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 Institute for Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine of the Freie Universität Berlin seeks a highly motivated and creative person who is interested in working within a multidisciplinary team. The successful candidate must have a microbiology, immunology or veterinary degree and should be willing to travel and work in Africa for periods of up to several months. Continue reading
Research on disease-resistant Napier grass forage for dairy cows is a joint collaboration between ILRI, KALRO and the national research institutes of Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda under the East African Productivity project. Continue reading
The International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS) holds an East Africa Conference in November 2014. Continue reading
Jo Cadilhon an agricultural economist at ILRI presented a paper on ‘Field testing a conceptual framework for innovation platform impact assessment: the case of MilkIT dairy platforms in Tanga region, Tanzania’ at this week’s (27-30 October 2014) 6th All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture in Nairobi, Kenya. Continue reading
The objective of the Australia Awards – Africa Fellowships is to develop the capacity and leadership skills of Africans so they can contribute more effectively to development in their home countries. Continue reading
The World Bank has proved an additional credit of $US75 million to improve the livelihoods and resilience of pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. The funds will help to strengthen the organizational capacity of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Continue reading
The district of Kailahun, in eastern Sierra Leone, bordering Guinea, is home to this 88-bed largest Ebola treatment and isolation centre set up by Médecins Sans Frontières (photo on Flickr by ©EC/ECHO/Cyprien Fabre). This opinion piece is written by Eliza Smith ‘By now, it seems we’ve heard everything there is to hear about the mysterious … Continue reading
Participatory work for ensuring equitable use of, and rights to, pastoral rangelands (photo credit: Fiona Flintan). This article is written by ILRI rangeland governance specialist Fiona Flintan, who also serves as a technical coordinator for the Rangelands Initiative of the International Land Coalition (ILC). ‘It is easy, too easy, for scientists and others to shy away … Continue reading
Inspecting a pig’s health in Busia, western Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Charlie Pye-Smith). ‘Occurrence of African swine fever (ASF) was reported in almost half of the countries that make up the African continent in 2012. This transboundary animal disease (TAD) can have a powerful negative impact on a nation’s economy and social structures. It causes major … Continue reading
Using data from satellite imagery, insurers can assess the impact of drought on the vegetation that livestock need to survive. Could this be a lifeline for Kenyan farmers? Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 