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.
Scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Kenya have established a state-of-the-art laboratory to help find a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock in Africa. Continue reading
Fred Segor, principal secretary in Kenya’s State Department of Livestock in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and member of the board of trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which is based in Kenya, recently announced that a large government-sponsored livestock insurance scheme would begin being implemented this October in Wajir, Turkana and Marsabit at a cost of Kshs80.9 million (about USD800,000). Segor said the cover would be escalated to cover 14 of Kenya’s northern counties, targeting 5,000 households in the short term, to help them cope with recurring drought. Continue reading
The current (July 2015) issue of Animal Frontiers, ‘Communicating the Animal Sciences Effectively’, focuses on the challenges associated with how best to communicate animal science information with policymakers, the public, and students. Communicating effectively with these stakeholder groups is critical to the future of the livestock and poultry industries. Continue reading
The May–June 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. Download a print version or sign up to get Livestock Matter(s) in your mailbox each month. Continue reading
The 2015 ReSAKSS (Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System) Annual Conference will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 1-3, 2015. Continue reading
There’s been an interesting debate published in the Wall Street Journal this week on whether feedlot beef is bad for the environment. Robert Martin, director of the Food System Policy Program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, says the pollution spreads for miles. Jude Capper, a livestock sustainability expert based in Britain, says the beef industry keeps things safe Continue reading
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently promoted the use of cassava peels as animal feed to senior government officials from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Continue reading
To support the implementation of the N2Africa project in Ethiopia, ILRI has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Hawassa University Continue reading
New web portal provides open data on food and nutrition security in Africa. Continue reading
A new ILRI research brief shows that a livestock marketing information system (LMIS) has improved access to animal marketing information and helped increase trading in livestock in Somaliland. Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 