Category Archives: Policy

A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Nutrition / Policy / Report / Zoonotic Diseases

Keeping cows in the city, chickens under the bed: ‘The Atlantic’ magazine explores Africa’s urbanization

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Butcher shop in a slum in Kawangare, Nairobi, Kenya (picture on Flickr by Brad Ruggles). It’s not only people who are rapidly urbanizing in Africa: people migrating from rural areas are bringing their livelihoods with them, which in Africa largely means their cattle, goats, sheep, chickens and pigs. A scientific report from researchers based in … Continue reading →

Article / Drylands / East Africa / Environment / Ethiopia / Pastoralism / Policy / Vulnerability

Cash crops vs cattle pastures: Converting pastoral lands into irrigated croplands in Africa benefits few

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Ethiopian rangeland (photo credit: ILRI/Dave Elsworth). ‘Cotton, sugar, palm oil… you name it. Most governments in the developing world believe such plantation cash crops must be a better use of land, and must deliver greater economic returns, than cattle pastures. That’s what most of the current land grabs in Africa are about. That’s why the … Continue reading →

Africa / Policy / Poultry / Report

New MDGs 2.0 Report – What Does the World Really Want?

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The UN-led process for determining the next round of global development goals is officially underway.  This will be an extremely important effort, which will likely have profound implications for both the developing and developed world for decades. Against this backdrop, the ONE Campaign and other groups have been advocating for a radical, yet extremely simple, … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Emerging Diseases / Policy / Zoonotic Diseases

How economics adds value to animal health policy-making

Posted on by • Leave a comment

A news item on The Pig Site argues that the risk of disease among farm animals and farm biosecurity are a public affair.” The August 2012 issue of EuroChoices, the Journal of the Agricultural Economics Society and European Association of Agricultural Economists, looks at the role of economics in animal health decision making and how … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Brazil / China / Event report / India / Opinion piece / Policy

Rio+20 ‘ducked’ political realities: Time for South to show ‘political muscle and imaginative thinking’

Posted on by • 1 Comment

Happy dragon in Fengdu, China (photo on Flickr by Major Clanger). SciDevNet’s David Dickson argues in an opinion piece last week that the outcomes of the June Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development illustrate that leadership from developing countries will be key to global sustainable development. Dickson says that the result of Rio-20 was ‘the … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Asia / CSF / ILRI / India / Pigs / Policy / South Asia / Vaccines

Preventing and controlling classical swine fever in northeast India

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Classical swine fever is a highly contagious, potentially fatal viral disease that affects pigs. This disease is a major constraint to the development of pig farming systems in northeast India where pig farming is a main source of livelihood for most households. About 80 per cent of households in northeast India rear pigs and pork … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Environment / Event report / Food Security / Policy

The road back to Rio: Scientists find final ‘The Future We Want’ document to be ‘science light’

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Scientists complain that the new Rio+20 accord barely mentions the scientific inputs needed for sustainable development (photo on Flickr by CGIAR Climate/CCAFS). ‘The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) ended last Friday (22 June) with an international agreement on the need for all countries to commit themselves to achieving sustainable development. ‘The agreement immediately … Continue reading →

Environment / NRM / Policy

On the road back to Rio: Is the new mantra – ‘inclusive green growth’ – really possible?

Posted on by • Leave a comment

‘The real question about green growth is whether it can fulfil its promise that poor countries can have both greenery and prosperity.’–Economist. An example of an ‘investment-hungry project’ that can bring high environmental as well as poverty-reduction returns is greater adoption of improved dual purpose ‘food-feed’ crops whose grain feeds people and whose residues after … Continue reading →

Burkina Faso / Climate Change / Directorate / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Eritrea / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Mali / Niger / Nigeria / Pastoralism / Policy / Senegal / Somalia / Sudan / Uganda / Vulnerability / West Africa

Hunger in Sahel worsens as ‘lean season’ begins: ‘The worst is yet to come’

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Football legend Raul Gonzalez, Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), learns while speaking to goat herders in Chad that protecting people’s livestock is essential for preventing them from falling into the danger zone during the current food crisis. Livestock will also be essential, the people say, for helping them to … Continue reading →

Agriculture / CGIAR / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / Launch / Policy

Crop, tree, water, livestock and fish scientists call for action at Rio+20 sustainable development summit

Posted on by • Leave a comment

CGIAR centres and initiatives signing a 7-point ‘CGIAR Call to Action’ at the June 2012 Rio+20 UN sustainable development summit. Mark Kinver at the BBC reports today on a global group calling for decision-makers at the June Rio+20 sustainable development summit to take a concerted approach to agricultural policy, based on science. The International Livestock … Continue reading →