Computers serving Ugandan cows

Posted on 20 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

A computer programme for feeding dairy cows has won the top prize in the 2009-2010 Africa-wide science competition held by CTA together with partner organisations. The Endiisa Decision Support Tool was developed by a team of scientists led by the National Livestock Resources Research Institute of Uganda. Team leader Dr Sarah Mubiru said the software … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Diseases / Disease Control / East Africa / ILRI / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / RVF / Tanzania

Traditional knowledge key to managing Rift Valley fever

Posted on 16 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

By assessing key risk factors and symptoms, such as an increase in rainfall and high abortion rates, Somali and Maasai herders accurately predicted the outbreak of Rift Valley fever in 2006/07 long before veterinary and public health interventions began, researchers have discovered. “Timely outbreak response requires effective early warning and surveillance systems,” say authors of … Continue reading →

Africa / Ethiopia / NRM / Research / Water / WLE

IWMI celebrates 25 years – Addis event focuses on its work in the Nile Basin and East Africa

Posted on 16 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) shares a campus in Ethiopia with ILRI – the International Livestock Research Institute. The two organizations are also close partners in a number of projects across the world – but especially in Ethiopia and the Nile Basin. The event was kicked off by the Ethiopian State Minister for Water … Continue reading →

Africa / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / Ethiopia / Farming Systems / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism

New initiative to include pastoralists in research

Posted on 15 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

A new initiative that brings together leading pastoralists from Ethiopia and Kenya and researchers to discuss and advance solutions to pastoralist issues, recently met for the second time in Kenya. The ‘University of the Bush’ is designed to link debate with action in the drylands and aims to enable pastoralists to engage with, comment on, … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Feeding / Fodder / Markets / Trade

AGRA to help connect Africa’s small-scale farmers to markets

Posted on 14 Dec 2010 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A boy works at peeling a mountain of cassava in Nigeria (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). The Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa and its partners are committing US$42 million to a markets program that will connect smallholder farmers to local, regional, and international markets, this press release reports. The markets’ program is currently overseeing US$14 … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Diseases / Disease Control / Livestock

Researchers make progress toward finding a new cure for nagana-infected livestock

Posted on 13 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

In Zulu, “nagana” means “depressed in spirits.” To many poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, however, nagana is more than just an emotion—it’s a disease that plagues their livestock, exacerbating poverty and hunger in the region. But researchers in Belgium may soon have something to raise the temperaments of African farmers: a drug aimed at curing … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Climate Change / Insurance / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / West Africa

Oxfam calls for climate insurance for West African pastoralists

Posted on 12 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Government-sponsored climate insurance for pastoralists in West African’s arid Sahel region offers a solution to mitigate the loss of livestock due to recurrent droughts related to the effects of climate change, an Oxfam official has said. Gilles Marion, Mali country director for the U.K based charity, said that pastoralists in the Sahel prepare for the … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Products / Dairying / East Africa / ICT / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Value Chains

Kenya dairy farming set to go high tech

Posted on 11 Dec 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

The local dairy industry is set for a major revolution with the planned migration of services to a single digital platform next week. This will put Kenya among few countries with a digitalised dairy value-chain globally, according to the Kenya Dairy Board managing director Machira Gichohi. Various new technologies covering the entire dairy value chain … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Production / Ethiopia / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / IPMS / Livestock / Markets / Poultry

Indigenous chicken production and marketing systems in Ethiopia

Posted on 9 Dec 2010 by Zerihun Sewunet • Leave a comment

This working paper by Fisseha Moges, Azage Tegegne and Tadelle Dessie on Indigenous chicken production and marketing systems in Ethiopia: Characteristics and opportunities for market-oriented development was released on 2 December, 2010. This working paper presents a synthesis of research findings undertaken in three woredas or districts in Ethiopia. These woredas are Pilot Learning Woredas … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Climate Change / Directorate / ILRI

How Africa can adapt to climate change – ILRI Director General Carlos Seré interviewed on VOA

Posted on 8 Dec 2010 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

In this short (4 minutes 30 seconds) audio interview, the director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Carlos Seré, speaks on why Africa must, and how it can, adapt to climate change. Listen to the podcast Seré says Africa must learn to adapt to shorter growing seasons following findings of a new ILRI study … Continue reading →