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.
The droughts in the Turkana region were less severe when she was growing up, says Laura Letapalel, and pastoralists could still find some grass and water for their animals. Now, she laments, the droughts are longer and there is nothing to eat. Andrew Mude, an economist with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), says drought … Continue reading
A group called The Africa Group whose spokes person is Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi has made a demand for USD 30 billion to be granted African countries to tackle environmental damages caused by climate change. According to the plan, the start up funding will span three years from 2010 to 2012 with yearly release of … Continue reading
Smallholder farmers and pastoralists fulfill an invaluable yet undervalued role in conserving biodiversity. They act as guardians of locally adapted livestock breeds that can make use of even marginal environments under tough climatic conditions and therefore are a crucial resource for food security and possibly for adapting to climate change. But in addition, by sustaining … Continue reading
Although avian influenza and H1N1 have dominated the news for the last few years, many other serious diseases can ravage livestock and rural communities. Newcastle disease, which can wipe out entire flocks of chickens and can spread from farm to farm, is especially devastating for rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more … (Nourishing the … Continue reading
The 14th Summit of the African Union (AU) heads of state and government here has unanimously nominated Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to again represent Africa in international fora in future global climate conferences. The AU Summit, which ended here Tuesday, commended the same leading role played by Meles on behalf of the continent at … Continue reading
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, UCLA, Harvard University, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Cornell University have teamed up to develop and test a broad-spectrum antiviral compound capable of stopping a wide range of highly dangerous viruses, including Ebola, HIV, hepatitis C virus, West Nile virus, … Continue reading
The media has been accused of sowing confusion among members of the public and in the process causing loss among farmers over the true origin of what it describes as swine flu. The chief veterinary officer in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Joseph Nyager, told THISDAY, that the so-called swine flu … Continue reading
Grass feeding produces more greenhouse gases than feedlot beef because of increased fermentation in the gut, research concludes. Red meat has a bad reputation among the green-minded for its emissions of heat-trapping gases that exacerbate climate change. Fertilizer derived from fossil fuels is required for growing grain to feed cattle, and cows’ digestion produces large … Continue reading
On 28 January, the first map of a rumen methanogen DNA sequence was published in the journal PLoS One, giving scientists worldwide a major new opportunity to identify methods for cutting methane emissions from cows. Read more … (Scoop News) Continue reading
The needs of the poor are greater than the money available to help them, but that’s not enough to discourage Bill Gates in his work as co-chair of the world’s largest charitable foundation. In his second annual letter, issued Monday, Gates says investment in science and technology can leverage those dollars and make more of … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 