​’If you care about agriculture, you care about livestock’—Bill Gates
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​’If you care about agriculture, you care about livestock’—Bill Gates

According to Reuters, the Gates Foundation will pump $40m into research for higher-yielding dairy cows, as well as chickens that lay better quality eggs, livestock vaccines and ‘supercrops’ that can withstand droughts or disease. Continue reading

DFID/UKAid fund British, ILRI, African genetics research to advance African livestock development
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DFID/UKAid fund British, ILRI, African genetics research to advance African livestock development

During the visit Ms Mordaunt also announced plans to develop the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health, which is based in both Edinburgh and Nairobi. The centre uses the most recent scientific advances in genetics and genomics that are being used by farmers in the UK and apply these to help smallholder dairy and poultry farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Continue reading

And in other news: Take a 3-min break this weekend to celebrate Africa’s climate heroes and change actions
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And in other news: Take a 3-min break this weekend to celebrate Africa’s climate heroes and change actions

This video comes from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its many partners, including ILRI, which is proud to work with CCAFS and its lead centre, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Continue reading

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Informal markets main source of food for Africa’s poor: Today and tomorrow

‘. . . According to studies by scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), informal markets . . . provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer than supermarkets. Blunt crack-downs on informal milk and meat sellers that are a critical source of food and income for millions of people are not the solution,” Delia Grace, ILRI’s program leader for food Safety and Zoonoses, said during the launch of the study in Nairobi on Tuesday. Continue reading

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Local vendors, not supermarkets, are key to Africa’s food security

Simple food safety training for informal vendors can limit the spread of SARS, avian influenza, tuberculosis and pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli, said the book, “Food safety and informal markets: Animal products in sub-Saharan Africa”. Continue reading

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Of cows, camels and ‘charity insurance’ on Kenya’s Somali frontier–The Economist

Insuring animals who range with semi-nomadic herders across some of the harshest terrain on earth had defeated all previous efforts. Eventually he came across the work of a Kenyan economist, Andrew Mude of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Nairobi. Mr Mude has developed an insurance model that uses satellite images to assess the impact of drought on the vegetation that camels, cows and goats need to survive. . . . Continue reading