Category Archives: Cattle

Africa / Animal Breeding / Cattle / Ethiopia / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Livestock / Markets / Research

Implicit prices of indigenous cattle traits in central Ethiopia: Application of revealed and stated preference approaches

Posted on by • Leave a comment

This Research report by Girma T. Kassie, Awudu Abdulai, Clemens Wollny, Workneh Ayalew, Tadelle Dessie, Markos Tibbo, Aynalem Haile, and Okeyo Mwai on Implicit prices of indigenous cattle traits in central Ethiopia: Application of revealed and stated preference approaches was released on 26 February, 2011. The diversity of animal genetic resources has a quasi-public good … Continue reading →

Africa / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / Cattle / Dairying / Ethiopia / GIS / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / IPMS / Livestock

Breeding strategy to improve Ethiopian Boran cattle for meat and milk production

Posted on by • Leave a comment

This working paper by Aynalem Haile, Workneh Ayalew, Noah Kebede, Tadelle Dessie, and Azage Tegegne on Breeding strategy to improve Ethiopian Boran cattle for meat and milk production was released on 3 February, 2011. This working paper  is prepared to develop breeding plans for the Ethiopian Boran cattle and is based on: 1) secondary data … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Cattle / East Africa / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock

In Kenya, generating wealth–one cow at a time

Posted on by • 1 Comment

With mainstream banks and microfinance organizations mainly helping business startups in urban Kenya, a group called Juhudi Kilimo decided to focus on rural small-holder farmers. In the largely agricultural east African country of Kenya, many small-holder farmers need a way to start generating income. An organization called Juhudi Kilimo has stepped in with a new … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Cattle / Disease Control / Livestock / Vaccines

USDA scientists discover how foot-and-mouth disease virus begins infection in cattle

Posted on by • Leave a comment

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have identified the primary site where the virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) begins infection in cattle. This discovery could lead to development of new vaccines to control and potentially eradicate FMD, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals that is considered the most economically … Continue reading →

Biodiversity / Cattle / Genetics / Indigenous Breeds

How cattle colonized the world

Posted on by • 2 Comments

Cattle and other livestock being trekked north in a great annual transhumance that takes place during the cropping season in Niger (photo by ILRI/Mann). Over at Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog, Luigi Guarino has this to say about a new paper in Evolutionary Anthropology summarizing the history of domestic cattle, based on the latest molecular marker data. … Continue reading →

Animal Diseases / Cattle

Could self-vaccinating cattle cut disease?

Posted on by • Leave a comment

[KUALA LUMPUR] Scientists are testing a vaccine that spreads by itself as a solution to a highly infectious buffalo and cattle disease that costs millions of dollars a year. But experts have raised questions about the safety of using such an approach. Haemorrhagic septicaemia is hard to vaccinate against where livestock roam freely, because animals … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Brazil / Cattle / Environment / Food Security / Latin America / Livestock / North America / NRM / Research / Soils / Water / WLE

The miracle of the cerrado

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Brazil has revolutionized its own farms. Can it do the same for others? IN A remote corner of Bahia state, in north-eastern Brazil, a vast new farm is springing out of the dry bush. Thirty years ago eucalyptus and pine were planted in this part of the cerrado (Brazil’s savannah). Native shrubs later reclaimed some … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / Brazil / Cattle / Farming Systems / Latin America / Livestock Systems

Feeding the world without levelling the forest

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Romosinuano cattle grazing in South America (picture credit: ILRI/Edwin Perez) A July 2010 article in the leading science journal Nature highlights the gains Brazil is making in its agricultural productivity. ‘With its plentiful sun, water and land, Brazil is quickly surpassing other countries in food production and exports. But can it continue to make agricultural … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Cattle / CGIAR / China / Food Safety / Human Health

Bringing agriculture and health back together

Posted on by • Leave a comment

Agriculture and health experts must work together to tackle disease, poverty and malnutrition, says development expert Jeff Waage. The relationship between agriculture and health may seem intuitive and simple — grow more crops and people will have more food and live healthier lives. But because agriculture and health policies are rarely coordinated, the reality is … Continue reading →

Cattle / East Africa / Kenya / Livestock

Deadly livestock pest could soon be history in Rift area

Posted on by • Leave a comment

The last of the tsetse fly may soon be wiped out of the hot and arid lands of Lake Bogoria in Baringo District of Rift Valley. A protracted campaign against the deadly insect, which causes fatal diseases in humans and livestock, is is finally paying off. It has involved the ministries of Livestock Development, Public … Continue reading →