United Nations declares famine over in Somalia–but says millions still at risk

Posted on 3 Feb 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

A herd of goats is driven through Ifo Refugee Camp at dawn on 8 Aug 2011; many families said they fled to Dadaab, Kenya, after all of their livestock died because of the drought in Somalia; the dirt road from Garissa to Dadaab was littered with cow and goat skeletons (photo in Flickr by Internews … Continue reading →

Directorate / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Opinion piece / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Are politicians making political hay – and pastoral havoc – out of diminishing dryland resources in northern Kenya?

Posted on 17 Jan 2012 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Northern Kenya from the air (photo on Flickr by Neil Palmer [CIAT]). ‘The chairman of [Kenya’s] National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia, has singled out divisive politicians as the main cause of recent ethnic violence among some pastoral communities. He warned that stern action will be taken against such people. ‘Dr Kibunjia’s observation … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / Pastoralism

Reducing the vulnerability of dryland pastoralism

Posted on 31 Dec 2011 by ILRI Communications

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. Continue reading →

ASF / CBPP / Directorate / Event report / ILRI / Presentation / Research / Staff

Livestock research for development in a complex, messy world: Carlos Seré reflects on a decade of work for ILRI

Posted on 1 Dec 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

ILRI former director general Carlos Seré at an ILRI ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event held in Nov 2011 on ILRI’s campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to reflect on the ‘Seré legacy’ and ways forward for the institute under ILRI’s new director general, Jimmy Smith (photo credit: ILRI/Zerihun Sewunet). On 9 and 10 November 2011, the ILRI Board of … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Directorate / ILRI / Interview / Livestock / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research

Billions depend on livestock

Posted on 1 Dec 2011 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • 1 Comment

The New Agriculturist’s Geneviève Renard recently interviewed ILRI Director General Jimmy Smith about the challenges facing livestock and livestock research. Livestock play a vital role in the income and livelihoods of billions and they are also a safety net for the poor. To help smallholders escape their poverty, we need to act on productivity: by … Continue reading →

Animal Production / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Ethiopia / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Report / Research

Livestock and climate change

Posted on 3 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Philip Thornton, Mario Herrero and Polly Ericksen prepared an issue brief on the relations between climate change and livestock systems in developing countries … Livestock systems occupy 45% of the global surface area with a value of at least $1.4 trillion. Livestock industries and value chains … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Food Security / Nutrition / Somalia

Barely breathing: The famine crisis in Somalia deepens

Posted on 3 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Photo on Flickr by IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation Turkey. Jeffrey Gettleman, the East Africa correspondent for the New York Times, reports that Somalia’s spreading famine and agony is testing the limits of aid. At Benadir Hospital, in Mogadishu, Gettleman watches children die. In Benadir, there is a room full of old blue cots, one after another, … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Climate Change / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Livestock-Water / Opinion piece / Pastoralism / Research / Vulnerability

Balancing efforts to address climate change, poverty, risk and uncertainty

Posted on 2 Nov 2011 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

For the November 2011 ‘liveSTOCK Exchange’ event at ILRI, Tom Thurow, Professor of Watershed Management at the University of Wyoming reflects on priorities for livestock systems research at ILRI… Climate Change While working in several Latin American countries this summer it struck me that many environmental management/regulation advances that these countries had been making a … Continue reading →

Drought / East Africa / Event / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / UK / Vulnerability

Kenyan pastoralists benefit from unique livestock insurance

Posted on 1 Nov 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Children in Kenya’s Marsabit District pass one of thousands of carcasses of livestock that died in the drought in the Horn of Africa (photo on Flickr by Neil Palmer/CIAT). Voice of America reports today on ‘A new insurance program for poor livestock farmers in northern Kenya has made its first pay out to some 650 herders … Continue reading →

Directorate / Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / UK / Vulnerability

Innovative livestock insurance scheme for remote Kenyan herders was dreamed up at Cornell

Posted on 28 Oct 2011 by Susan MacMillan • 1 Comment

Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), speaks at an event in Marsabit town, in northern Kenya, where several hundred livestock herders were given payouts for livestock insurance that they took out earlier (photo on Flickr by Neil Palmer/CIAT). ‘In the midst of a drought-induced food crisis affecting millions in the … Continue reading →

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