Investment in agriculture is soaring. So, worryingly, is distrust of markets and trade At the height of the food-price spike in 2008, many of the biggest food producers banned the export of crops (they sought to cushion the domestic impact of rising world prices). Most of these restrictions have been lifted and replaced by a … Continue reading
With growing demand in Africa for dairy products, much work is being done by scientists and farmers to improve milk production. But what is important in ensuring high milk production? Is it the breed of cow or the feed it is given? Pastoralist Albert Kuseyo, dairy expert Dr. Amos Omore, and Gerald Besseling, a farmer … Continue reading
This report by Ponniah Anandajayasekeram and Ranjitha Puskur of ILRI and Elias Zerfu of IFPRI on Applying innovation system concepts in agricultural research for development was released on 23 November, 2009. This learning module is expected to have multiple uses. One, a source material for trainings that could be organized at different levels, and two, as … Continue reading
Ethiopia’s President, H.E. Ato Girma Woldegiorgis has awarded Ethiopian sorghum breeder and 2009 World Food Prize Laureate Prof Gebisa Ejeta the National Hero Award, the nation’s highest honour. This is the first time the award has been given to an Ethiopian for work in science and technology. Prof Ejeta received the honour at a ‘Dialogue … Continue reading
…Pastoralists will be compensated for loss of their animals from January after a livestock insurance product is launched in Kenya. However, details of the exact amount of premium to be paid will depend on the insurance company that have agreed to partner with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the institution that developed the product. … Continue reading
East Africa will face both crop gains and losses as a result of climate change, but food security is an achievable goal if new farming technologies are embraced, says a study. The research, published in Agricultural Systems this month (3 November), predicts that yields of staples like maize and beans will double in the region’s … Continue reading
Satellite-based insurance for livestock has been developed in Kenya to measure the country’s “greenness,” safeguarding herders against droughts and other effects of climate change. Slated to begin in early 2010, Kenya will be the first developing nation to set up a satellite insurance mechanism. Specialists will study satellite images measuring the greenness of vegetation in … Continue reading
In India, of the 72% of the rural population,57% of the households (over 100 million) keep livestock as their only or important source of livelihood. Many of these (32%) small-scale livestock keepers have no access to land and depend on livestock as the only source of livelihood and the number of rural landless households is … Continue reading
Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute recently visited Ethiopia as part of a project evaluating environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty, and tellong stories of hope and success in food production from all over Africa. Her Ethiopia visit began at ILRI. She blogs … Farmers confront more challenges than ever before: climate change, … Continue reading
Peter Roeder and Karl Rich contributed a case study to the IFPRI project ‘Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development’ Focused on ‘the global effort to eradicate rinderpest’, the case shows that “concerted effort by national veterinary services in both industrialized and developing countries, aided by international organizations, has brought the once dreaded rinderpest livestock … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 