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.
There are some sector experts who argue that it is due to the numerous, geographically dispersed and small-scale livestock producers who dominate the primary production side of the value chain that livestock productivity cannot realise its potential. The rural sector within the Pakistani economy remains vital due to the fact that it still employs a … Continue reading
It is often asserted that climate change will affect women the most in the developing world. That’s because most women will have to walk farther for drinking water, work harder to grow food, pull daughters out of school to help with family chores, and fuss more about family hygiene as the world – and particularly … Continue reading
In October this year, an online database of more than 140 distance learning courses about international development, featuring courses from the RVC, was launched by Distance Learning for Development (DL4D). The postgraduate courses, including Principles of Livestock Production, Globalisation and Health, Planning for Education and Development, Climate Change and Development, and Understanding Poverty are primarily … Continue reading
A ‘science safari’ to the south Rift Valley has enabled African journalists to get first-hand experience of the recent drought in Kenya and the impacts on pastoralists and their livestock. Eight radio and print journalists from East, West and southern Africa took part in the ‘safari’, as part of the latest ‘better science reporting’ workshop … Continue reading
This report by Ponniah Anandajayasekeram and Ranjitha Puskur of ILRI and Elias Zerfu of IFPRI on Applying innovation system concepts in agricultural research for development was released on 23 November, 2009. This learning module is expected to have multiple uses. One, a source material for trainings that could be organized at different levels, and two, as … Continue reading
In October, the London International Development Centre (LIDC) organised a workshop to discuss the ‘Impact of Mobile Phones Upon Development and Health’. Three speakers spoke on the use of mobile phones and animal health in Africa: Andrew Hagner (Royal Veterinary College) explained how he and his Undergraduate Research Team used mobile devices to record the … Continue reading
Beef cattle are not the climate-change bogeymen they’re made out to be, according to a new US study. University of California scientists say UN estimates that livestock generate 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions could be six times too high. They say recent estimates by US environment and energy agencies, using more appropriate assumptions, … Continue reading
Many agricultural science reporters don’t have first hand experience of livestock science. But one team of African print and radio journalists embraced the chance to find out more, to see livestock science in action. Click here to watch the video More videos on livestock from Wrenmedia … Continue reading
Livestock and climate change: What if the key actors in climate change are…cows, pigs, and chickens? The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, … Continue reading
The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) announced that “deadly diseases including plague, Ebola and Rift Valley Fever are being targeted as part of a new multi-million pound international partnership involving African researchers and the RVC as part of the London International Development Centre (LIDC). The Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) links medical and … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 