Tag Archives: Mario Herrero

Enlarging on the EAT-Lancet planetary diet report—A fresh look by CSIRO’s Mario Herrero, one of the authors
Advocacy / Agriculture / Biotechnology / Consumption / Environment / Food Security / Human Health / Intensification / Nutrition / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / Report

Enlarging on the EAT-Lancet planetary diet report—A fresh look by CSIRO’s Mario Herrero, one of the authors

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Mario Herrero, a scientist formerly with ILRI and now serving as chief research scientist of agriculture and food at Australia’s CSIRO, recently gave a seminar at the University of Edinburgh’s Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The title of Herrero’s 19 Sep 2019 seminar was ‘Can we feed the planet and stay within planetary boundaries’. He focused on the EAT-Lancet Report on healthy diets (Commission Food in The Anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems, 16 Jan 2019), to which he contributed, along with 36 other experts. Continue reading →

Is climate change a risk to global grazing lands?
Article / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / Forages / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Research / Science paper

Is climate change a risk to global grazing lands?

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Published by the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota, Environment Reports is a collaboration between an international group of scientists, writers, and designers to combine incisive narratives about environmental challenges, backed up by cutting-edge data. Food Matters, the first report, focuses on the sustainability of our global food system. The article below—Is climate change a risk to global grazing lands?—is reproduced here by permission. Continue reading →

Variability in rainfall is increasing on global pastures important for food access and economies—Nature Climate Change
Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / Forages / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Science paper

Variability in rainfall is increasing on global pastures important for food access and economies—Nature Climate Change

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We found that areas where livestock grazing is an important part of local food availability (Fig. 3, dark red) and economies (dark blue) experience the highest levels of CVP (coefficient of variation of precipitation). Continue reading →

First map of smallholder farms in the developing world: They produce more than half the planet’s food calories
Agriculture / Article / Food Security / Geodata / Policy / Vulnerability

First map of smallholder farms in the developing world: They produce more than half the planet’s food calories

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Researchers at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment have used household census data to map smallholder farms in developing countries. Despite the fact that smallholder and family farms are crucial to feeding the planet, little is known regarding the location and size of smallholder farms. This study attempts to fill this knowledge gap. Continue reading →

‘Mixing it up’ down on the farm to better adapt to climate change
Africa / Article / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / ILRI / Livestock Systems / SLS

‘Mixing it up’ down on the farm to better adapt to climate change

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A recent perspective piece published in Nature Climate Change by researchers Philip Thornton and Mario Herrero suggests that we still know very little about how climate change will impact these mixed farms and especially the interactions between crops and livestock. This is alarming as mixed farming systems form the backbone of smallholder production in developing countries,producing over 90% of the world’s milk supply and 80% of the meat from ruminants. Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

The roads not taken: Should 1bn overfed people eat less meat? Or 1bn hungry farmers become more efficient?

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The Butcher, by Marc Chagall, 1910 (via Wikipaintings). Should you become vegetarian to help mitigate against global warming? Well, you could, or you might try just eating less meat, if you’re one of some 1 billion people chronically eating too much food. On the other hand, you might try helping some 1 billion small-scale livestock … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

Yet more evidence that agriculture–particularly livestock agriculture–needs to be part of climate discussions

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The farmyard, by Marc Chagall, 1954 (via Wikipaintings). Without big interventions, the future of food security looks bleak. So says an article in One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World Website. The clear message from . . . the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report is the urgent need for farmers to adapt to a changing … Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

Research shows vast differences in livestock systems, diets and emissions–FCRN on PNAS paper

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Tara Garnet, of the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN), at Oxford University, recently highlighted a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The paper, Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems, is written by livestock scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Kenya) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO, Australia). Continue reading →

Animal Production / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Kenya / Livestock Systems / Policy / SLS

What livestock eat (and don’t eat) determines how productive, and efficient, they are–PNAS study

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Napier grass (aka ‘elephant grass’), a major feed supplement for dairy cows and other ruminant animals in Kenya (photo credit: Jeff Haskins). Even though research has shown that [greenhouse gas] GHG emissions from the Western world far outweigh those from the developing world, livestock keeping methods in Africa are increasingly becoming a key subject. Europe, … Continue reading →

Article / CCAFS / Environment / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms

Future of (sustainable) livestock production: Efficient, but measured–Time Magazine on major new ILRI study

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Ethiopian livestock-keeper and her children (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu). Livestock production may have a bigger impact on the planet than anything else. A new study from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) shows how the effects vary from country to country — and points the way toward a more sustainable future. Below, Time Magazine‘s senior … Continue reading →