The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), together with the Animal Production Society of Kenya (APSK), the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF), the All Africa Society for Animal Production (AASAP) and other partners, is helping to organize the 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture (AACAA). Held every four years, the conference will take place 27–30 Oct 2014 at the Kenyatta international Convention Centre, in Nairobi’s central business district. Continue reading
Category Archives: Pro-Poor Livestock
Policy dialogue held to support small-scale pig farmers in Nagaland, India
On 27 Feb 2014, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners convened a meeting of actors in the pig sector in Nagaland, India, to review policies that could better support pig farming in the state.
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In Africa, livestock are a catalyst for economic growth—Livestock data study findings
Investing in smallholder farmers who own livestock in rural Africa, such as these women in Tanzania, is a catalyst for economic growth (photo credit: ILRI/Deo Gratias Shayo). Last October (2013), the World Bank reported on the findings of a case study on ‘Livestock and Livelihoods in Rural Tanzania.’ The study assessed opportunities and barriers to … Continue reading
Three short strategic films from livestock institute chart ways forward for ‘better lives through livestock’
‘This video from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), features ILRI director general Jimmy Smith talking on the role of livestock in the global development agenda. ‘The 13 minute film points out that 4 of the top 5 agricultural commodities by value are livestock, and that in Africa, 4 of the top 10 agricultural commodities are … Continue reading
World Food Day: On the central, enduring (and other) roles of smallholders in feeding the world (in 12 tweets/images)
We’re celebrating this World Food Day (#WFD2013) journalist Mark Bittman in a New York Times opinion piece, How to Feed the World (14 Oct 2013), on the central and enduring value of smallholder farming in feeding the world sustainably. Read the whole article. It’s very good. We’ve added some of our favourite artworks, all (kindly) made … Continue reading
Supporting the world’s smallholder livestock keepers can increase food supplies while reducing absolute poverty
A young boy in Kenya feeds his family’s improved dairy cows (photo credit: East Africa Dairy Development project). ‘The head of the global livestock research centre (ILRI) in Kenya says smallholder farmers will be essential in providing the animal protein needed to feed nine billion people by 2050. ‘Dr Jimmy Smith’s comments are in response … Continue reading
ILRI’s Jimmy Smith interviewed in Australia at International Grasslands Congress today
The world’s small-scale farmers and livestock keepers can be a large part of the solution to feeding the world sustainably to 2050. This was the message yesterday (16 Sep 2013) of Jimmy Smith, who opened the International Grasslands Congress in Sydney this week. Australia’s ABC News interviewed Smith earlier today about his presentation. Sample tweets … Continue reading
‘Milk: Symbol of a free India’–16-year-old wins award in Commonwealth Society essay competition
Nirja Bhatt, a silver medal winner in the 2013 Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition (photo credit: Purvi Mehta-Bhatt). Nirja Bhatt, a 16-year-old student at Navrachana International School Vadodara, in Gujurat, India, has won a Silver Award in the ‘senior’ category of this year’s Royal Commonwealth Society Essay Competition. This year’s topic, ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’, received more … Continue reading
Participants give feedback on ILRI’s ‘livestock live talks’: Less frequent, more consistently memorable, please!
Since September 2012, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has been hosting livestock live talks, a series of monthly seminars that address livestock-related matters, mobilize external as well as in-house expertise and audiences and engage the livestock community around interdisciplinary conversations. The series aims to ask hard questions and to help refine concepts and practices in livestock research … Continue reading
Nepal’s livestock sector: In demand and in decline?
Livestock fodder on road between Chitwan District and Pokhara, Nepal. An ILRI-CSISA (Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia) project on the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Chitwan District, in south-central Nepal, began in Sep 2010. Project staff are introducing residue-based feeding strategies supplemented with green fodder and concentrates to increase cattle and buffalo milk production (photo credit: ILRI/Susan … Continue reading