West Africa’s ancient (humpless) N’Dama and East Africa’s Improved Boran cattle are two of the continent’s important indigenous breeds (photo credit ILRI/Elsworth). The Economist reports in its current issue (21 October 2010) that things are not going so well at the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, … Continue reading
Category Archives: Africa
It’s time to recognize the important role livestock play in tackling poverty–Peacock
Livestock landscapes: Farm animals matter to people’s livelihoods and ambitions throughout the countries of the developing world (image credit: ILRI/O’Meara). Christie Peacock, chief executive officer of Farm-Africa, blogged yesterday (18 October 2010) that the contribution livestock make to the rural economy remains under-appreciated by all players in development, except farmers. ‘It’s time for that to change,’ … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Food Security
Experts tackle world hunger worries
Carlos Seré, one of three agricultural experts who spoke yesterday on a panel at the University of Minnesota about securing the global food supply (photo credit: University of Minnesota). ‘With 29 countries facing severe food shortages and the global population expected to increase over the next 40 years, experts have set a timeline to not … Continue reading
Africa / Asia / Biodiversity / CGIAR / Genebank / Indigenous Breeds / Latin America / Uganda / Vietnam
At the UN biodiversity meeting in Japan this week: Should endangered livestock breeds as well as crop varieties be saved?
Africa’s native Ankole cattle, in Uganda (photo credit: East African Dairy Development project). Jeremy Cherfas, of Bioversity International, one of 15 centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), headquartered in Rome, summarizes below the importance of conserving animal genetic resources in material the CGIAR is exhibiting at the meeting of the United … Continue reading
We have just ten years to stem biodiversity losses, UN Nagoya meeting hears
A native chicken of Mozambique (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Richard Black, the environment reporter at the BBC, reports from Nagoya, Japan, yesterday (18 October 2010) that delegates at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will consider adopting new set of targets for 2020 that aim to tackle biodiversity loss. ‘The UN biodiversity convention meeting has … Continue reading
Africa / Dairying / East Africa / Kenya / Markets
Kenya’s dairy sector worth $230million – ILRI study
Boy in smallholder Kenyan dairy household drinking milk (credit: ILRI). ‘The Kenya dairy industry is making a turnover of over Ksh.17 billion (US$230 million), following a policy change six years ago. ‘A new report by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) suggests that the liberalization of informal milk markets has producers, vendors and consumers reaping … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Climate Change / Environment / Food Security / Latin America / NRM / WLE
Agriculture doing more of the same is agriculture ‘committing suicide’ – De Schutter
Farmer Jocia De Sousa pounds maize for her daily meal in Muchamba Village, in Mozambique’s Tete Province (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘Next stop for policymakers gathered in Rome for World Food Day should be Cancun, venue of the climate change summit,’ says Olivier De Schutter, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, on the … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Food Security / Latin America
Prabhu Pingali at the Borlaug Dialogue/World Food Prize ceremony in Iowa
Preparing the land for seed in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). On 13 October 2010, Prabhu Pingali, deputy director of Agricultural Development Policy and Statistics at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, made the following remarks at the World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue events (13–15 October 2010), being held this week in Des … Continue reading
Africa / Climate Change / East Africa / Ethiopia / Kenya / Livelihoods
Africa: Continent ‘needs practical advice from climate scientists’
Addis Ababa — Scientists are failing Africa in its attempts to adapt to climate change, a conference was told this week. They spend too much time collecting data and attending conferences, and not enough time providing practical solutions that local people can implement, according to Anthony Nyong, manager of the Compliance and Safeguard Division at … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / Latin America / Markets
Growing interest in utilizing smallholder farmers–Jarvis
Andy Jarvis, of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, makes a presentation on ecosystem services in Colombia (photo credit: CIAT’s Neil Palmer). Andy Jarvis, who leads a Decision and Policy Analysis Program and runs a ‘Linking Markets to Farmers’ blog at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), based in Colombia, blogged yesterday about an … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 