To insure or not to insure: That is the question for Kenyan herders restocking after the great drought of 2011

Posted on 16 Dec 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

The first payouts for livestock insurance being made in Marsabit District, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). From Reuters AlertNet comes this update on how the livestock herders of Kenya’s Marsabit District are faring. Some bought an innovative livestock insurance product this year that is being piloted by the International Livestock Research … Continue reading →

Environment / Food Security / ILRI / Intensification / Opinion piece / Pro-Poor Livestock

NGO of ‘eat less meat’ mantra takes holistic view of livestock’s role in meeting global eco- and nutritional challenges

Posted on 14 Dec 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Ethiopian livestock-keeping family (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). Dan Murphy, a food industry journalist, has published a commentary on a Pork Network website about a livestock chapter in the State of the World 2011: Innovations That Nourish the Planet, published by the Worldwatch Institute, in the USA. ‘The book aims to provide a blueprint for coping with … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Directorate / ILRI / Interview / Livestock / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Billions depend on livestock

Posted on 1 Dec 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 1 Comment

The New Agriculturist’s Geneviève Renard recently interviewed ILRI Director General Jimmy Smith about the challenges facing livestock and livestock research. Livestock play a vital role in the income and livelihoods of billions and they are also a safety net for the poor. To help smallholders escape their poverty, we need to act on productivity: by … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Crop residues / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / Film and video / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

Pathways for sustainable development of mixed crop-livestock systems in developing countries

Posted on 25 Nov 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

On 3 November 2011, Shirley Tarawali presented ILRI work on crop-livestock systems at the Wageningen symposium ‘Assessment for sustainable development of animal production systems.’ Watch the video of her presentation (Tarawali starts 40 minutes into the video) View Tarawali’s presentation: Continue reading →

Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / CGIAR / Directorate / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Nutrition / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

‘Livestock is the Cinderella of agricultural development’–An interview with Jimmy Smith

Posted on 15 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A lengthy interview with ILRI’s new director general Jimmy Smith is the leading post on the home page of the Syngenta Foundation website in Nov 2011 (image credit: Syngenta Foundation; credit for photo of Jimmy Smith: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). ‘Jimmy Smith is the new Director General of [the International Livestock Research Institute] in Nairobi. He recently … Continue reading →

Directorate / Ethiopia / Event / ILRI / ILRIComms / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Amidst change, a time to take stock of livestock science to reduce poverty

Posted on 10 Nov 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Carlos Seré, former director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (photo credit: ILRI). This week in the Ethiopia capital of Addis Ababa, the first board meeting of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with participation by Jimmy Smith, ILRI’s new director general, is coinciding with a last farewell to ILRI’s outgoing director general, … Continue reading →

CGIAR / ILRI / Livestock Systems / Opinion piece / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Where distinctions matter: Differentiating global livestock systems and regions ‘essential’

Posted on 2 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, some senior ILRI staff were provoked to chime in on the need to differentiate research data, results and messages about livestock production systems … Map showing differences in the levels of meat consumed in the world (map by Worldmapper). What set off ILRI’s staff are some … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Climate Change / ILRI / Livestock / Opinion piece / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Southern Africa / Vulnerability

ILRI in southern Africa–More efforts needed to address vulnerability and climate change

Posted on 30 Oct 2011 by ILRI Communications • 1 Comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Sikhalazo Dube, from South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council (ARC), reflects on ILRI’s work in southern Africa … Livestock research and development practitioners in the region welcomed the opening up of ILRI’s regional office in southern Africa five years ago. ILRI identified two areas as possible entry … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability

ILRI scientist Andrew Mude interviewed on CNBC Africa television: ‘Increase investments in the pastoral livelihood’

Posted on 25 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Andrew Mude of ILRI receives the best practice award for an Index-based Livestock Insurance project in northern Kenya that he leads (image from The Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network [PEGnet] conference in Midrand, South Africa, 2–3 Sep 2010). As hunger spreads among more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, a study … Continue reading →

East Africa / Pastoralism / PIM / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Vulnerability

Livestock ‘policy hubs’ in Africa’s Horn consolidate resources and sectors for poorest livestock keepers