water / NRM / Report / Research / Water / WLE

Opportunities for water-efficient livestock production

Posted on 6 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Don Peden, Tilahun Amede and Amare Haileslassie prepared an issue brief on ways to maximize the benefits derived from animal products per unit of water consumed … Is it true that animal production uses excessive and unsustainable volumes of water? How can the livestock sector reduce … Continue reading →

ILRI / Intensification / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Opinion piece / Research

Partnerships and participation key to effective research for development

Posted on 6 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Bill Thorpe, a former staff member, reflects on the key role of inclusive partnerships… … In his contribution to the ‘LiveSTOCK Exchange’ Tim Williams highlights “the triple challenge of improving food and nutrition security, reducing poverty and enhancing environmental sustainability” (and stresses the need to strengthen … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / Ethiopia / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Report / Research

Crop residues in smallholder systems: Pressures and trade-offs

Posted on 6 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Alan Duncan, Bruno Gérard, Diego Valbuena, Michael Blümmel, and Shirley Tarawali prepared an issue brief on the contributions of crop residues to mixed crop and livestock systems in developing countries … Contrary to the popular view that cereal crop residues are just a low quality by-product … Continue reading →

Animal Production / CCAFS / Environment / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Report / Research / Vulnerability

Rangeland-based livestock production systems in the arid and semi-arid tropics

Posted on 5 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • 1 Comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Augustine Ayantunde, Shirley Tarawali and Iain Wright prepared an issue brief on livestock challenges and opportunities in rangelands … Perceptions about arid and semi-arid pastoral regions are rapidly changing. They are no longer seen as livestock enterprises but as multiple use systems with important consequences for … Continue reading →