Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (photo credit: Adopt a Negotiator’s Photostream on flickr). Despite the fact that governments of industrialized countries are focusing on balancing their budgets in these hard fiscal times, new UN climate chief Figueres is optimistic that a deal will be struck … Continue reading
Category Archives: Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Directorate / Food Security / Latin America / Research / Vietnam
Multi-donor trust fund to spur multi-partner science tackling big food production problems in poor countries
From a new blog from the Fund Office of the Consultative Group on International Agriculutral Research (CGIAR), to which the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) belongs, comes this news about new funding for agricultural research for development. ‘In a powerful display of solidarity with the world’s poor, key donors and stakeholders meeting in Washington, D.C. … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Environment / Ethiopia / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / Namibia
Reversing desertification with livestock in Zimbabwe
Overgrazing is often seen as a major cause of desertification. But by changing the way animals are managed, the Savory Institute (SI) and Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) have restored 2,700 hectares of degraded land close to Victoria Falls by increasing livestock numbers by 400 per cent. Having increased land productivity, water availability and … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Canada / Capacity Strengthening / Central Africa / Directorate / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Research
Kenya President Mwai Kibaki officially opens state-of-the-art biosciences facilities at ILRI’s Nairobi campus
(Left to right): Knut Hove, chairman of the board of trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); Carlos Seré, director general of ILRI; His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki; Bruce Scott, director of Partnerships and Communications at ILRI; Segenet Kelemu, director of the BecA Hub; and Gertrude Ngeleshi, training officer at ILRI, await the President … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Markets / Research / Southern Africa / Value Chains
Innovation platforms for market development and technology uptake in Southern Africa
At the ILRI-hosted ‘AgKnowledge Africa‘ share fair and the 5th All Africa conference on animal agriculture, Andre van Rooyen shared ICRISAT experiences with ‘innovation platforms’ for market development and technology uptake in Southern Africa. Such ‘innovation platforms’ – spaces which allow individuals and organizations to come together to address issues of mutual concern and interest … Continue reading
Africa / Asia / Food Safety / ILRI / Knowledge and Information / Latin America / Livelihoods / Mozambique / Pro-Poor Livestock
Reality checks for advocates of jatropha and food safety standards for the poor
Estevao Carlos, a pork seller in Morrumbala District, in Zambezia, the most populated province of Mozambique (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Two useful reality checks have appeared this week for those of us in the agricultural research for development business. (1) The first concerns the hardy jatropha tree, widely heralded as a miracle biofuel source. Miyuki Iiyama, … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Capacity Strengthening / Farming Systems / Fish / Food Security / Innovation Systems / Knowledge and Information / Latin America / Livelihoods / Women
‘Give a woman a fish and she eats for a day, teach her to fish and she eats her for a lifetime’ goes the proverb (sort of); but give her access to markets and she earns a living, and give her community resources to fish sustainably and she can feed the world
Demetria Solomon, 54-year-old farmer growing maize, potato, sota, green beans (and former secretary of the local irrigation scheme) in Khulungira Village, central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Over at SciDev.Net, David Dickson is making the case for joined-up thinking in development work. ‘A holistic approach is also essential for building the solid infrastructure and social systems … Continue reading
Addis share fair focuses on ways to create, share and use livestock knowledge
The recent ‘AgKnowledge Africa’ share fair on the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa brought together more than 300 people from Africa and beyond. The heart of the event was a series of four learning pathways on different subject areas. One of them was on livestock. The first discussion round aimed to ‘map’ the interests and … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Production / Asia / Climate Change / Environment / Latin America / Livestock Systems / Pro-Poor Livestock
Simple livestock production changes could help both farmers and the environment
Typical smallholder livestock household in Berhampore Village, West Bengal, India (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). The following excerpts are from an article by Philip Thornton published yesterday (1 November 2010) in a Global Food Security Blog. Thornton cites a new paper he and his colleague Mario Herrero have published in a prestigious scientific journal that outlines how … Continue reading
Africa / Asia / Biodiversity / CGIAR / Environment / Indigenous Breeds / Latin America
Crop and livestock agricultural research centres welcome Nagoya Protocol
A herdsboy rides one of his small native mountain buffaloes in northern Viet Nam (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Bioversity International and the other 14 centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), including the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), welcome the Nagoya Protocol that was hammered out at the eleventh hour in the central … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 