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.
‘No bees no honey’ presents the experience of the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project on apiculture value chain development in Ethiopia. IPMS together with the district office of agriculture, farmers, input suppliers and other stakeholders worked in the district to produce high quality honey by using integrated commodity development approach. The video shows … Continue reading
A herd of livestock cross the drylands near Marsabit town, in northern Kenya; some farmers in the region took out livestock insurance, and this year are receiving the first payouts after a prolonged drought (image on Flickr by Neil Palmer/CIAT). Below is part of an open letter / press release brought out by Vétérinaires Sans … Continue reading
The Forum on Agricultural Research in Africa just published a new report on agricultural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa: experiences from multiple-stakeholder approaches. The report draws together case experiences across Africa with an ‘integrated agriculture research for development (IAR4D) approach’ that brings together multiple actors along a commodity value chain to address challenges and identify opportunities … Continue reading
Since 1999, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has partnered with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) to provide capacity building on the sustainable use of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR). This report by Julie Ojango, Birgitta Malmfors, Okeyo Mwai, and Jan Philipsson on Training the trainers – An innovative and successful model for capacity building in animal … Continue reading
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
Although livestock play a central role in rural development in West Africa, traditional livestock systems have high death rates, low reproductive rates and low offtake rates. Furthermore, the presence of trypanosome-infected tsetse flies in the sub-humid and humid areas hurts the potential for livestock production. The region’s endemic ruminant livestock, however, are highly adapted to … Continue reading
Around 60 experts are meeting at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Addis Ababa on 30th and 31st January to plan an exciting new research project that aims to transform agricultural systems in the Highland of Ethiopia. As in many part of Africa, farming systems in the Ethiopian Highlands are a mix of crop … Continue reading
Foods of Khulungira Village, in central Malawi (clockwise from top left): nsima (maize meal porridge), kachewere wophika (boiled potatoes), nkhuku yophika (chicken stew), nkhwani ndi phwetekere (pumpkin leaves with tomato), kachewere wokazinga (fried potatoes), and kholowa ndi phwetekere (sweetpotato leaves with tomato) (photo credit: CGIAR/Stevie Mann). All names in Chichewa, Malawi’s national language; translations by Christopher … Continue reading
This working paper by Tesfaye Lemma Tefera, Azage Tegegne and Dirk Hoekstra of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), on Capacity for knowledge-based smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia: Linking graduate programs to market-oriented agricultural development: Challenges, opportunities and IPMS experience was released by ILRI in January 2012. Graduate programs in agriculture and allied disciplines in Ethiopia are expected … Continue reading
In Ethiopia, sheep and goats have traditionally served as a means of ready cash and a reserve against economic and agricultural production hardship. However, the proximity of Ethiopia to large Middle Eastern markets demanding export quality sheep and goat carcasses and an increase in the domestic demand for small ruminant meat is leading to a … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 