Agriculture / Climate Change / Disease Control / Environment / Human Health / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Vaccines

Bill Gates says innovation can leverage change

The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation. In his second annual letter, issued Monday, Gates says investment in science and technology can leverage those dollars and make more of … Continue reading

Dairying / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / South Asia / Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka introduces ICT to dairy farmers

Web and mobile technologies have been introduced such that Sri Lanka’s dairy farmers can achieve self-sufficiency in milk production. The project, called e-Dairy, is part of the effort by the country’s Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) to improve livelihoods of the rural community, which accounts for 70 per cent of the country’s population. Read … Continue reading

Dairying / India / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / South Asia

Tacit knowledge and innovation capacity: Evidence from the Indian livestock sector

To cope and compete in this rapidly-changing world, organisations need to access and apply new knowledge. While explicit knowledge is important, what is often critical is an organisation’s ability to create, access, share and apply the tacit or un-codified knowledge that exists among its members, its network and the wider innovation system of which it … Continue reading

Animal Feeding / Ethiopia / Fodder / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Research / Vietnam

Fodder adoption blog from ILRI

Alan Duncan – leader of the IFAD-funded ‘Fodder Adoption Project’ at ILRI just launched a new blog to report on activities and developments in the project. Visit the blog at http://fodderadoption.wordpress.com/ Sign up for a regular update by email   Continue reading

Animal Diseases / Australia / Diagnostics / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Knowledge and Information / Livestock

Animal disease knowledge repository for Australia

The Australian Biosecurity Intelligence Network (ABIN) has approved the setting up of a repository of animal disease information to augment use of the Virtual Microscopy Laboratory Network used by veterinary pathologists. Participants using the repository will be able to: access, share and add to information in knowledge repositories for disease reference material, standards for testing, … Continue reading

Africa / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / East Africa / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Uganda

Animal health: Building on local knowledge

Raising livestock in remote, environmentally harsh areas such as Karamoja in northern Uganda is difficult, not least because there are few animal health services. Recently, however, several NGOs have begun helping communities identify and treat livestock diseases. Pius Sawa speaks to some of those involved. Read (and listen) … (AGFAX) Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / Livestock

Journalists experience livestock science in action in Kenya’s south Rift Valley

A ‘science safari’ to the south Rift Valley has enabled African journalists to get first-hand experience of the recent drought in Kenya and the impacts on pastoralists and their livestock. Eight radio and print journalists from East, West and southern Africa took part in the ‘safari’, as part of the latest ‘better science reporting’ workshop … Continue reading

Africa / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / East Africa / ECF / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Tanzania

Using mobile phones to monitor cattle disease

In October, the London International Development Centre (LIDC) organised a workshop to discuss the ‘Impact of Mobile Phones Upon Development and Health’. Three speakers spoke on the use of mobile phones and animal health in Africa: Andrew Hagner (Royal Veterinary College) explained how he and his Undergraduate Research Team used mobile devices to record the … Continue reading