Africa / Animal Diseases / Cattle / Disease Control / ECF / ILRI / ILRIComms / ILVAC / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / Vaccines

New battle starts up against the ‘cancer/malaria’ of cattle in Africa

‘The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has launched the project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the fight against the disease that the agency says kills an animal every 30 seconds in East and Central Africa. Continue reading

East Africa / Geodata / ILRI / Niger / PIM / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Tanzania / Uganda / West Africa

Livestock data collected in Niger, Tanzania and Uganda to measure — and improve — livestock development

Charging Bull (sometimes called the Wall Street Bull), a 3,200 kg bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica, near Wall Street in New York City (photo on Flickr by Randy Lemoine). ‘Africa still suffers from a lack of good quality data on livestock that could be used to measure and improve progress as well as inform policymaking … Continue reading

East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Policy

Kenya ban on the import of GM food illegal, not backed by law–Romano Kiome

Kenyan children weed a maize plot (photo on Flickr by Care of Creation). ‘A senior Kenyan government official has dismissed last year’s ban on the import of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country—calling it ill-advised and lacking the backing of law. ‘Romano Kiome, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, says the ban cannot … Continue reading

A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Cattle / Dairying / East Africa / Food Safety / Human Health / ILRI / Interview / Kenya / Zoonotic Diseases

Cattle in the capital, managed well, can improve nutrition and health in Kenya’s slums

Leornard Gitau, a small-scale livestock farmer in Dagoretti, Nairobi speaks to journalists during a media tour of urban farmers in Nairobi on 21 Sep 2012 (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). In the Nairobi suburb of Dagoretti, ‘Leonard Gichuru Gitau is a city dweller, but it doesn’t take a detective to see that he is also a … Continue reading

Article / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Goats / ILRI / Pastoralism / PPR / Sheep / Sudan / Uganda / Vaccines

ILRI’s Jeff Mariner speaks on what he learned from the eradication of rinderpest–and his new fight against ‘goat plague’

ILRI veterinary epidemiologist Jeff Mariner presents his research at a meeting of the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) (photo credit: OIE). Lauren Everitt of AllAfrica interviewed Jeffrey Mariner, a scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya, about a current article he co-authored in Science (13 Sep 2012) on lessons learned in the eradication … Continue reading

CGIAR / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Kenyan herders cope with drought by buying livestock insurance

Sake Dabasso Halake stands proudly in front of Equity Bank’s Marsabit branch. She smiles, clutching an envelope filled with 16,000 Kenyan shillings that she just received. It was her insurance payout for the 10 cows she lost during the drought. Photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins. Jeff Haskins, director of the Nairobi office of Burness … Continue reading

Africa / Central Africa / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Rwanda

World Bank group supports ILRI livestock insurance project in northern, pastoral Kenya

ILRI is working with insurance companies to train livestock herders in Kenya’s northern drylands in the benefits and costs of a new index-based livestock insurance first made available in Marsabit District in 2010 (photo credit: ILRI/Mude). ‘IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today signed agreements with three partners  to expand access to insurance … Continue reading

Africa / Agriculture / BecA / ILRI / Research

Bill Gates: Africa is innovating in financial services, food sciences, health

In the second annual letter he has issued to the public to discuss his and his wife’s philanthropic work through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft founder Bill Gates issued an upbeat assessment on the prospects of overcoming the challenges faced by the world’s poorest people—many in Africa—in the fields of health and agriculture. … Continue reading