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.
‘Livestock Matter(s)’ provides a round-up of livestock development news, publications, presentations, images and upcoming events from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners. Download a print version or sign up to get Livestock Matter(s) in your mailbox each month. View the September-October 2017 issue of Livestock Matter(s). Continue reading
Originally posted on Sustainable livestock systems:
By Lili Szilagyi and Polly Ericksen A farmer feeding a dairy cow in Kenya (photo credit: eadairy/Flickr). In response to increasing populations, incomes and consumption of meat, milk and eggs, the livestock sector is growing rapidly throughout the developing world. However, climate change is likely to hurt small-scale livestock production in…
The following argument for continuing to use livestock to use the planet’s full ecological potential is made by Louise Fresco, a Dutch writer and food and agricultural scientist specializing in sustainable tropical agriculture. President of the executive board of Wageningen University and Research, Fresco is a member of the World Food Prize Council of Advisors and holds many other distinguished appointments and honours. Continue reading
The CGIAR Platform on Big Data in Agriculture has awarded five research proposals USD100,000 each during its inaugural convention 19–22 Sep 2017. Using Facebook to track the spread of livestock diseases and your smartphone to diagnose crop diseases in realtime, could soon be a reality thanks to a series of research grants awarded by the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture. Continue reading
Researchers are on the hunt for a cow that produces less methane, one of the major contributors to climate change. If and when those green genes can be easily isolated, they could be spread throughout global cattle populations. Continue reading
‘With per capita consumption of pork in Nagaland highest in the country, Nagaland Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services department has launched artificial insemination (AI) of pigs in the State on a pilot basis to boost pig production, double farmers’ income as also to eliminate diseases in pigs.The department launched the project in association with ILRI, ICAR-National Research Centre on Pigs, North East India Development Agency and Tata Trust. Continue reading
The interview below, Could animal-sourced protein really solve the world’s hunger crisis?, of veterinary epidemiologist and food safety expert Delia Grace, of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), was originally published in the Oct 2017 ‘Food and Nutrition Security’ issue of the monthly newsletter for Health for Animals. Both display quote graphics are by Health for Animals. Continue reading
‘Livestock Matter(s)’ provides a round-up of livestock development news, publications, presentations, images and upcoming events from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners. Download a print version or sign up to get Livestock Matter(s) in your mailbox each month. View the July–August 2017 issue of Livestock Matters. Continue reading
facts and rational arguments really aren’t very good at altering people’s beliefs. That’s because our rational brains are fitted with not-so-evolved evolutionary hard wiring. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Continue reading
The Ethiopian Society of Animal Production (ESAP) celebrated its silver jubilee last month. The event was marked on 24-25 August 2017 at Haramaya University where ESAP held its 25th Annual Conference on the subject ‘Livestock – a driver for economic development’. Continue reading
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