Lured by a new business model, wealthy nations flock to farmland in Ethiopia, locking in food supplies grown half a world away BAKO, ETHIOPIA — In recent months, the Ethiopian government began marketing abroad one of the hottest commodities in an increasingly crowded and hungry world: farmland. “Why Attractive?” reads one glossy poster with photos … Continue reading
Category Archives: Africa
Africa / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Livestock / Tanzania / Vaccines
Group works to expand supply of cattle vaccine in Africa
Each year a million cows in Africa die from East Coast fever. The disease is spread by tick bites. Young cows are most at risk; they can die within days. Farmers and herders can lose up to half or more of their calves to East Coast fever. The disease is widespread in eleven countries. And … Continue reading
From pasture to plate: The beef journey
Currently, 90 per cent of meat eaten in East Africa comes from pastoralists, who move with their flocks and herds in search of grazing and water. Pius Sawa discovers just how the meat gets from those pastures to his plate. It’s an amazing journey. Read (and listen) … (AGFAX) Continue reading
Africa / Drought / East Africa / Kenya / Livestock / Pastoralism
Community science; understanding drought
In East Africa, drought has caused terrible losses, with cattle dying in large numbers. Now, some livestock keepers have decided to conduct a drought survey, to find out what they could have done to be better prepared. Kofi Adu Domfeh visited some of those who took part, to find out how useful such community-driven research … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Livestock / Pastoralism
IFAD provides USD 39 million to Ethiopia to improve the lives of pastoralists and their families
A US$19.5 million loan and a US$19.5 million grant from IFAD to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia will support the delivery of basic social services to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country – pastoralists and their families. After the success of its first phase, the Pastoral Community Development Project … Continue reading
Proven successes in agricultural development in Ethiopia
Launching the ‘Millions Fed’ book in Addis Ababa yesterday, Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development H.E Ato Tefera Derebew congratulated IFPRI and the authors: “It is good that we have best practices identified and that we have menus that help us choose what suits our situation.” He also noted that Ethiopia has many best … Continue reading
Africa / Climate Change / Environment / Middle East / North Africa / Women
Climate change: Are women the solution?
It is often asserted that climate change will affect women the most in the developing world. That’s because most women will have to walk farther for drinking water, work harder to grow food, pull daughters out of school to help with family chores, and fuss more about family hygiene as the world – and particularly … Continue reading
Journalists experience livestock science in action in Kenya’s south Rift Valley
A ‘science safari’ to the south Rift Valley has enabled African journalists to get first-hand experience of the recent drought in Kenya and the impacts on pastoralists and their livestock. Eight radio and print journalists from East, West and southern Africa took part in the ‘safari’, as part of the latest ‘better science reporting’ workshop … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Capacity Strengthening / CapDev / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Innovation Systems / IPMS / Livestock
Applying innovation system concepts in agricultural research for development: A learning module
This report by Ponniah Anandajayasekeram and Ranjitha Puskur of ILRI and Elias Zerfu of IFPRI on Applying innovation system concepts in agricultural research for development was released on 23 November, 2009. This learning module is expected to have multiple uses. One, a source material for trainings that could be organized at different levels, and two, as … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / East Africa / ECF / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Tanzania
Using mobile phones to monitor cattle disease
In October, the London International Development Centre (LIDC) organised a workshop to discuss the ‘Impact of Mobile Phones Upon Development and Health’. Three speakers spoke on the use of mobile phones and animal health in Africa: Andrew Hagner (Royal Veterinary College) explained how he and his Undergraduate Research Team used mobile devices to record the … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 