Guidelines to plan animal breeding programs in West Africa

Posted on 14 Feb 2014 by Abenet Yabowork • Leave a comment

This ILRI project report by Karen Marshall is designed to assist partners of the project ‘Sustainable management of globally significant endemic ruminant livestock in West Africa (PROGEBE)’ in structuring the plans behind their national-level animal breeding programs. It, however, will also be useful to others documenting breeding plans for developing country livestock production systems, outside of this specific project. Continue reading →

ASSP / Ethiopia / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Report / Research

Understanding power dynamics essential to ensure impact of innovation platforms

Posted on 13 Feb 2014 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. To help document recent experiences and insights, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently published a series of short innovation platform ‘practice briefs’ to help guide the design and implementation of innovation platforms in agricultural research for development. This … Continue reading →

ASSP / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Report / Research

Innovation platforms and agricultural research interventions

Posted on 10 Feb 2014 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. This third brief focuses on interactions between research and innovation platforms – how researchers can engage with innovation platforms and how platforms can support research processes. Continue reading →

ASSP / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Innovation Systems / PIL / Policy / Report / Research

Innovation platforms to shape national policies in agriculture

Posted on 6 Feb 2014 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. This second brief explains and illustrates ways that innovation platforms contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies. Continue reading →

ASSP / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Report / Research

What are innovation platforms in agricultural research?

Posted on 3 Feb 2014 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 1 Comment

Innovation platforms are widely used in agricultural research to connect different stakeholders to achieve common goals. This first brief explains what innovation platforms are and how they work, and it describes some of their advantages and limitations. Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Article / ASSP / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Feeds / LIVESTOCKFISH / South Asia

Field Crops Research special issue on dual-purpose maize for food and feed

Posted on 15 Nov 2013 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 1 Comment

The inability of livestock keepers to feed their animals adequately throughout the year remains the major technical constraint in most livestock systems, particularly in smallholder systems in emerging countries. Meeting the demand for meat and milk in a way that poor livestock keepers benefit more from their animal assets will require sustainable production of more … Continue reading →

ASSP / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / FFD / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Report

Reducing climate change through livestock: FAO report

Posted on 13 Nov 2013 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A farm in Bangladesh with just enough room for one cow, which, adequately fed and cared for, efficiently produces enough milk for household consumption and manure for maintaining a small garden plot and fish pond (photo on Flickr by WorldFish). ‘Farmers could earn more and protect the environment by using technologies and practices that reduce … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / ASSP / Australia / Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / Ethiopia / Genetics / ILRI / ILRIComms / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / Project / Tanzania / Uganda

Gates Foundation awards grant to improve dairy cattle breeds and reduce poverty in East Africa

Posted on 11 Sep 2013 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) visited a field site of the Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) project in June 2011 (photo credit: BMGF/Lee Klejtnot). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a USD1.3-million grant to researchers at the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England (UNE), in Australia, … Continue reading →

Agriculture / ASSP / CCAFS / Climate Change / ILRI / ILRIComms / Presentation

Can smallholders mitigate global warming? ‘Livestock live talk’ at ILRI, 14 Aug 2013

Posted on 5 Aug 2013 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Smallholder food producers in the developing world are most at risk of global warming. A World Bank report, Turn down the heat, released 19 Jun 2013, says Africa and Asia, home to most of the world’s poorest of the poor, will bear the brunt of widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat waves and more intense cyclones if … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Feeding / ASSP / Capacity Strengthening / CapDev / Drylands / Event report / Farming Systems / Film and video / Fodder / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Intensification / Interview / Nigeria / Uganda / Vulnerability / Zimbabwe

Voices from the sixth Africa Agriculture Science Week 2013

Posted on 18 Jul 2013 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Change mindsets, embed policymaking, make efficient use of declining biomass, engage the private sector. These and other recommendations of four participants attending the ongoing sixth Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6) are captured in this short (2:40-minute) video. This science week, organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), is being held in Accra, … Continue reading →