ILRI scientist Andrew Mude interviewed on CNBC Africa television: ‘Increase investments in the pastoral livelihood’

Posted on 25 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

Andrew Mude of ILRI receives the best practice award for an Index-based Livestock Insurance project in northern Kenya that he leads (image from The Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network [PEGnet] conference in Midrand, South Africa, 2–3 Sep 2010). As hunger spreads among more than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa, a study … Continue reading →

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Insured livestock keepers in Kenya may receive first insurance payments

Posted on 17 Aug 2011 by Susan MacMillan • Leave a comment

In Kenya’s drylands, drought has always been the greatest hazard faced by livestock herding families. Modern pressures are making this situation worse. This film tells the story of a research project started in 2007, which in 2010 introduced a new form of insurance to remote herding peoples who had never been provided with insurance before. … Continue reading →

Drought / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Research

ILRI’s mobile-ICT based livestock insurance solution wins overall best innovation award at 2030 ICT Innovation Award ceremony

Posted on 21 Apr 2011 by Muthoni Njiru • 1 Comment

Eleven companies received a Vision 2030 ICT Innovation Award at a ceremony held in Diani as part of the Kenya ICT Board’s Connected Kenya Summit. The Kenya ICT Board and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat invited companies that have developed solutions that drive economic growth and social development as outlined in Kenya’s Vision 2030 … Continue reading →

Agriculture / Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Rwanda

Index insurance pushes farmers closer to cover

Posted on 16 Dec 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

The development of the financial services sector is emerging as potential boon to agriculture in East Africa, with up to 40,000 farmers in Kenya and Rwanda set to gain from a new insurance scheme targeting losses to bad weather. The scheme comes at a time when Kenya is recovering from a prolonged drought in 2009 … 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

Posted on 25 Nov 2010 by Susan MacMillan • 2 Comments

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 / Animal Production / Climate Change / Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / Pastoralism

Coping with drought – livestock insurance

Posted on 7 Sep 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

In Kenya, the International Livestock Research Institute, working with partner organisations, has developed an insurance scheme for livestock farmers. The insurance enables farmers to protect their livelihood against the risk of drought. It works through satellite images, which can be used to measure the amount of grazing available in areas covered under the scheme. If … Continue reading →

Climate Change / Drought / ILRI / Insurance / Livestock / Vulnerability

Livestock insurance: reducing vulnerability

Posted on 9 Jul 2010 by Dorine Adhoch • Leave a comment

A severe summer drought, followed by winter temperatures of minus 40-50°C, has resulted in the loss of an estimated 8 million animals – about 17 per cent of Mongolia’s livestock. The extreme conditions, known as dzud, have had a devastating impact in a country where 40 per cent of the population depend on livestock. In … Continue reading →

East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock

Insurance. Grasslands. What could they have in common?

Posted on 29 Apr 2010 by ILRI Communications • Leave a comment

Insurance is about protection against loss — and so, in many ways, is conservation. The similarities between these two industries mean both could gain from a closer relationship. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently announced the trial of an innovative insurance scheme for traditional herders in northern Kenya. There’s a severe need for such … Continue reading →

Environment / ILRI / Insurance / Livelihoods / Livestock Systems

Insurance, grasslands: What could they have in common?

Posted on 24 Apr 2010 by Peter Ballantyne (ILRI) • Leave a comment

Insurance is about protection against loss — and so, in many ways, is conservation. The similarities between these two industries mean both could gain from a closer relationship. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently announced the trial of an innovative insurance scheme for traditional herders in northern Kenya. But it has been almost impossible … Continue reading →

Africa / Agriculture / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Insurance / Pastoralism

Farm aid from space

Posted on 3 Mar 2010 by Dorine Adhoch • Leave a comment

Dusty northern Kenya doesn’t look like a laboratory, but across its dry plains, cattle herders are pioneering a new way to fend off poverty and teaming up with unlikely partners – insurance agents. The two groups have been brought together by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), headquartered in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. A few years … Continue reading →