In November 2010, more than 50 pastoralists, politicians, donors and researchers met in Kenya to discuss the place of nomadic livestock keeping in national development, recent research findings and future policy options. Unusually, the meeting took place not in a conference centre but under an acacia tree, on the edge of a national park – … Continue reading
In the past 40 years the area under pastures in Latin America increased from 473 to 555 million hectares, and the number of cattle has risen from 195 to 394 million. This growth has resulted in forest loss and fragmentation. Pastures are now the main agricultural land use, particularly in areas like El Petén, in … Continue reading
The South Asia Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank has produced its first assessment of the livestock sector in India since 1996. According to the report, a ‘livestock revolution’ has occurred on a large scale in India over the last couple of decades. Demand for all major livestock commodities (milk, eggs, meat) … Continue reading
A new initiative that brings together leading pastoralists from Ethiopia and Kenya and researchers to discuss and advance solutions to pastoralist issues, recently met for the second time in Kenya. The ‘University of the Bush’ is designed to link debate with action in the drylands and aims to enable pastoralists to engage with, comment on, … Continue reading
Government-sponsored climate insurance for pastoralists in West African’s arid Sahel region offers a solution to mitigate the loss of livestock due to recurrent droughts related to the effects of climate change, an Oxfam official has said. Gilles Marion, Mali country director for the U.K based charity, said that pastoralists in the Sahel prepare for the … Continue reading
The November 2010 issue of Advances in Animal Biosciences contains papers from the ‘International Symposium on Sustainable Animal Production in the Tropics: Farming in a Changing World,’ held in Guadeloupe 15-18 November 2010. Five papers are included from ILRI authors: Mario Herrero and Philip K. Thornton: Mixed crop livestock systems in the developing world: present … Continue reading
Seen at the Barrington Living History Farm (USA), this is most likely a Black-Spanish turkey, which was a common breed in the 19th century (photo credit: Big Grey Mare’s Photostream on Flickr / Carol Von Canon). Agricultural systems analyst Philip Thornton, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was interviewed last week by the American … Continue reading
The first issue of Chronicles, the quarterly newsletter of the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program is now available on line and in paper formats. The Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (ALS-CC CRSP) was established in 2010. The goal of the Livestock-Climate CRSP is to to reduce vulnerability, increase adaptive … Continue reading
The newly launched livestock insurance scheme will help improve business sustainability and productivity in the agricultural sub sector, the product promoters-Botswana Insurance Company-are confident. Read more: Midweek Sun (Botswana) Simbarashe Nembaware News blog More posts on livestock insurance Continue reading
Busy fodder market in Hyderabad, India; farmers transport their fodder to this market, where it is bought by urban dairies (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). The magazine Farming Matters ran a feature on a Fodder Innovation Project funded by the UK Department for International Development and conducted since 2003 by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 