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 Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahboub Maalim, underscored the central role that the livestock sector is playing in delivering IGAD’s revitalised agenda of regional economic integration. He further commended the IGAD Livestock Policy Initiative for its progress as the secretariat’s de facto livestock arm, in forging regional cooperation and harmonisation. Speaking in a meeting … Continue reading
In India, of the 72% of the rural population,57% of the households (over 100 million) keep livestock as their only or important source of livelihood. Many of these (32%) small-scale livestock keepers have no access to land and depend on livestock as the only source of livelihood and the number of rural landless households is … Continue reading
Danielle Nierenberg from the Worldwatch Institute recently visited Ethiopia as part of a project evaluating environmentally sustainable ways of alleviating hunger and poverty, and tellong stories of hope and success in food production from all over Africa. Her Ethiopia visit began at ILRI. She blogs … Farmers confront more challenges than ever before: climate change, … Continue reading
Yemen’s Agriculture Ministry is boosting efforts to combat the livestock disease screw worm, which is threatening the livelihoods of rural inhabitants, particularly in coastal and central regions, according to ministry officials. Read more … (IRIN) Continue reading
Maize and beans, East Africa’s most traded and consumed commodities, are being threatened by climate changes. A new study published in the peer-review journal on Agricultural Systems, projects that climate change will have highly variable impacts on East Africa’s vital maize and bean harvests over the next two to four decades. This is presenting growers … Continue reading
Peter Roeder and Karl Rich contributed a case study to the IFPRI project ‘Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development’ Focused on ‘the global effort to eradicate rinderpest’, the case shows that “concerted effort by national veterinary services in both industrialized and developing countries, aided by international organizations, has brought the once dreaded rinderpest livestock … Continue reading
A parasite researcher from NYU is hoping to tackle African sleeping sickness in Kenya by creating genetically enhanced cows that cannot catch or transmit the disease. Jayne Raper believes that to truly help people, sometimes you have to start with another species. In this case, cows. Unlike Raper, a parasite researcher at New York University, most … Continue reading
For many people the terms ‘greenhouse gas’ and ‘climate change’ conjure up images of smokestacks billowing noxious clouds, gridlocked traffic, the cracked bottom of a dried-up lake bed, or a polar bear clinging to a melting ice floe. Rarely do you see images of farmers ploughing fields, planting seeds or feeding animals. Indeed, until recently, … Continue reading
In the Horn of Africa region, millions of families are desperate for food and water. Several seasons of failed rains is slowly turning into a major catastrophe. In Kenya an estimated 100,000 livestock have been lost to the current season. Read more … (World Sentinel) Continue reading
A top European delegate says African countries are continuing to boycott meetings at U.N. climate negotiations after talks with the European Union failed to persuade them to return. Swedish delegate Anders Turresson says the Africans remain concerned about the low pledges by industrial countries to reduce carbon emissions. About 50 African nations have boycotted some … Continue reading
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