For people living in absolute poverty and chronic hunger, the solution is not to rid the world of livestock, but to find ways to farm animals more efficiently and more sustainably
We need to conserve the most important livestock genetic diversity for possible future use – by poor and rich farmers alike
Livestock feed is a key constraint to the commercialization of smallholder livestock production
While vaccines remain the most cost-effective medical and veterinary interventions for controlling disease, opportunities also exist to improve animal health by improving existing veterinary services and access by poor livestock keepers to those services
Mixed crop-and-livestock farms will, more than the traditional breadbaskets and rice bowls of the past, feed the developing world over the next few decades
Human, livestock and environmental health are inextricably linked, Sixty-one per cent of all diseases are ‘zoonotic’ –that is, transmissible between animals and humans.
Making smallholder production more competitive is a powerful tool to reduce poverty, raise nutrition levels and improve the livelihoods of rural people in many developing countries
Expert opinion agrees that the best way to tap into the potential of the drylands is to build on the foundation of their livestock economies rather than ignoring them or seeking to replace them.
Delia Grace, a veterinary epidemiologist with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), works in Africa and South and Southeast Asia on livestock food safety and disease issues (picture credit: ILRI/Mann). With more than 6 billion people and over 20 billion livestock, the world is getting crowded—with risks increasing of livestock diseases causing devastating human as … Continue reading
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, member of the ILRI Board of Trustees and CEO of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) (picture credit: ILRI). Lindiwe Majele Sibanda celebrates International Women’s Day today with the following message. ‘As we mark the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the economic, political … Continue reading
Women taking goods to market (photo credit: ILRI/Kebede). The New Agriculturist this month provides a snapshot of views about where we are in gender research for agricultural development. Journalist Olivia Schwier collected these viewpoints at a ‘Gender and Market-Oriented Agriculture’ workshop held 31 January—2 February 2011 in Addis Ababa. Lessons from case studies in gender work … Continue reading
From The Lancet: “In the past two decades there has been a growing realisation that the livestock sector was in a process of change, resulting from an expansion of intensive animal production systems and trade to meet a globalised world’s increasing demand for livestock products. One unintended consequence has been the emergence and spread of … Continue reading
Customers rush to buy bread, a staple in high demand in Mozambique, after it arrives at a bakery in the south of the country as wheat ran short and food prices rose in 2008 (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A leader for a special report on feeding the world’s growing population, published in the Economist recently (24 February … Continue reading
Pig breeding on a farm in Dimapur, Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). The Telegraph in Calcutta ran a story this week on why pigs—and pig breeding—matters to the marginalized indigenous communities of India’s northeast. ‘For the 600-odd villagers of two districts of Mon lying on either side of the [Nagaland] border, pig breeding has now … Continue reading
‘The Svalbard Global Seed Vault celebrated its third anniversary with the arrival of seeds for rare lima beans, blight-resistant cantaloupe, and progenitors of antioxidant-rich red tomatoes from Peru and the Galapagos Islands. The arrival of these collections, including many drought- and flood-resistant varieties, comes at a time when natural and man-made risks to agriculture have … Continue reading
Given the frequent outbreaks of animal diseases such as bird flu, avian influenza, anthrax, and other viral and bacterial infections, animal healthcare has gained tremendous significance across the globe. The global veterinary vaccines market waned in 2008 and 2009, as a result of the global meltdown. The market, nevertheless, recovered in 2010 and is expected … Continue reading
A study on the ‘evaluation of the livestock sector’s contribution to the EU greenhouse gas emissions’ was commissioned by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. It estimates emissions from all livestock sectors in Europe. UK National Farmers Union Director of Policy Martin Haworth said: “This recent evaluation from the EU builds upon previous … Continue reading
A new US$73.13 million IFAD-supported project will help reduce poverty mainly in marginal dry areas of the Syrian Arab Republic. The Integrated Livestock Development Project will benefit around 311,000 poor rural households: small sheep, cattle and buffalo holders; small milk producers, collectors and processors living in poverty-stricken seasonal settlements in the Badia and in settled … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 