Animal Feeding / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Pastoralism / Project / Vulnerability / Women

New EU-funded project to support Kenya dryland livestock markets and women camel milk traders

Women herding camels in Kenya (photo on Flickr by Curt Carnemark/World Bank Photo Collection). Polly Ericksen, a senior scientist with the People, Livestock and Environment Theme at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), announced to the ILRI community last Friday new funding from the European Union that will finance a three-year food security project that … Continue reading

Camels / Cattle / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Goats / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Pastoralism / Project / Sheep / Somalia / Trade / Vulnerability

Foolhardy? Or just hardy? New project tackles climate change and livestock markets in the Horn

If only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the tropical midday sun, what shall we say of Americans in Alabama and Kenya setting out to learn from, and support, sales of livestock in the hot and drying badlands extending across the Horn of Africa? This is what Peter Little, of Emory University, and Polly … Continue reading

Agriculture / Dairying / East Africa / Ethiopia / Extension / ILRI / Interview / IPMS / Markets

Market-oriented agricultural extension important for Ethiopia – ILRI tells BBC

The Ethiopian economy is currently witnessing strong growth; however agricultural productivity in the smallholder sector, in dairying for example, is not as high as it could be. The BBC reports on developments in the country, including from a dairy development project of the Dutch development organization SNV. As part of the report, Berhanu Gebremedhin of … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Pastoralism

Meat exports and livestock jobs could transform Kenya’s drought-stricken northern lands

The main road running north to Ethiopia from Samburu land, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by meaduva). ‘Livestock could turn Kenya’s drought-stricken northern lands into an engine of job creation, rather than a sinkhole for emergency aid, the minister for the region has said. ‘Almost 4 million Kenyans needed food aid in early 2012 … Continue reading

Agriculture / Animal Production / Animal Products / Cattle / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Livestock / Markets / Project / Research

IPMS project updates shared with steering committee

The Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project held its semi annual steering committee meeting on April 17, 2012 in Addis Ababa. Representatives from the Oromia, SNNP and Tigray bureau’s of agriculture/research; IPMS rural development officers; CIDA representatives; and IPMS headquarters staff attended. Iain Wright chaired the meeting. The main agenda of the day was … Continue reading

Animal Production / Animal Products / Cattle / East Africa / Ethiopia / Film and video / IPMS / Livestock / Markets / Value Chains

An innovation story: Livestock fattening in Metema, Ethiopia

This innovation story narrates the experience of the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project on livestock fattening in Ethiopia. The video documents how a 2005 alliance between the local government office of agriculture, the IPMS project, and local livestock farmers and traders in western Ethiopia took advantage of livestock market opportunities in neighbouring Sudan. … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Books and chapters / Drought / Food Security / ILRI / Markets / Opinion piece

To market, to market–but where is the market? Jimmy Smith and Namanga Ngongi say agricultural markets could be the engines of Africa’s development

Three diapered goats in the trunk of a car, bought at the local livestock market, await the drive in Mali (photo on Flickr by Romel Jacinto). The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) recently released a book of case studies illustrating ‘high- payoff/low-cost’ initiatives that could help … Continue reading

Africa / Animal Production / East Africa / Kenya / Livestock / Markets / Pastoralism / Value Chains

Learning route on innovative livestock marketing in Kenya

Participants in a ‘learning route’ on Innovative Livestock Marketing just completed their trip through Kenya. Organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the PROCASUR Corporation, the route is a participatory practitioner-to-practitioner training to increase awareness about channels and strategies to diversify livestock production and marketing. Read stories from the route … How … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / Amharic / East Africa / Ethiopia / Film and video / ILRI / IPMS / Markets / Value Chains

ሽንኩርት ከምርት ወደ ገበያ በአላማጣ [Amharic]

This blog post is in Amharic, if you are seeing boxes download fonts here. ይህ ዶኪመንቴሽን በአላማጣ ወረዳ የሽንኩርት ምርት ኤክስቴንሽን ይዞ ቀርቧል፡፡ በአላማጣ ወረዳ ያሉ አርሶ አደሮችና የወረዳው ግብርና ከ IPMS (በኢትዮጵያ ምርታማነትና የገበያ ስኬት ማሻሻያ) ፕሮጄክት ጋር በመሆን የሽንኩርት ምርትን ከገበያ የማገናኘት ስራ ላይ የጋራ እንቅስቃሴ ፈጥረዋል። ይህ ዶኪመንቴሽን በአርሶ አደሩ የተደረጉ ተሞክሮዎችና … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Film and video / ILRI / Innovation Systems / IPMS / Markets / Value Chains

An innovation story: Irrigated banana value chain development in Ethiopia

This innovation story narrates the experience of the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project on innovative banana value chain development in Ethiopia. The project introduced banana production systems in the district for the first time in 2005. IPMS together with the stakeholders provided support along the banana value chain on production, input supply and … Continue reading