Woman herding goats in Nagar Village, Tonk District, Rajasthan, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). Vikram Akula, founder and chairperson of the SKS Microfinance, in a blog he wrote for 800CEOread, tells the following charming story of how he ended up meeting with some of the richest people in the world to explain to them how the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Regions
Africa / Agriculture / Asia / CGIAR / CRPs / Latin America / Research
Leaner, more efficient, international agricultural research–CGIAR
A new brochure, ‘Changing agricultural research in a changing world,’ in long and short versions, has been produced by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) on why the CGIAR has reformed and how the world will benefit. The following is a transcript of the short version. ‘Agriculture in the developing world faces unprecedented … Continue reading
Africa / Animal Production / Drought / ILRI / Pastoralism
Killing the ‘crisis narrative’ in African pastoralism
Dan Murphy, a food-industry journalist and commentator, picked up the story we recently ran on a Future of Pastoralism in Africa Conference, held at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and says the following in Drovers CattleNetwork. ‘Dry, dusty, deserted. ‘Those would be apt descriptions of the photos and descriptions most … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Capacity Strengthening / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda
‘Bio-Innovate Program is opportunity for Kenya and the region’–Shaukat Abdul Razak (NCST)
Shaukat Abdul Razak and Björn Häggmark cut a cake to celebrate the launch the Bio-Innovate Program on 16 March 2011; looking on is ILRI director general Carlos Seré (right) and other invited guests (photo credit: ILRI/Mungai). The Africa Science News Service reports on a recently launched Bio-Innovate Program at the InternationalLivestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘. … Continue reading
Safety of animal source foods with an emphasis on the informal sector in India
Animal source foods, such as milk, dairy products, eggs, fish and meat, are important sources of nutrition and their production and processing supports the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers, traders, retailers and other value chain actors (many of them women) while providing cheap and nutritious food to large numbers of poor consumers. In India … Continue reading
Animal Breeding / Dairying / East Africa / Genetics / ILRI / Kenya / Uganda
Top-quality cows for local East African environments
SciDevNet this week carries a dairy genetics story. ‘Dairy farmers in East Africa could soon benefit from superior, affordable cattle breeds through a US$1 million research project. ‘The Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA) initiative aims to help smallholders take full advantage of the region’s booming dairy sector and improve their incomes by giving them access … Continue reading
Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Biotechnology / Burundi / Central Africa / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda
Swedish-funded Bio-Innovate Program tackling 6 ‘orphan’ food crops of East Africa
Portrait of Joyce Ledson, a farmer growing four ‘orphan’ food crops of the poor—beans, cassava, potato and sweet potato—as well as the ubiquitous maize, in Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). ‘. . . Six orphan crops chosen for a five-year programme called Bio-resources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio Innovate) are sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet … Continue reading
Focus of livestock policies in Horn of Africa can be sharpened
The IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative just published a working paper on “Livestock and Livelihoods in the IGAD Region: A Policy and Institutional Analysis.” The paper recommends that first and foremost, the dominant ‘production and market access’ narrative should be enhanced by a development paradigm that also appreciates the many livelihoods services provided by livestock, including … Continue reading
CTA and ILRI organize web 2.0 learning session in Addis Ababa
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation EU-ACP (CTA) in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), will host a 5-day Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity staring on Monday 23 May 2011. Participants will be introduced to selected web 2.0 applications and learn on how to use them; hands-on. The learning is only available … Continue reading
Agriculture / Burundi / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / Kenya / Rwanda / Tanzania / Uganda
New program to provide grants to East Africa’s bioscientists
Seyoum Leta, manager of the Bio-Innovate Program, speaks at the program’s official launch this week at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi (photo credit: ILRI/MacMillan). ‘A Bioresources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) programme has been launched to provide grants to bioscientists working to improve food production and environmental management in East … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 