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.
In case you missed it, earlier this year, Washington Post food–science columnist Tamar Haspel served up an interesting story in The Plate, a blog of National Geographic’s Future of Food series. Her story’s about a long-term research project’s attempt to develop disease-resistant cattle for African farmers. Continue reading
A new program that will address genetic constraints to dairy production in Ethiopia and Tanzania has been launched. Continue reading
Scientists will use funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to look at how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates. The institutions in Scotland and Africa where the researchers are based are also making additional contributions, taking the total funding pot to £20 million over the next five years. Continue reading
High taxation could be hampering efforts to promote the consumption of dairy products in Tanzania. Continue reading
Women represent 70% of African smallholder chicken producers. Chickens can be a real way out of difficult livelihoods for these women and the households they attend to. A new project, SciDev.Net recently reported, is aiming at leveraging this potential in novel ways. Continue reading
The Tanzania government is committed to addressing challenges associated with milk production and marketing so that more dairy farmers will benefit from the country’s growing dairy sector. Continue reading
The September-October 2015 issue of ‘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. Continue reading
The results of this analysis are conclusive: livestock development among resource poor smallholders in Zambia’s Copperbelt increases household dietary diversity and total consumption expenditures, with dietary impacts that are substantially greater for animals that produce food products for direct consumption. Continue reading
Bacon (photo via Flickr/Kietil Ree). ‘The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that it has classified processed meat as a human carcinogen. ‘Red meat also was classified as a probable human carcinogen, according to the release by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). ‘The group cited “sufficient evidence” linking processed meat—such as … Continue reading
The University of Bristol is proud to host a ‘go-to’ event for academics, researchers, NGOs, policy makers and livestock producers working toward sustainability of ruminant systems. This is an outstanding opportunity to share transformational knowledge and ideas in the beautiful city of Bristol. Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 