Category Archives: ILRI

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability

ILRI scientist Andrew Mude interviewed on CNBC Africa television: ‘Increase investments in the pastoral livelihood’

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Andrew Mude of ILRI receives the best practice award for an Index-based Livestock Insurance project in northern Kenya that he leads (image from The Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network [PEGnet] conference in Midrand, South Africa, 2–3 Sep 2010). As hunger spreads among more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, a study … Continue reading →

Africa / Camels / Cattle / CCAFS / Climate Change / Goats / ILRI / Kenya / Small Ruminants

Climate change causing plant and animal species to move poleward, away from equator

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These camels in northern Kenya are part of a large herd that will cover dozens of kilometres in search of water (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN). USA Today reports on a new paper in the prestigious journal Science that increasing temperatures are pushing plant and animal species to move uphill and northward at much … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Farming Systems / ILRI / ILRIComms / IPMS / Livelihoods / NRM / Report / Value Chains / Water / WLE

Market-oriented irrigated crop development improves farm incomes in Tigray

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A working paper by Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Berhanu Gebremedhin, Kahsay Berhe and Dirk Hoekstra on Shifting towards market-oriented irrigated crops development as an approach to improve the income of farmers: Evidence from northern Ethiopia was released on 5 May 2011. Rainfed crop production in Ethiopia’s semi-arid areas is associated with extreme rainfall variability which occasionally leads to complete crop … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Markets / Report / Research

Interdependence of smallholders’ net market positions in crop and livestock markets: Evidence from Ethiopia

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A working paper by Moti Jaleta and Berhanu Gebremedhin on ‘Interdependence of smallholders’ net market positions in crop and livestock markets: Evidence from Ethiopia was released on 12 April 2011. Using simultaneous-equation models, this paper examines whether there is interdependence between smallholders’ net market positions in crop and live animal markets under mixed crop-and-livestock production systems. Data … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Insured livestock keepers in Kenya may receive first insurance payments

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In Kenya’s drylands, drought has always been the greatest hazard faced by livestock herding families. Modern pressures are making this situation worse. This film tells the story of a research project started in 2007, which in 2010 introduced a new form of insurance to remote herding peoples who had never been provided with insurance before. … Continue reading →

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

Mobile herding must remain mobile to stay viable in Kenya’s arid north, say researchers

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Rendille livestock herders in northern Kenya, near Lake Turkana (photo on Flickr by Robin Hutton). ‘Mobile herding or pastoralism remains the most economically viable production system for the drylands of Kenya and should be encouraged, according to livestock experts. Because of the current drought, there have been calls for local communities to shift to crop … Continue reading →

CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability

Is famine in the Horn of Africa linked to climate change or not?

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Duncan Green, director of research at Oxfam GB, in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog today, argues that whether or not the more frequent droughts occurring in the Horn of Africa are due to human-enhanced ‘climate change’, and whether or not this region is likely to get wetter or drier in future (neither of which we can … Continue reading →

Agriculture / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya

Daily Nation calls on scientists to ‘come out boldly’ to help Kenya adapt to climate change

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Kenya minister of livestock development Hon Mohammed Kuti and Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi at the launch of an ‘Index-based livestock insurance’ scheme in Marsabit, in January 2010; led by ILRI scientists, this project is making livestock insurance available to Kenya’s northern pastoralists for the first time (photo credit: ILRI/Mude). An editorial in Kenya’s Daily … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / ASF / Disease Control / ILRI / India / Pigs / South Asia / Vaccines

ILRI finalizing action plan to curb classical swine fever in India’s northeast

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A pig on a farm in Nikhekhu Village, Dimapur, Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘The Nairobi-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute is undertaking a comprehensive study on the mortality of pigs in [India’s] Northeast because of classical swine fever and will suggest effective mechanisms for its prevention and control. ‘The study will focus on Assam, Nagaland … Continue reading →

East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Resilience / Somalia / Uganda / Vulnerability

Long-term ‘food aid-plus’ has helped avert famine in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda–Economist

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Children in Kenya’s Watamu District with milk (photo on Flickr by Thomas Blower). An article in this week’s Economist describes the value of helping communities in the Horn of Africa’s to build resilience to recurrent drought. It is this ‘Food Aid-Plus,’ argues the Economist, that has helped avert famine in southern Ethiopia (seeds), northeastern Kenya (school milk … Continue reading →