A4NH / Agri-Health / Directorate / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / Nutrition / Research / Staff / Zoonotic Diseases

Livestock veterinary research director to head new global research program on agriculture for improved nutrition and health

John McDermott, currently deputy director general-research of the International livestock Research Institute has been appointed head of CGIAR Research Program 4, on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) announced on 6 Sep 2011 that John McDermott has been named … Continue reading

Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Launch

IFAD country office opens on ILRI Addis Ababa campus – will enhance effectiveness and deepen partnership

On 11 August 2011, In the presence of IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze and other dignitaries, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) opened a country office on the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa. In this video, IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze refers to the new country office as a ‘milestone’: Watch more videos from the event: … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Problems in the Horn of Africa ‘ought not to be’–KARI’s David Mwangi

Consortium media briefing held at ILRI on 1 Sep 2011 on drought in the Horn: Panelists from left to right, Jeff Hill, director of policy in the Bureau of Food Security at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); David Miano Mwangi, assistant director for animal production at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI); … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

East Africa can–and should–help livestock herders cope better with drought

Dasanech nomadic homes near Omorate, in southern Ethiopia (photo on Flickr by Carsten ten Brink). Cathy Majtenyi of Voice of America reported on meetings in Nairobi this week to look at options for mitigating drought-induced food shortages. They say pastoralism is the best land-use practice in the region’s drylands and are looking at ways to help … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

‘It’s not drought, but vulnerability to drought, that’s eroding food security in the Horn’–USAID’s Jeff Hill

Jeff Hill, Director of Policy at the Bureau of Food Security, at the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), speaks at a news briefing on ‘Research Options for Mitigating Drought-induced Food Crises,’ 1 Sep 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/Samuel Mungai). Mark Tran reports in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog on yesterday’s meeting of experts on … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

‘The food crisis in the Horn is essentially a livestock crisis’–Lloyd Le Page, CEO of the CGIAR

Voice of America’s Cathy Majtenyi interviews CGIAR CEO Lloyd Le Page at the CGIAR News Briefing on ‘Research Options for Mitigating Drought-induced Food Crises,’ 1 Sep 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/Susan MacMillan). Katy Migiro summarizes on Alertnet four ways to prevent famine in the Horn of Africa raised by experts meeting at the opening in Kenya … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

News conference today on Horn’s food crises: Participate via a live video link and chat channel

The CGIAR Consortium is holding a live interactive panel today on challenges and solutions to the Food Crisis in the Horn of Africa. The Daily Kos also reports that Chris Funk, who leads a Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net), says that FEWS Net gave early warning of the drought-related hunger facing the Horn … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Mobile herding remains a productive and sustainable use of drylands

A Dinka cattle camp at sunset in Abyei, Sudan; the Sudanese Dinka people migrate north with 5,000 of their cattle from Warrap State to Abyei when floods hit their grazing area (photo on Flickr by UN/Tim McKulka). Migratory herding is one of the most productive uses of drylands, says the Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation. The … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Report / Vulnerability

Free livestock movements and viable livestock markets help pastoralists cope with droughts in Horn

Watering camels in a makeshift trough on the road from Wajir to Garissa, in northeast Kenya; herders are taking advantage of the rains to water their livestock after a long period of drought (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN). The New Agriculturist this month reports on a recent study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) … Continue reading

Africa / Biodiversity / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock / Report / Research / Sheep / Small Ruminants

Characterization and conservation of indigenous sheep genetic resources

A research report by Solomon Gizaw, H. Komen, O. Hanotte, J.A.M. van Arendonk, Steve Kemp, Aynalem Haile, O. Mwai and Tadelle Dessie on Characterization and conservation of indigenous sheep genetic resources: A practical framework for developing countries was released on 12 April 2011. Livestock characterization projects in developing regions are characterized by a mere physical description of traditionally … Continue reading