For many people the terms ‘greenhouse gas’ and ‘climate change’ conjure up images of smokestacks billowing noxious clouds, gridlocked traffic, the cracked bottom of a dried-up lake bed, or a polar bear clinging to a melting ice floe. Rarely do you see images of farmers ploughing fields, planting seeds or feeding animals. Indeed, until recently, … Continue reading
Researchers at Tufts’ Feinstein International Center (FIC) played a leading role in Ethiopia’s successful eradication of a viral disease that kills cattle and destabilized a large group of people dependent on the livestock for survival. The Ethiopian government, along with a team from FIC and the Tufts School of Medicine, in July celebrated the official … Continue reading
Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute and the University of Nairobi recently bred a test-tube calf using a technique called in vitro embryo production (IVEP). The technology, they say makes it possible to rapidly multiply and breed genetically superior cattle within a short generation interval. Is this much different from previous technologies? IVEP does … Continue reading
As African leaders prepare to present an ambitious proposal to industrialized countries for coping with climate change in the part of the world that is most vulnerable to its impacts, a new study points to where and how some of this money should be spent. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Agricultural Systems, the study projects … Continue reading
“The workshop concluded with visits to local research facilities, including the International Livestock Research Institute’s Biosciences of Eastern and Central Africa (BecA) Hub. Private donors and investors have provided more than $10 million in funding for expansion of the facilities and training. “The BecA Hub showed me the country was actively seeking solutions,” Monteros said. … Continue reading
Satellites measuring the greenness of Kenya from space are set to help insure livestock herders against droughts and mitigate the effects of climate change, experts said Friday. “This is a new approach to tackle an old problem,” Carlos Seré, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said of the satellite-based insurance for cattle, … Continue reading
Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr Peter Power, T.D., today launched an exhibition highlighting the potential of science for Africa’s smallholder farmers at the Irish Aid Volunteering and Information Centre in Dublin. Leading international agricultural researchers, such as Dr Carlos Seré, Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Dr Richard Jones, … Continue reading
CGIAR reforms take research decisions too far away, says Hartmann, director-general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). This year (2009) marks the end of an era in agricultural research. Not only has Nobel Prize-winning agronomist Norman Borlaug died, but the network of research centres with which he was closely associated is in the … Continue reading
Three years after Kenya got its first test-tube babies, the Daily Nation can reveal another first from the world of test tubes – a healthy calf. The calf, which the Daily Nation has named Bully, is one of two test tube calves born three weeks ago in an experiment by veterinary scientists from the University … Continue reading
A parasite researcher in NYU is hoping totackle African Sleeping Sickness by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. She’s been planning the project since 2006, when she attended a workshop in Nairobi. At the meeting, local farmers explained how they need cattle to survive. Most of them can’t afford to … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 