Livestock disease challenges and gaps in the delivery of animal health services in East Africa

Posted on 20 May 2011 by Zerihun Sewunet • Leave a comment

This brief from the East Africa Dairy Development Project highlights key results of a baseline survey to assess gaps in the delivery of animal health services in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Specifically, the survey assessed the main animal health problems; preventive and curative measures used to control animal diseases; livestock farmers’ access to veterinary and … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Diseases / Biodiversity / Cattle / Disease Control / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds

Study finds gene clues to African cattle disease

Posted on 17 May 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Reuters reports the following yesterday. ‘Scientists studying the tsetse fly-borne disease “sleeping sickness” and a devastating version found in cattle say they have found two genes that may in future help rescue the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Africa. ‘In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal on … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / Food Security / ILRI / Livelihoods / Trade / Value Chains

With the right investments, Africa’s small farms could make profits as well as food

Posted on 5 May 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Mohamed Béavogui, director of the west and central African division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has the following to say in the Guardian‘s Poverty Matters Blog. ‘Africa’s smallholder farmers not only have the potential to produce enough food for export—and thereby contribute to food security worldwide—but to help lead the way to … Continue reading →

Africa / Asia / Caribbean / China / Egypt / Food Safety / Food Security / India / Indonesia / Kenya / Laos / Latin America / Livelihoods / Malawi / Nutrition / Pigs / Poultry / South Africa

Do a billion people really go to bed hungry? Or is a television more important than food?

Posted on 3 May 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Foods of Khulungira Village, in central Malawi: Fish stew (nsomba zophika), boiled maize (chimanga chophika), mixed beans with salt and oil (nyemba zophika), dried mushrooms with groundnuts (bowa wofutsa), pumpkin leaves with pumpkin blossoms and potatoes (nkhwani wophatikiza ndi maungu anthete ndi kachewere wophika) and boiled eggs with tomato, onions, oil and salt (mazira ophika ndi … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / Climate Change / Consumption / Environment / Food Security / Latin America / Markets

Lester Brown on ‘the new geopolitics of food’

Posted on 1 May 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Youth in window of a poor farm household in Milange, located in Zambezia, the most populous province of Mozambique (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, writes in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy on ‘The New Geopolitics of Food: From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs … Continue reading →

Africa / Asia / Caribbean / Directorate / ILRI / Latin America

Guyanese to head Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute

Posted on 27 Apr 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

‘Jimmy Smith has been appointed the new director general designate of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya. ‘ILRI board chair Knut Hove made the announcement at the 35th meeting of the ILRI Board of Trustees, recently, to an afternoon gathering of ILRI staff, management and board. ‘In his announcement, Hove said, “We … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Central Africa / East Africa / Innovation Systems / Research / Rwanda / Uganda

Innovation platforms for development oriented agricultural research

Posted on 26 Apr 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

A central question in African agriculture is how to catalyze a more competitive, equitable and sustainable agricultural growth within the context of smallholder production systems, inefficient agricultural marketing, inefficient investments by private sector, and a degradation-prone natural resources base. Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) is a promising organizing concept that builds on the Innovation … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Pastoralism ‘alive and well’: Reflections from the Future Agricultures Consortium conference on pastoralism in Africa

Posted on 20 Apr 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

In March this year, the Future Agricultures Consortium and Tufts University organized a conference on the future of pastoralism in Africa. We invited some participants to reflect on the discussions in a short video interview. Ian Scoones from the Institute of Development Studies and the Future Agricultures Consortium concludes that pastoralism is ‘alive and well’ … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / Crop-Livestock / Food Security / Latin America / Malawi

No solution to food crisis without involvement of the world’s small-scale farmers

Posted on 18 Apr 2011 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Regina Frazer: Maize, potato, cassava, chicken, dove, pig and vegetable farmer in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A Guardian blog post today argues that the world’s many small farmers are critical to solving the world’s food, and food price, crises. The blog says, ‘We should celebrate one of the largest but least recognised groups in … Continue reading →

Africa / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Impact Assessment / Kenya / Livelihoods / Research

Impacts of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project on livelihoods and vulnerability in Kenya

Posted on 15 Apr 2011 by Zerihun Sewunet • Leave a comment

This Research report by Nancy Johnson and Ayago Wambile on The impacts of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMPII) on livelihoods and vulnerability in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya was released on 04 April, 2011. There is an urgent need for new approaches and effective models for managing risk and promoting sustainable … Continue reading →

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Category Archives: Africa