The Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in Africa publishes articles on original research relevant to animal health and production activities which may lead to the improvement of the livestock industry in Africa and better utilisation of her animal resources. The September 2010 issue is now online; contents include: Pan African Strategy for the Progressive … Continue reading
Working in a maize field in Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). IRIN, a United Nations humanitarian news service, says Africa should be in a better position to feed itself in another five years. ‘. . . Shortly after Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika became AU [Africa Union] chair in 2010, he announced a plan to make … Continue reading
A farming household in the rainy season in Malawi; here, as in much of Africa, people’s livelihoods depend on the climate. This homestead is in Khulungira, a village of 150 families in central Malawi, 27 km from the nearest paved road and 50 km from the nearest town; there is no electricity and no running … Continue reading
An improved, crossbred, dairy cow made available in Rwanda by an East African Dairy Development project, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by Heifer International; the International Livestock Research Institute is a partner in this project (picture credit: ILRI/EADD). Uganda’s Independent recently carried an opinion piece extolling the good progress … Continue reading
Dragon head detail on a gate to the walled Citadel of Hué, the former, imperial, capital of Viet Nam from the 17th to 19th centuries and national capital until 1945. Located in the middle of the country along the Perfume River, Hué’s Citadel, like Beijing’s Forbidden City, housed only emperors and their concubines and closest … Continue reading
Decades of food delivery and ‘miracle’ seeds haven’t addressed underlying causes of hunger. But new efforts to replicate Africa’s original ecosystems are generating impressive, sustainable results Faith-based aid groups in Africa have a long and mostly admirable history of working to alleviate hunger. Too often, however, faith groups have focused their relief solely on food … Continue reading
With mainstream banks and microfinance organizations mainly helping business startups in urban Kenya, a group called Juhudi Kilimo decided to focus on rural small-holder farmers. In the largely agricultural east African country of Kenya, many small-holder farmers need a way to start generating income. An organization called Juhudi Kilimo has stepped in with a new … Continue reading
This working paper by Berhanu Gebremedhin and Moti Jaleta on Commercialization of smallholders: Does market orientation translate into market participation? was released on 15 December, 2010. It makes little distinction between market orientation (production decision based on market signals) and market participation (sale of output). It analyses the determinants of market orientation and market participation … Continue reading
When Ulamila Kurai Wragg visited New York in 2009 to speak about the frightening climatic changes taking place in the Cook Islands, some audience members stunned her. “I was hearing, ‘There’s no such thing as climate change. What proof have you got?’ ” Wragg recalled. “The experience I had in New York was not easy … Continue reading
The half-dozen strangers who descended on this remote West African village brought its hand-to-mouth farmers alarming news: their humble fields, tilled from one generation to the next, were now controlled by Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and the farmers would all have to leave. “They told us this would be the last rainy season for … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 