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.
I have been working for nine months as an agricultural economist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya. I have come to realize that there are not enough bridges between West and East African agricultural research communities. Is it a problem of history? Different languages? Or perhaps inter-African communication links are … Continue reading
A failed maize crop in Ghana. A report by CCAFS is advising Africa’s farmers and policymakers to adapt to climate shifts now to ensure communities are protected from climate change devastations (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). The many adverse impacts of climate change on agriculture—from increasing droughts and floods, to more unpredictable and extreme weather patterns, … Continue reading
On Wednesday 26 Jun 2013, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosts a ‘livestock live talk’ on Dairy hubs in East Africa: Lessons from the East Africa Dairy Development project. The talk by Isabelle Baltenweck, an agricultural economist at ILRI, and Gerald Mutinda, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project’s regional manager in charge of … Continue reading
“In addition to providing high-quality food products (meat and milk), livestock is the most important source of on-farm income and insurance in the low-input farming systems of semi-arid southern Africa.” ILRI’s sister center the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a long term partner where crops and livestock intersect in southern … Continue reading
New 5-minute ILRI film, New approaches to chicken farming reduce poverty without adding to disease risks. ‘. . . Before he got into chickens, Bradshaw had raised pork and cattle on Greenfire Farms, his plot of land 12 miles west of Tallahassee, FL. Now Bradshaw has stopped farming cattle and pork entirely, fully dedicating his operations … Continue reading
Early this month, Jo Cadilhon, an agricultural economist with ILRI’s research program on Policy, Trade and Value Chains, spent four days in Lomé, Togo, facilitating a workshop for a project on ‘Resilience of smallholder agriculture through dairy and market gardening value chains’. In this blog post, he tells how the analysis of data during the … Continue reading
Texas A & M University has announced (10 Jun 2013) that Neville Clarke, former chair of the board of trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (1995–2001), has been honoured with an award for his nearly four decades of exemplary service to international agricultural and rural development, helping to reduce world poverty and food … Continue reading
From 25-31 May, Nairobi was host to a ‘Week on Agricultural Innovation in Africa.’ Here ILRI’s Jo Cadilhon reflects on the International workshop on agricultural innovation systems in Africa held as part of the week. The meeting was co-organized by FARA, ILRI, CCAFS, KARI, JOLISAA, the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Wageningen University, Prolinnova, the World … Continue reading
A herd of sheep and goats in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by gordontour). The dry areas of the developing world occupy over 40% of the earth’s surface and are home to some 2.5 billion people. Many in these regions struggle to provide sufficient food for their growing populations and face a series of daunting … Continue reading
Most years, ILRI brings together a wide mix of staff in an ‘annual program meeting’ (APM). This year’s event was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 15–17 May 2013, and focused on ILRI’s 2013–2022 strategy. Jo Cadilhon was one of the organizers of this year’s APM. Here he reflects on the event and how it went. … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 