Slum farming and superbugs—An ‘Urban Zoo’ science project tracks bacterial routes in complex environments
A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

Slum farming and superbugs—An ‘Urban Zoo’ science project tracks bacterial routes in complex environments

The Urban Zoo project is visiting 99 households across Nairobi, rich and poor, with livestock and without. They’re taking samples from people, their animals, and whatever wildlife they can find nearby (and catch): storks, mice, bats, et cetera. They’re sampling the ground around homes, yards and livestock pens with white paper booties. ‘The aim, says University of Liverpool veterinarian Judy Bettridge, is “to try and understand on a small scale how those bacteria are shared” among each household’s people, livestock and environment. “And then when we scale it up, are the bacteria here being shared with the household that’s 50 meters over there? Or 100 meters over there? So, how far can they actually spread?” . . . Continue reading

DID YOU MISS IT? Who’s developing African cattle resistant to sleeping sickness—and why it matters—by Tamar Haspel
Africa / Animal Health / Article / Disease Control / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKFISH / Trypanosomiasis / Zoonotic Diseases

DID YOU MISS IT? Who’s developing African cattle resistant to sleeping sickness—and why it matters—by Tamar Haspel

In case you missed it, earlier this year, Washington Post food–science columnist Tamar Haspel served up an interesting story in The Plate, a blog of National Geographic’s Future of Food series. Her story’s about a long-term research project’s attempt to develop disease-resistant cattle for African farmers. Continue reading

Livestock development conclusively shown to increase incomes, food security and diet diversity in southern Africa–New study
Article / Consumption / Food Security / Livelihoods / Nutrition / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Southern Africa

Livestock development conclusively shown to increase incomes, food security and diet diversity in southern Africa–New study

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

Bacon, sausage and other processed meats linked to cancer
Article / Consumption / Food Safety / Human Health

Bacon, sausage and other processed meats linked to cancer

Bacon (photo via Flickr/Kietil Ree). ‘The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that it has classified processed meat as a human carcinogen. ‘Red meat also was classified as a probable human carcinogen, according to the release by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). ‘The group cited “sufficient evidence” linking processed meat—such as … Continue reading

Africa’s Cinderella story: $700 billion could be picked up in farmers’ fields–The Economist
Africa / Agriculture / Article / Crop-Livestock / Dairying / Intensification

Africa’s Cinderella story: $700 billion could be picked up in farmers’ fields–The Economist

It should be possible to grow much more in Africa. . . . Five decades ago it was one of the world’s great crop-exporters. Ghana grew most of the world’s cocoa, Nigeria was the biggest exporter of palm oil and peanuts, and Africa grew a quarter of all the coffee people slurped. Since then it has shifted from being a net exporter of food to an importer. Continue reading

By the (BIG) numbers: The MDGs and (BIG) global reductions in child, maternal and HIV deaths
Agri-Health / Article / Film and video / Goats / Women

By the (BIG) numbers: The MDGs and (BIG) global reductions in child, maternal and HIV deaths

This month, leaders from around the world will get together at the UN to agree on the world’s development agenda for the next 15 years—what they’re calling the Global Goals. It is a great opportunity to take stock of how the world’s poorest are doing, and there is a big push to spread the word about the Global Goals. Continue reading

‘Mixing it up’ down on the farm to better adapt to climate change
Africa / Article / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / ILRI / Livestock Systems / SLS

‘Mixing it up’ down on the farm to better adapt to climate change

A recent perspective piece published in Nature Climate Change by researchers Philip Thornton and Mario Herrero suggests that we still know very little about how climate change will impact these mixed farms and especially the interactions between crops and livestock. This is alarming as mixed farming systems form the backbone of smallholder production in developing countries,producing over 90% of the world’s milk supply and 80% of the meat from ruminants. Continue reading