Africa is getting chairs at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) table where food safety and animal and plant health issues are decided. africa-apple-featured.jpgWTO is giving observer status to three regional organizations of African counties on its Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee. WTO’s new observers are the Economic Committee for West African States (ECOWAS), the Committee … Continue reading
Category Archives: Africa
Optimal long-term stocking rates for livestock grazing in a Sahelian rangeland
A recent paper in the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics presents a model for calculating the optimal livestock stocking rate in a semi-arid rangeland that accounts for stochastic rainfall, the ecological feedback effect and variable prices. The model is developed for rangelands dominated by annual rather than perennial grasses, such as the African … Continue reading
Africa / Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock
Milking a new system: A scheme to help herders to benefit from modern insurance
The Marsabit district in rugged northern Kenya is the size of Ireland. It has ten tribes and seven languages but only 160,000 people. The manager of the local branch of Equity Bank says it takes two crunching days of driving his jeep through burning deserts to reach some of his customers. Marsabit depends on cattle, … Continue reading
East Africa moves to establish joint disease surveillance centre
With infectious diseases widely regarded as the major constraint to agricultural and animal development as well as human health and well-being in sub-Saharan Africa, scientists have realized the need for common strategy towards managing diseases in Africa. For the first time, experts in the three sectors; humans, animals and plants met in Kampala to plan … Continue reading
Africa / Disease Control / East Africa / Kenya / Livestock / Wildlife
Cattle fever dealt a blow on the nose
The annual spectacular migration of over one million wildebeest across the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya and Tanzania, presents two sides of the coin, in that this migration is a beautiful sight to behold, but with it comes disease and death to the pastoralist livestock. …Malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) is transmitted from wildebeest to … Continue reading
Guinea pigs to help ease DRC food crisis – scientists
Scientists are examining how to increase guinea pig production to boost food security in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where inhabitants keep the rodents as “micro-livestock”. The researchers were originally puzzled to find guinea pigs in the DRC at all. Read more … (afrol news) CIAT Blog Continue reading
ICT in Africa’s insurance business
It’s all about the customer right now. The insurance sector is grappling with the same sorts of cost pressures evident in other industries, and “outsourcing is a trend” among most players, says Haydn Pinnell, MD of Gallium. …The insurance sector in Africa only represented about 1.3 percent of the global insurance business in 2007, according to … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Health / East Africa / Livestock / Uganda
Uganda: Transfer of vets to NAADS irks association
THE Uganda Veterinary Association has criticised the Government’s decision to transfer agricultural extension staff at sub-counties to the National Agriculture Advisory Services programme. Read more … (New Vision) Continue reading
Animal husbandry in Africa: Climate change impacts and adaptations
A recent paper in the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics uses a cross-sectional approach to analyze the impacts of climate change on animal husbandry and the way farmers adapt. The study is based on surveys of almost 5000 livestock farmers across ten countries in Africa. Using the Ricardian results and examining climate scenarios … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Feeding / Animal Products / Dairying / East Africa / Fodder / Kenya / Livestock
Fodder shrubs deliver dairy success in Kenya
In this pictorial essay, 10 farmers in Kenya explain how fodder shrubs have increased their incomes and enabled them to diversify their livelihoods. In addition to better earnings and increased milk production, fodder shrubs have helped to increase the confidence and status of women. Read more … (New Agriculturist) Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 