A pungent odor like turpentine wafts over the hillsides north of the Mongolian capital. It comes from the sharilj, a wild plant that has taken over the scalloped landscape, a telltale sign of overgrazing since the plant is inedible for sheep and goats. Sukhtseren Sharav has a herd of 150 goats and 100 sheep, and … Continue reading
A team of researchers combine maps, satellite images and participatory mapping techniques to develop an accurate picture of land use among pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. Read more … (ICT Update) Continue reading
Faced with difficult choices, a Maasai community in Tanzania was able to get an accurate picture of their land resources with the help of conservationists and GPS receivers. Read more … (ICT Update) Continue reading
In East Africa, drought has caused terrible losses, with cattle dying in large numbers. Now, some livestock keepers have decided to conduct a drought survey, to find out what they could have done to be better prepared. Kofi Adu Domfeh visited some of those who took part, to find out how useful such community-driven research … Continue reading
A US$19.5 million loan and a US$19.5 million grant from IFAD to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia will support the delivery of basic social services to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country – pastoralists and their families. After the success of its first phase, the Pastoral Community Development Project … Continue reading
…Pastoralists will be compensated for loss of their animals from January after a livestock insurance product is launched in Kenya. However, details of the exact amount of premium to be paid will depend on the insurance company that have agreed to partner with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the institution that developed the product. … Continue reading
In the Horn of Africa region, millions of families are desperate for food and water. Several seasons of failed rains is slowly turning into a major catastrophe. In Kenya an estimated 100,000 livestock have been lost to the current season. Read more … (World Sentinel) Continue reading
Things Fall Apart Things have quickly fallen apart in this particular drought in the Horn’s vast drylands because of a toxic mix of underlying factors. Land Use Among the things not being redressed are land-use policies and practices that fail to account for population increases and thus are restricting herders to ever smaller, drier and … Continue reading
The drought which has hit East Africa is wreaking havoc among the region’s pastoralists. Their herds of livestock have been decimated. Even the hardy camels are dying. Turkana District in northwest Kenya is a harsh environment at the best of times. Driving along the sandy roads with temperatures tipping 40C, the air coming through the … Continue reading
The work of ecologist Robin Reid, who spent 15 years conducting pastoral research at the Nairobi headquarters of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is featured in a current segment of the American television program ‘60 Minutes’, which aired last Sunday, 3 October 2009. View the segment on the 60 Minutes website here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/08/60minutes/main13502.shtml Read … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 