Access to a reliable dairy market and good market prices of milk has transformed the lives of dairy farmers in Kahama District in Tanzania’s Lake zone of Shinyanga. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Coastweek (Kenya)
Biogas changes lives of dairy farmers in southern Tanzania
Use of biogas in the Iringa region of Tanzania is helping to address poverty and reduce dependency of forests in an initiative promoting the biological diversity, ecological functions and sustainable use of natural resources in the Eastern Arc Mountains.
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Disease-resistant Napier grass for East African dairy farmers
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
Greenhouse gases produced by Kenyan farmers: Project to measure village emission levels
Typical smallholder’s farm in Busia, in western Kenya, where farmers mix crop growing with livestock raising (photo credit: ILRI/Pye-Smith). A team of scientists is collecting information on the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by smallholder farmers. Scientists from CGIAR centres under the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) said the project’s key … Continue reading
Invest in Africa’s fast-growing livestock sector: The time is now, says ILRI’s Jimmy Smith
Florence Chepkirui, a blind dairy farmer in Saoset village in Kenya’s Bomet District (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). The director general of the International Livestock Institute (ILRI) has called for significant investments in the development of Africa’s livestock sector, which he said is rapidly growing. Jimmy Smith told the told participants of a recent three-day Africa … Continue reading
Help Africa’s small-scale livestock producers tap growing markets for animal proteins—FAO livestock economists
Saulosi Tchinga is a potato, maize, soya, sheep and chicken farmer in central Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). ‘The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday called on African governments to implement policies that will help the continent’s small livestock producers to tap the growing demand for animal proteins. ‘FAO Livestock Economist Uga Pica-Ciamarra told journalists … Continue reading
New initiative to support agro-pastoralists in Africa’s Horn
Coastweek and Xinhua have published accounts of a new East African dryland food production initiative. The initiative will work towards securing the agro-pastoral livelihoods of poor livestock keepers in the region. ‘Scientists have launched a new initiative to help boost smallholder farmers’ resilience to drought in the Horn of Africa’s drylands. ‘The new initiative supported by … Continue reading
Economic losses from Rift Valley fever greater than previous documented
‘Kenya’s livestock farmers were hardest hit as a result of the death of their animals from the Rift Valley fever disease outbreak in 2006/2007, with total economic losses from livestock deaths valued at over 7.6 million US dollars, researchers revealed. ‘According to the researchers at the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute … Continue reading