Scientists have developed a chemical for controlling tsetse flies using cattle urine. The invention by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology will soon be available to East African livestock keepers, who are among the worst affected by the parasite, under an $18 million project. Read more … (East Africa / AllAfrica.com) Continue reading
Category Archives: East Africa
Africa / Animal Diseases / Capacity Strengthening / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Kenya / Livestock / Wildlife / Zoonotic Diseases
Kenya Wildlife Service hosts training on wildlife capture and sampling techniques for disease surveillance
Emerging and re-emerging diseases some of them pandemic in proportions, pose great threat to biodiversity conservation, public health and livestock industry. The African Union’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and other international agencies such as Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has started training on wildlife capture and sampling techniques for disease surveillance in collaboration … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Diseases / East Africa / Livestock / Uganda
Animal diseases on the rise in Uganda: Audit exposes the vices
Delays to report the outbreak of livestock diseases has contributed to increased disease prevalence countrywide. The effects of these range from loss of household income, increase of prices of animals and animal products, loss of revenue from exports and total misery. A report on the prevention and control of livestock health, and entomology (study of … Continue reading
Africa / Drought / East Africa / Environment / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism
Maasai pastoralists adopt new habits to cope with climate change
As they recover from the worst drought in many years, Maasai pastoralists in Kenya’s south Rift Valley are adopting new habits to help them overcome future disasters. As the recent drought tested the coping ability of Maasai communities, the leaders of “group ranches” – large communal grazing areas, each with their own government-appointed chief – … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Production / Biodiversity / East Africa / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism
Using livestock to rebuild and preserve communities
For pastoralist communities like the well-known Maasai in Kenya, livestock keeping is more than just an important source of food and income; it’s a way of life that has been a part of their culture and traditions for hundreds of years. But, in the face of drought, loss of traditional grazing grounds, and pressure from … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / East Africa / ECF / Livestock / Tanzania / Vaccines
Keeping the Maasai farmers alive when the pop stars have all gone
The Edinburgh-based charity GALVmed has brought hope to Maasai communities in Tanzania hit by East Coast fever, a livestock disease that kills 19 out of 20 calves It is a little after dawn in the Masai district of Engarenaibor in northwestern Tanzania. Amid a pre-historic landscape of rolling grassland and acacia trees, Paolo Lemorongo, a … Continue reading
East Africa to take part in 10-year research on boosting food security
East Africa has been earmarked for a global research programme that seeks to strike a balance between food production and environment conservation. Faced with the new threat of climate change, the Consultative Group on International and Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) will spearhead the 10-year challenge programme on Climate Change, … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Dairying / East Africa / Fodder / Forages / ILRI / Kenya
Napier grass diseases a threat to Kenya’s dairy sector
Kenya’s dairy industry is facing a major threat due to the outbreak of stunt and smut diseases affecting napier grass in Central and Western provinces. The dairy industry is the largest in East Africa producing annually about 85 to 90 million litres of milk equivalent per capita based primarily on well established market oriented smallholder … Continue reading
Africa / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / French / Kenya / Pastoralism
ACTED améliore les capacités de résistance au changement climatique dans l’ouest du Kenya
ACTED répond à la crise alimentaire dans l’est du Pokot en conduisant des opération de soutien aux moyens de subsistance et de protection des ressources naturelles dans le district de Churo, avec le soutien financier d’OFDA et d’USAID. Après 9 mois de projet, les communautés ont grandement amélioré leur resistance à la sécheresse et à … Continue reading
Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / East Africa / ECF / ILRI / Kenya / Livestock / Vaccines
Cattle disease vaccine launched 30 years after invention
An effective vaccine that languished, underused, for 30 years after its invention has finally been released commercially as a result of a new scheme for getting innovation into practice. The vaccine protects cattle against the deadly East Coast Fever (ECF), which kills two cows every minute — one million a year — causing economic losses … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 