Category Archives: Regions

Central Africa / Disease Control / East Africa / ECF / Kenya / Southern Africa / Tanzania / Vaccines

ILRI mass-produced vaccine to protect livestock of poor herders against cancer-like disease

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Field trials of a new vaccine batch for East Coast fever produced at the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are nearing completion; a Maasai woman from northern Tanzania holds her calf that has just been immunized against East Coast fever (picture credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘Thousands of pastoralists could be saved from destitution thanks to a … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Asia / Caribbean / Crop-Livestock / Food Security / Latin America / Malawi

No solution to food crisis without involvement of the world’s small-scale farmers

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Regina Frazer: Maize, potato, cassava, chicken, dove, pig and vegetable farmer in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A Guardian blog post today argues that the world’s many small farmers are critical to solving the world’s food, and food price, crises. The blog says, ‘We should celebrate one of the largest but least recognised groups in … Continue reading →

Africa / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Impact Assessment / Kenya / Livelihoods / Research

Impacts of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project on livelihoods and vulnerability in Kenya

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This Research report by Nancy Johnson and Ayago Wambile on The impacts of the Arid Lands Resource Management Project (ALRMPII) on livelihoods and vulnerability in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya was released on 04 April, 2011. There is an urgent need for new approaches and effective models for managing risk and promoting sustainable … Continue reading →

Animal Breeding / East Africa / Genetics / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / Uganda

Equitable as well as smart livestock breeding should marry local and scientific expertise

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‘Genetic alteration on indigenous livestock breeds aimed at improving their productivity must incorporate pastoralists and small holder farmers at all levels. ‘The concern was raised by experts in the livestock sector who fear that unregulated cross breeding poses a formidable threat to the survival of local breeds and their habitat. ‘At the same time, custodians … Continue reading →

Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Sweden funds innovations to drive crop production in 6 East African countries

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Swedish aid and diplomatic colleagues at the official launch of the Bio-Innovate Program in March at ILRI, with Claes Kjellström, representative of the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) at the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi (middle); Kikki Nordin, Regional Team Leader of SIDA’s Environment and Economic Development department (left); and Björn Häggmark, Deputy Head of Mission at … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / BecA / Diagnostics / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / ILRI / Kenya / Wildlife / Zoonotic Diseases

Forestalling the next plague: Building a first picture of all diseases afflicting people and animals in Africa

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A project funded by the Wellcome Trust on zoonotic diseases was broadcast on an Australian television program called ‘Catalyst’ on 10 March 2011. The research described in the program is supported by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), where the project’s principal investigator, Eric Fevre, is hosted. The television program interviews Fevre and his colleagues … Continue reading →

Biotechnology / East Africa / Kenya / Seeds

Small-scale Kenyan farmer argues for letting Kenyans grow GM crops

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Gilbert arap Bor, a small-scale farmer and member of the Truth about Trade & Technology Global Farmer Network, makes an argument in the Daily Nation (Kenya) for letting farmers here grow genetically modified crops. ‘The season of Lent is upon us–the time of year when Christians around the world prepare for Easter through prayer, charity, and … Continue reading →

BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda

Biosciences hub for East African agricultural innovations launched

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Poster announcing the official launch of the Bi-Innovate Program at ILRI (photo credit: ILRI). SciDev.Dev this week reports on the official launch of a new biosciences hub operating in Nairobi, Kenya, and serving 6 countries in East Africa. ‘A hub to connect and fund East African agricultural researchers, and assist them in reaching out to … Continue reading →

Animal Feeding / Europe / UK

Changing diets for cows, sheep could cut their emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas

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A sheep grazing on grass in West Yorkshire (photo credit: Richard Carter’s Flickr Photostream). Reuters reports this week that research funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) shows that changing the diets of the country’s cows and sheep could reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, which cause global warming. ‘Feeding … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Animal Production / Crop-Livestock / Dairying / East Africa / Livestock Systems

Sustainable intensification: increasing productivity in African food and agricultural systems

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The February 2011 issue of the journal International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability contains a series of case studies from Africa on ‘sustainable agricultural intensification’ -“defined as producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts and at the same time increasing contributions to natural capital and the flow of environmental … Continue reading →