The Odisha Government and ILRI join forces to better resource livestock feeds in this eastern Indian state
Animal Feeding / Article / ASSP / Cattle / Feeds / Fodder / Forages / ILRI / India / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Small Ruminants / South Asia

The Odisha Government and ILRI join forces to better resource livestock feeds in this eastern Indian state

The government of the state of Odisha, in eastern India, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will work together to provide improved feed and fodder to livestock in the state (formerly known as Orissa) in a new three-year project. Continue reading

Livestock institute leader Jimmy Smith makes the case for sustainable livestock development—Food Tank webinar
Animal Production / Animal Products / Communications / Consumption / Directorate / Event report / Food Security / ILRI / Interview / Livelihoods / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

Livestock institute leader Jimmy Smith makes the case for sustainable livestock development—Food Tank webinar

Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in a webinar today hosted by Food Tank, presented the case for sustainable livestock development in low- and middle-income countries helping the world achieve food and nutritional security. Continue reading

The omnivore’s dilemma: ‘High-steaks’ livestock decisions at next week’s Committee on World Food Security (#CFS43)
Advocacy / Article / Climate Change / Consumption / Emerging Diseases / Environment / Food Security / FSZ / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report / Research

The omnivore’s dilemma: ‘High-steaks’ livestock decisions at next week’s Committee on World Food Security (#CFS43)

Ahead of the CFS43, SIANI spoke with Delia Grace—a veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and a member of the HLPE livestock project team—about the so-called omnivore’s dilemma, the critical issues in livestock production around the world and a vision for policy-makers who will be implementing the HLPE’s recommendations. Continue reading

Economist, partners clinch USAID award for drought insurance
Article / Award / CCAFS / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Staff / Vulnerability

Economist, partners clinch USAID award for drought insurance

A Cornell development economist and his partners in the USAID-funded BASIS Assets and Market Access Innovation Lab have won an international award for developing a form of livestock insurance that has already proved itself in pilot testing. Now that it is scaling up, the insurance could help hundreds of thousands of African herders stave off poverty in times of drought. Continue reading

Better livestock policies in Africa offer a pathway out of poverty
Africa / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / Article / Breeds / Cattle / Indigenous Breeds / Intensification / Kenya / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock

Better livestock policies in Africa offer a pathway out of poverty

Boran cattle in Yabello, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/ Camille Hanotte). By Thumbi Mwangi, Washington State University A majority of rural households in Africa keep different livestock species. But only a small proportion can afford to keep good quality livestock. This is mainly due to a combination of low government funding and the poor policies of external … Continue reading

Livestock are ‘the future of Pakistan’s smallholder farmers’—PARC chairman
Article / ASSP / Goats / ILRI / Intensification / Pakistan / Pro-Poor Livestock / Sheep / Small Ruminants / South Asia

Livestock are ‘the future of Pakistan’s smallholder farmers’—PARC chairman

A flock of Makhi Cheeni goats near Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan (photo credit: ILRI/M Sajjad Khan). ‘Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) Chairman Dr Nadeem Amjad stated that livestock was the future of the country’s poor farmers with small lands. . . . ‘Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Taimur Talpur inaugurated the shed as chief … Continue reading

Food prize puts Kenyan researcher on global map—Kenya’s ‘Business Daily’ newspaper
Article / Award / Communications / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Resilience / SLS / Staff / USA / Vulnerability

Food prize puts Kenyan researcher on global map—Kenya’s ‘Business Daily’ newspaper

Even with the Tuesday announcement that he had won the award, Andrew Mude, who holds a doctorate in economics, remains a modest man committed to resolving the dilemma that pastoral communities, especially in northern Kenya, have endured for decades. When he was named winner of the 2016 World Food Prize’s Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application this week, he could barely hold back his emotions, as the reality of his achievement hit home. Continue reading

Breaking the devastating impacts of drought in the Horn of Africa—Kenyan wins global agricultural research award
Article / Award / CCAFS / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Staff / Vulnerability

Breaking the devastating impacts of drought in the Horn of Africa—Kenyan wins global agricultural research award

Kenyan scientist Andrew Mude won the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application on Tuesday for developing livestock insurance, using state-of-the-art technologies, for herders in East Africa’s drylands. Continue reading

‘Desertification’—A timely synthesis of three decades of evidence that this topic has (long) passed its sell-by date
Books and chapters / Climate Change / Pastoralism / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands

‘Desertification’—A timely synthesis of three decades of evidence that this topic has (long) passed its sell-by date

A great new book, ‘The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands’, edited by Roy Behnke and Mike Mortimore, has 20 top quality chapters from all over the world, documenting why the term desertification has passed its sell-by date, if it ever had one at all. It is an impressive and timely synthesis. Continue reading