Livestock Wealth was born out of the need to design wealth creation investment opportunities for Africans in an unpretentious way that the intended beneficiaries could understand. Livestock Wealth is a digital, trademarked “crowd-farming” platform officially launched in October this year that allows wannabe farmers–who don’t know the first thing about farming, let alone owning land, to establish a farm–to invest in cows remotely. Continue reading
‘Members of communities that live in forests and depend on hunting for survival have been reported to be at risk because bush meat, widely used as their source of food, can be a source of deadly pathogens from wild animals to humans. The Arusha-based, Nelson Mandela University and the US Centre[s] for Disease Control have now entered into a project aimed at curbing the transmission of diseases from wild animals to human beings.’ Continue reading
A new edition of a stunning coffee table book about one of Africa’s livestock treasures—the indigenous Nguni cattle of South Africa—has been published. ‘Long the mainstay of traditional Zulu culture, [the Nguni] are possibly the most beautiful cattle in the world, with their variously patterned and multicoloured hides everywhere in demand. . . . Continue reading
A new program that will address genetic constraints to dairy production in Ethiopia and Tanzania has been launched. Continue reading
Scientists will use funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to look at how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates. The institutions in Scotland and Africa where the researchers are based are also making additional contributions, taking the total funding pot to £20 million over the next five years. Continue reading
High taxation could be hampering efforts to promote the consumption of dairy products in Tanzania. Continue reading
The results of this analysis are conclusive: livestock development among resource poor smallholders in Zambia’s Copperbelt increases household dietary diversity and total consumption expenditures, with dietary impacts that are substantially greater for animals that produce food products for direct consumption. Continue reading
For four decades, the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its predecessor, the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD), conducted research on East Coast fever. Continue reading
Deaths caused by East Coast fever, the biggest killer of East African cattle, dropped 89 per cent among calves which were also infected with other species of parasite that do not cause disease. Continue reading
Portrait of one of Kenya’s Improved Boran breed of cattle (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). ‘Parasites found in African cattle could offer a new insight into ways of combatting serious parasitic diseases in humans, including malaria. A team funded by the Wellcome Trust has found that cows can be protected from parasites that cause deadly diseases … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 