These camels in northern Kenya are part of a large herd that will cover dozens of kilometres in search of water (photo on Flickr by Ann Weru/IRIN). USA Today reports on a new paper in the prestigious journal Science that increasing temperatures are pushing plant and animal species to move uphill and northward at much … Continue reading
TagCloud from the International Fund for Agricultural Research (image credit: IFAD). An Asia and Pacific newsletter published by the International Fund for Agricultural Research (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations that works to eradicate poverty and hunger in developing countries, has published a new edition, on the topic of livestock. IFAD projects supporting poultry … Continue reading
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
It has been a slow and steady shift over decades. Forced by declining returns from farming in ecologically fragile areas, small farmers have been taking to goat rearing. Today, goats ensure income to five million households in India. It is now bonanza time, with demand for goat meat projected to shoot up. India will have … Continue reading
People in the floodplains of Mozambique’s Zambezi Valley have always relied on the rains October and November so they could sow their seeds for a good harvest in the New Year. But, there are droughts and the rains are erratic, often coming very late and falling so heavily that everything is washed away. Crops fail, … Continue reading
Goat for sale in a market in Nigeria (photo by ILRI/Mann). ‘. . . In Ontario agriculture, there’s no question: 2010 is the Year of the Goat. ‘Ontario farmers are catching up with the rest of the world by discovering the virtues of goats as livestock. The province has long had a strong livestock sector, … Continue reading
This working paper by Solomon Gizaw, Azage Tegegne, Berhanu Gebremedhin and Dirk Hoekstra on Sheep and goat production and marketing systems in Ethiopia: characteristics and strategies for improvement was released on 12 August, 2010. Ethiopia is home for a large and diverse livestock resources and favourable production environments. The vast majority of the rural population’s … Continue reading
Less demanding than cattle and useful sources of protein, milk and hides, small ruminants are highly adaptable and can be reared in urban and peri-urban settings, as well as in the most hostile environments. Read more … (Spore) Continue reading
It may have a somewhat exotic name but the Barber Pole worm was this week called a “nasty blood-sucking piece of work” by the scientist charged with finding a way to eliminating it. The work of Dr David Smith and his team at the Moredun Research Institute could make a dramatic difference for sheep and … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 