Despite the dangers, thousands of refugees every week are making the journey to Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, walking for weeks across the desert and braving attacks by armed robbers and wild animals; Dadaab is now the world’s largest refugee complex, currently supporting more than 370,000 people (11 July 2011) (photo on Flickr by Oxfam International). In … Continue reading
Category Archives: Regions
Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Cattle / East Africa / Film and video / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / Sheep / Small Ruminants
Australian TV program highlights research in race against time to save Africa’s ‘hairless sheep’ and other native breeds
Worm-resistant red Masai sheep, an indigenous ‘hairless’ sheep kept by Maasai herders, in Kenya (photo credit: ILRI). Catalyst, the Australian Broadcasting Company’s well-regarded science television program, yesterday (14 Jul 2011) broadcast an episode on research being conducted in Kenya to conserve the native livestock of Africa. Okeyo Mwai, an animal geneticist working at the International … Continue reading
Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Southern Africa / Vulnerability
Coping with weather variability–urgent in Africa whether or not it is due to climate change
The worst drought in 60 or so years is biting deeper into countries in the Horn of Africa; artists from around the world painted canvases illustrating the human impact of climate change in their countries; 16 of these canvases were being exhibited at the UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan, Poland, in Dec 2008 (image credit: … Continue reading
Directorate / East Africa / Event / Germany / ILRI / Kenya / NRM / Pastoralism / Wildlife / WLE
Germany and ILRI sign agreement in Nairobi to collaborate in research to assess the pastoral-livestock-wildlife benefits from Kenya’s eco-conservancies
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited ILRI’s Nairobi campus on 12 Jul 2011: Here, the Chancellor is rising from signing ILRI’s visitors’ book, with German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner, Kenya Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei and ILRI Director General Carlos Seré looking on (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). Nairobi’s Daily Nation newspaper reported yesterday (12 Jul 2011): ‘Kenya has … Continue reading
Directorate / East Africa / Event / Germany / ILRI / Kenya
German chancellor and minister of agriculture and Kenyan ministers of agriculture and health visit ILRI’s research laboratories
German Chancellor Angela Merkel signs ILRI’s visitor’s book, with the German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner (left), Kenya Livestock Minister Mohammed Kuti, ILRI Director General Carlos Seré and Kenya Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo looking on (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Nairobi yesterday (12 Jul 2011) on a one-day stop on … Continue reading
BecA / Directorate / East Africa / Event / Germany / ILRI / Kenya
Germany’s Chancellor Merkel to tour ILRI’s advanced biosciences labs in Nairobi today
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Flickr photo by Jan Strohdiek). ‘Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Kenya Tuesday to spearhead Germany’s political and economic interests in the country and the region. ‘German ambassador to Kenya Margit Hellwig-Boette said Mrs Merkel would hold talks with President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Speaker Kenneth Marende. ‘She … Continue reading
Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / Kenya / Pastoralism
The Swiss-Kenyan shared love of cows
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
Biodiversity / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Environment / Event / Farming Systems / Geodata / ILRI / Innovation Systems / Kenya / Launch / NRM / WLE
Kenya’s ecosystems mapped and put online to enhance the country’s education, environment and development
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
Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Report / Somalia / Vulnerability
Massive livestock deaths in drought-ravaged Horn of Africa increase conflicts and close schools
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
Africa / Animal Diseases / Buffalo / Cattle / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Livestock / Wildlife
FAO hosts meeting on buffalo and livestock diseases in Africa
In June 2011, the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) hosted a meeting on buffalo in Africa. Presentations from the meeting are online, and include: Mapping African buffalo distributions, in relation to livestock disease risk Ecology and social organization of forest buffalo Spatiotemporal dynamics of forage and water resources shape space use … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 