This paper outlines two studies on informed consent, for research identifying diseases of animal and human importance, within smallholder livestock value chains. Continue reading
Category Archives: Article
Development as everyone’s problem—World Bank eliminates ‘developing country’ from its data vocabulary
‘In the 2016 edition of its World Development Indicators, the World Bank has made a big choice: It’s no longer distinguishing between “developed” countries and “developing” ones in the presentation of its data.’ Continue reading
Insurance helps Kenyan livestock herders cope with drought
‘The index-based insurance program is run by the Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and funded by the British, U.S. and Australian governments and the European Union. The donors subsidize the cover to make it affordable for pastoralists. Continue reading
Clever eating: Meat for bigger brains
Consumption of animals helped hominins to grow bigger brains. But in a world rich with food, how necessary is meat?
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First non-travel-associated MERS in Africa–Researchers report past MERS-CoV infections in two Kenyans
Researchers at the Nairobi, Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and at the University of Bonn Medical Center in Germany have found evidence of MERS-CoV antibodies in archived blood samples from two of 1,122 Kenyan livestock handlers, collected between 2013 and 2014. Continue reading
Lions and people and livestock (‘Oh, my!’): New research shows they can coexist within community conservancies
Humans and lions can coexist through the creation of community conservancies—privately protected areas that engage local people in conservation and ecotourism. These conservancies can help stem the unrelenting loss of lions, whose population has been in decline across Africa, and pose a viable solution to an old problem. Continue reading
ILRI biosciences hub and vaccine development named global public goods by heads of BMGF and DFID
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and Nick Hurd, international development minister for Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), argue in the Guardian’s Global Development blog this month that the world needs to put science at the heart of development. Two of the examples of success that they cite are initiatives of ILRI. Continue reading
The animals die first—Ethiopian drought
‘Estimates of the number of people affected by drought [in Ethiopia] doubled between June and October in 2015 to 8.2m, and are now pushing beyond 10m (of a population of about 100m). . . . Continue reading
Goat business is big business in India’s Odisha State—Bishnupada Sethi
Inaugurating a day-long seminar on Public-Private-Producer-Partnership for small ruminant development in Odisha, Sethi said consultations with experts, policy analysts and the cross-section of stakeholders including farmers are on to finalise the Odisha Small Animal Development Policy. Continue reading
ILRI scientist to direct USAID international project to reduce post-harvest food losses
Jagger Harvey will lead the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss at the university. The $8.5 million project is helping the countries of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana and Guatemala reduce the amount of food that is lost or contaminated after harvest. Continue reading