Livestock policies do not always benefit the poor. A Livestock Policy Initiative of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is ambitious to change that. ‘A key aspect of the initiative is to improve the voice of poorer livestock keepers and women as policies are developed. “We have teams in each country, including around 40 people … Continue reading
Category Archives: East Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / West Africa
What future of pastoralism in a changing climate?
Pastoralism—a free-range livestock production system—is practised in all of Africa’s dryland regions, and in some communities it is the main source of food security and income. But will pastoralism survive in the changing climate? The August 2011 issue of Joto Afrika provides research findings, lessons learned and success stories from across Africa. Contents include: The future … Continue reading
East African women battling livestock diseases win prestigious AWARD Fellowships
Lillian Wambua, a 2011 African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellowship winner working at ILRI, announced 18 August 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/ Njiru). ‘The African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (Award) yesterday named three East African women among 70 brilliant African researchers who have won its 2011 Award Fellowship. ‘. . . … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Ethiopia / Farming Systems / ILRI / ILRIComms / IPMS / Livelihoods / NRM / Report / Value Chains / Water / WLE
Market-oriented irrigated crop development improves farm incomes in Tigray
A working paper by Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Berhanu Gebremedhin, Kahsay Berhe and Dirk Hoekstra on Shifting towards market-oriented irrigated crops development as an approach to improve the income of farmers: Evidence from northern Ethiopia was released on 5 May 2011. Rainfed crop production in Ethiopia’s semi-arid areas is associated with extreme rainfall variability which occasionally leads to complete crop … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / IPMS / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Markets / Report / Research
Interdependence of smallholders’ net market positions in crop and livestock markets: Evidence from Ethiopia
A working paper by Moti Jaleta and Berhanu Gebremedhin on ‘Interdependence of smallholders’ net market positions in crop and livestock markets: Evidence from Ethiopia was released on 12 April 2011. Using simultaneous-equation models, this paper examines whether there is interdependence between smallholders’ net market positions in crop and live animal markets under mixed crop-and-livestock production systems. Data … Continue reading
Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability
Insured livestock keepers in Kenya may receive first insurance payments
In Kenya’s drylands, drought has always been the greatest hazard faced by livestock herding families. Modern pressures are making this situation worse. This film tells the story of a research project started in 2007, which in 2010 introduced a new form of insurance to remote herding peoples who had never been provided with insurance before. … Continue reading
Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Eritrea / Ethiopia / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Somalia / Vulnerability
‘Nothing works as well as pastoralism in dryland areas’–Simon Levine, ODI
Nine-year-old livestock herder near Kitengela town, outside Nairobi, at the height of the 2008–2009 drought in this region; dryland peoples in East Africa are both restricted and marginalized (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). Simon Levine says in an opinion piece in the New Agriculturist this month that the current famine in the Horn of … Continue reading
Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability
Mobile herding must remain mobile to stay viable in Kenya’s arid north, say researchers
Rendille livestock herders in northern Kenya, near Lake Turkana (photo on Flickr by Robin Hutton). ‘Mobile herding or pastoralism remains the most economically viable production system for the drylands of Kenya and should be encouraged, according to livestock experts. Because of the current drought, there have been calls for local communities to shift to crop … Continue reading
Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / USA / Vulnerability
The long and short of it: Put as much effort into building resilience as into feeding the hungry–BBC’s Andrew Harding
Goats drinking water at an Oxfam-funded borehole in Dilmanyale Village, South Wajir District, in northern Kenya; many people move to the village because of this water source, but once the animals have finished drinking they must walk over 10 km to get to pasture (photo on Flickr by Anna Ridout/ Oxfam International). Andrew Harding, the BBC’s … Continue reading
Drought / East Africa / Food Security / Kenya
The bigger picture: We can no longer afford random acts of (unconnected) aid
Roger Thurow, US journalist and senior fellow for Global Agriculture and Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, describes the paradox of great harvest and great hunger existing at the same time in Kenya, a country he often visits and reports on. ‘It is less than two hundred miles from the village of … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 