How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?
A4NH / AHH / Buffalo / Cattle / Consumption / Dairying / East Africa / Food Safety / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / India / Kenya / Livelihoods / Markets / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report / South Asia / Tanzania / Trade / Value Chains

How viable are schemes to give poor people making and selling ‘informal’ milk greater market access?

A new report from ILRI and IIED reviews the effectiveness of training and certification schemes designed to give small-scale ‘informal’ sellers of ‘raw’ and/or boiled or informally pasteurized milk and (in India) milk sweets greater market access in East Africa and South Asia. The report reviews such schemes in Kenya and Tanzania and in the state of Assam, in northwestern India. In all three countries, the informal sector dominates dairy marketing and trade and informal milk production and trade contribute significantly to the employment, livelihoods and nutrition of many millions of poor people. Continue reading

‘Genomic time travel’ for better African cattle—New paper describes a ‘rich mosaic of traits’ and an ‘evolutionary jolt’
Africa / Animal Breeding / Biodiversity / Breeds / Cattle / Genetics / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Interview / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKCRP / News clipping / Pro-Poor Livestock / Resilience / Science paper

‘Genomic time travel’ for better African cattle—New paper describes a ‘rich mosaic of traits’ and an ‘evolutionary jolt’

‘Scientists in Nairobi have discovered a new set of genetic markers in African cattle that signal beneficial characteristics, with a view to harnessing them for future generations.’—Nature Genetics Continue reading

Belching bovines and global warming: Overstated claims about methane emitted by cows and climate change
Cattle / Climate Change / Environment / GHG emissions / Interview / News clipping

Belching bovines and global warming: Overstated claims about methane emitted by cows and climate change

A recent interview by Caroline Stocks, a UK journalist who writes about food, agriculture and the environment, of air quality expert Frank Mitloehner, a professor of animal science at the University of California at Davis, calls into question how responsible cows are for climate change. Continue reading

Ivan Morrison, of the University of Edinburgh, formerly of ILRAD, awarded the inaugural Plowright Prize for his lifelong research towards a vaccine for East Coast fever
Africa / Award / Cattle / Disease Control / ECF / Europe / ILRI / Kenya / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Staff / UK / Vaccines

Ivan Morrison, of the University of Edinburgh, formerly of ILRAD, awarded the inaugural Plowright Prize for his lifelong research towards a vaccine for East Coast fever

RCVS Knowledge, the charity partner of the UK’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, has awarded its inaugural Plowright Prize to Professor William Ivan Morrison of the University of Edinburgh for his research combating the cattle disease East Coast fever. Ivan Morrison started his career at ILRAD, a predecessor of ILRI, where he worked from 1975 to 1990, leading, and building up, ILRAD’s research program on East Coast fever for many of those years. Continue reading

The geometry of disease: A longitudinal calf cohort study in Kenya has yielded a unique database and biorepository
Agri-Health / AHH / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Cattle / Disease Control / East Africa / Epidemiology / ILRI / Kenya / LiveGene / Project / Science paper

The geometry of disease: A longitudinal calf cohort study in Kenya has yielded a unique database and biorepository

The IDEAL project, first attempt to study the complete pathogen landscape of any species, has generated a unique dataset and biorepository for researchers of infectious diseases of cattle in East Africa. Continue reading

(Enteric methane) greenhouse gas emissions in cows are cut 25% with feed supplement (3-NOP)
Animal Feeding / Cattle / Climate Change / Dairying / GHG emissions / Livestock / News clipping / North America / Science paper / USA

(Enteric methane) greenhouse gas emissions in cows are cut 25% with feed supplement (3-NOP)

The addition of 3-Nitrooxypropanol to the feed of dairy cows reduced their enteric methane emissions by about 25% in a recently published study—one in a series of Penn State studies of the investigational substance in the United States—which might be an early step toward it being approved for use in this country. Continue reading

Thursday Links (November/December 2019)
Advocacy / Aflatoxins / Africa / Agriculture / Article / Cattle / ILRIComms / Livestock matters / Research

Thursday Links (November/December 2019)

A monthly round-up of recent articles, blog postings and tweets about livestock, aid and other topics that may be of interest to International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) staff and partners, compiled by David Aronson. (This is a dual month issue of Thursday Links in anticipation of the December holidays.) This is a good long-form article … Continue reading

Thursday Links (September 2019)
Advocacy / Camels / Cattle / Chickens / Climate Change / Communications / Livestock / News clipping / Research / Women

Thursday Links (September 2019)

A monthly round-up of recent articles, blog postings and tweets about livestock, aid and other topics that may be of interest to International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) staff and partners, compiled by David Aronson. News out of Africa An article in  The Nation says that supermarkets in nine Kenyan counties tested still stock and sell … Continue reading