How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?
A4NH / AHH / Buffalo / Cattle / Consumption / Dairying / East Africa / Food Safety / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / India / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report / South Asia / Tanzania / Trade / Value Chains

How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?

A new report from ILRI and IIED reviews the effectiveness of training and certification schemes designed to give small-scale ‘informal’ sellers of ‘raw’ and/or boiled or informally pasteurized milk and (in India) milk sweets greater market access in East Africa and South Asia. The report reviews such schemes in Kenya and Tanzania and in the state of Assam, in northwestern India. In all three countries, the informal sector dominates dairy marketing and trade and informal milk production and trade contribute significantly to the employment, livelihoods and nutrition of many millions of poor people. Continue reading

Why shutting down Chinese ‘wet markets’ could be a terrible mistake
Advocacy / Agri-Health / Asia / China / Consumption / COVID19 / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Human Health / Livelihoods / Markets / News clipping / Pro-Poor Livestock / Zoonotic Diseases

Why shutting down Chinese ‘wet markets’ could be a terrible mistake

The current focus on exotic food consumption in China often relies on Orientalisation, and is in some cases tinged with anti-Chinese sentiment. Continue reading

Inoculating legume plants with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria improves yields in Ethiopia and could save USD28 million annually in fertilizer costs
Agriculture / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / Legumes / Livelihoods / Nutrition / Project / Research / SLS

Inoculating legume plants with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria improves yields in Ethiopia and could save USD28 million annually in fertilizer costs

A five-year project that promoted nitrogen fixation through the use of rhizobia bacteria in grain legumes in Ethiopia helped smallholder farmers increase their legume production by 20% and could help the country save over USD28 million annually in fertilizer costs. Continue reading

Thursday links (June 2019)
Advocacy / Africa / Animal Health / Animal Production / Article / Camels / Cattle / Central Africa / Chickens / Emerging Diseases / Goats / Livelihoods / Livestock / Livestock matters / News clipping / Pastoralism / Pigs / Poultry / Research / Sheep / West Africa

Thursday links (June 2019)

A monthly round-up of recent articles, blog postings and tweets about livestock, aid and other topics that may be of interest to ILRI staff and partners, compiled by David Aronson. Continue reading

On a frugal continent of ‘economic vegetarians’, consuming more meat means longer, healthier lives—The Economist
Advocacy / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Production / Animal Products / Asia / China / Consumption / Dairying / Environment / Food Security / Human Health / India / Intensification / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / News clipping / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Senegal / Trade / Value Chains

On a frugal continent of ‘economic vegetarians’, consuming more meat means longer, healthier lives—The Economist

The Economist reports that the future of food lies in Africa. And why that’s a good thing. As Africans get richer, they will eat more meat and live longer, healthier lives. Continue reading

Kenyan agriculturist Su Kahumbu on the need for ‘pro-smallholder’ and ‘pro-soil’ policies
Advocacy / Agri-Health / Agriculture / Animal Products / Dairying / East Africa / Extension / Food Safety / Kenya / Livelihoods / Opinion piece / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Soils

Kenyan agriculturist Su Kahumbu on the need for ‘pro-smallholder’ and ‘pro-soil’ policies

In an opinion piece she published in the current issue of the Daily Nation newspaper’s ‘Seeds of Gold’ pull-out magazine, Kenyan agriculturist and iCow entrepreneur Su Kahumbu takes issue with two new dairy and crop laws being considered by the Kenya government. Continue reading

Where nutrients and protein sourced from livestock remain vital—Crawford Fund
Advocacy / Africa / Agri-Health / Asia / Consumption / Environment / Food Security / Human Health / Livelihoods / Opinion piece / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock

Where nutrients and protein sourced from livestock remain vital—Crawford Fund

‘Coinciding with the launch of the EAT-Lancet “Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems” report, Dr Colin Chartres, the [Crawford] Fund’s CEO, . . . discusses the importance of ‘smart foods’ and smart people for a healthy population and planet. Continue reading

Dairy: A tool to fight poverty—An interview with IFCN’s Torsten Hemme
Advocacy / Buffalo / Camels / Cattle / Climate Change / Dairying / Goats / Interview / Livelihoods / News clipping / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock

Dairy: A tool to fight poverty—An interview with IFCN’s Torsten Hemme

Having scanned the scientific literature (100 journal articles) on the impact of milk production on reducing poverty, Torsten Hemme, managing director of the IFCN (International Farm Comparison Network) Dairy Research Center, in Kiel, Germany, says that dairy is improving lives in multiple ways. Continue reading

Shortages in quality animal feed hinder availability of nutritious animal-source foods
Africa / Burkina Faso / Ethiopia / Feeds / FFD / Forages / ILRI / Livelihoods / LIVESTOCKCRP / Scaling

Shortages in quality animal feed hinder availability of nutritious animal-source foods

Driven by population growth, urbanization and rising incomes, demand for livestock products in Africa and Asia may increase by 200% by 2030. Increased availability of milk, meat and eggs offers huge opportunities to meet this demand, improve diets and decrease malnourishment, especially among millions of infants, school-age children and pregnant and lactating women. New livestock-related businesses could also enhance the incomes of poor people and enable them to purchase better food for their families. But the supply of livestock products in many developing countries is constrained by low animal productivity, largely due to shortages of quality animal feed. Continue reading