Scotland’s Rural College is organising an international conference in September 2013 to debate key issues surrounding sustainable intensification. This event will bring together natural scientists, social scientists, farm advisers and policy makers to discuss and debate the vital issues and explore how we can feed the rapidly expanding world whilst saving the environment. Key scientific … Continue reading
Category Archives: Intensification
Under Sustainable intensification in smallholder crop/livestock systems, we work to improve system efficiency through better feed quality, health and animal performance – in a context of increasing competition for land and other resources (eg biofuels)
Agri-Health / Animal Production / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Pigs / Poultry
Misuse of antibiotics and ‘factory farming’ of animals: Alarm bells sound
‘The Spoonful of Milk’ by Marc Chagall, 1912 (via WikiPaintings). ‘. . . It is estimated that about 70% of the world’s antibiotics are fed to farm animals: the precise amount used in agriculture is poorly recorded. But what seems sure — as the number of intensively farmed animals grows — is that their use increases too, … Continue reading
Agriculture / Animal Production / Capacity Strengthening / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Extension / HUMIDTROPICS / Innovation Systems / Intensification / IPMS / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / Research / Value Chains
Commodities, innovation and action research in Ethiopia: Livestock live talk at ILRI on 27 March 2013
The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers project is coming to an end. IPMS aimed to transform agricultural productivity and rural development in Ethiopia through market-oriented agricultural development. Project staff worked with the Ethiopian Government to try new and innovative approaches and technologies. The team worked to achieve this objective through four main … Continue reading
Dairying / Drylands / Feeds / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / Pakistan / Pastoralism / Project / Small Ruminants / South Asia
Four-year US$30-million Agricultural Innovation Project launched in Pakistan
A flock of Makhi Cheeni goats near Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan (photo credit: ILRI/M Sajjad Khan). ‘The US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) launched a new project to expand the use of modern technologies in Pakistan’s agriculture sector. ‘PARC Chairman Dr … Continue reading
Crop-Livestock / Diagnostics / Humid Tropics / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Intensification / Interview / Livelihoods / Research
ILRI in the Humidtropics research program: Interview with Alan Duncan
The Humidtropics research program held a Strategic Research Theme (SRT) Meeting from 5 to 8 February, 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. The main objective of this meeting was to develop a research framework for each of the SRTs. After the meeting, the five SRT Leaders were interviewed. We asked Alan Duncan, ILRI focal point for the program … Continue reading
A4NH / Article / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Intensification / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases
The profits of livestock farming in Nairobi’s slums: Better health and wealth
Sheep look for food outside the house of Josephine Napkonde, 78, who lives in a slum in Nairobi and looks after 5 children abandoned by a relative (photo on Flickr by HelpAge International/Frederic Courbet). ‘Kahawa Soweto is a slum on the northeast edge of Nairobi, Kenya. . . . It’s a densely packed area, and it’s not … Continue reading
Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Intensification / Launch / Livestock-Water / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Value Chains / Water
New project promises better ‘LIVES’ for Ethiopia’s livestock and irrigation farmers
A baseline survey was conducted for the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in Sidama (Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region), Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Kettema Yilma). ‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have launched a new project called “Livestock and [Irrigation] Value Chains for … Continue reading
Animal Feeding / Crop residues / Dairying / East Africa / Goats / ILRI / Intensification / Kenya / Pigs / Project / Rwanda / Tanzania
Sweet potato–sweet solution: Food for people, feed for animals
Cassava, potato and sweet potato trials at high altitude in Rwanda (photo credit: ILRI/Albert Mwangi). ‘Pressures from climate change and population growth are increasing the competition for grains as food or livestock feed in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. But sweet potato, which can grow in harsh climatic conditions with minimal inputs, can provide … Continue reading
Crop residues / Ethiopia / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Kenya / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock
New series of monthly high-level ‘livestock live talks’ begins in Nairobi and Addis Ababa
‘Livestock live talks’ is a new series of high-level monthly institutional one-hour seminars hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The new seminar series aims to address livestock-related issues, mobilize external as well as in-house expertise and audiences and engage the livestock community around interdisciplinary conversations that ask hard questions and seek to refine … Continue reading
Directorate / Event / ILRI / Intensification / Launch
Minding your three E’s: From ‘economically viable’ to ‘ecologically sound’ to ‘ethically acceptable’
Across most of Africa and South Asia, most cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats are still raised in the open, in rangeland, common land or backyard systems, and are still largely ‘grass-fed’. But that is changing fast as farm land holdings get smaller and range and common lands and migratory herding corridors disappear under development. Above, … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 