Swiss cow (photo on Flickr by Medialoog). An opinion piece in the Sunday Nation (Kenya) notes that Switzerland and Kenya share a love of cows. ‘[T]he pride of place in Swiss agriculture is the cow. ‘I do not know any other culture outside Africa that has such a special relationship with cows. . . . … Continue reading
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is blogging about a collaborative project called Virtual Kenya, which it is leading with the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and Upande Ltd, a Nairobi-based company bringing geographic information systems and web mapping to the African market. ‘Two weeks ago, WRI and Kenyan partners Upande Ltd., Wildlife Clubs of … Continue reading
Food shortages are affecting some 10 million people in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa in July 2011; Oxfam reports that in some parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, 60 percent or more of the livestock herds have perished (image credit: UNHCR and USAID). >>> The humanitarian news service IRIN reports yesterday on the severe drought ravaging the … Continue reading
The ‘Livestock Data Innovation Project’ is a three-year project to pilot and develop ways to identify, collect and analyze livestock data in three countries: Uganda, Tanzania and Niger. In its second year, representatives of several partners in the organization share their video perspectives on livestock data and its management. Here Kristin Grote from the Bill … Continue reading
Plains game and Masai livestock are relatively compatible in Kitengela and other East African pastoral lands (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). The non-governmental ‘Friends of Nairobi National Park’ organization report the following story this month about a ground count of the wild mammals inhabiting the rangelands an hour’s drive from Kenya’s capital of Nairobi, rangelands that not … Continue reading
Slide in a presentation by Moses Nyabila on progress in the East African Dairy Development Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in which Heifer International and ILRI are two partners; the presentation was made at a USAID Bureau for Food Security Webinar on 22 June 2011 in Washington, DC (slide credit: Heifer … Continue reading
Bruce Scott, director of Partnerships and Communications at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was a main speaker at the launch of ‘Virtual Kenya’ at Nairobi’s iHub this week (photo credit: ILRI/Mungai). Spatial information—including where different populations live and where natural resources are located—is essential for sound development planning and decision-making. A new website launched … Continue reading
The pathogenesis of Rift Valley fever. Viruses 2011, 3(5), 493-519; doi:10.3390/v3050493 (image credit: A J Cann’s Flickr photostream). Kenya’s Business Daily newspaper reports that Kenya is forging a new pact in an old war against the deadly mosquito-transmitted ‘zoonotic’—human plus livestock—disease called Rift Valley fever. ‘Kenya has partnered with neighbouring stats to boost surveillance on Rift Valley … Continue reading
The African Cape buffalo (photo credit: ILRI/Elsworth). Is conservation of wild mammals and their environments in Africa at a crisis point? Are wildlife populations “crashing” in Africa’s most renowned wildlife reserves? Two new reports suggest that may be the case. The following was reported in the Guardian today. ‘The Okavango delta in Botswana has suffered … Continue reading
The July 2011 issue of Livestock Science is a compilation of papers addressing different aspects of the sustainability of animal production systems. According to the editorial introduction, animal production systems are facing large challenges because of their effects on the environment, emerging zoonotic diseases, welfare issues and negative contribution to human health. Unfortunately these negative … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 