The following opinion piece by Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), is reprinted from The Economist’s Analysis & Opinions page, The Meat We Eat, the Lives We Lift, where it was published on 23 Feb 2015. Continue reading
Author Archives: Susan MacMillan
Celebrating the ‘Year of the Goat’ (or ‘Sheep’, or ‘Ram’) today–with one-sixth of the world
On the occasion of Vietnamese lunar New Year 2015, we wish you a New Year of the Goat good health, prosperity and happiness.—Hung Nguyen and the rest of the staff in the Hanoi office of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Continue reading
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at ILRI–working for better lives from livestock
ILRI wishes all its partners, investors, friends, colleagues and former staff a Very Happy Valentine’s Day. Continue reading
India’s smallholder farmers are having a ‘livestock moment’
Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), gave one of three keynote presentations at the recent Agricultural Research Congress, held in Karnal, India, at the National Dairy Research Institute, from 3 to 6 Feb 2015. Continue reading
ILRI 40-year-anniversary: Event highlights
Highlights of blog posts, photos, tweets, posters and presentations from events organized by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) from Sep through Dec 2014. Continue reading
Despite contamination concerns, Africa must embrace ‘wet markets’ as key to food security
A new compilation of 25 studies in Africa finds that informal markets provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer than supermarkets. Misguided efforts to control the alarming burden of food-related illnesses in low-income countries risk intensifying malnutrition and poverty — while doing little to improve food safety. Blunt crack-downs on informal milk and meat sellers that are a critical source of food and income for millions of people are not the solution. Continue reading
Sam Black on Noel Murphy, Irish geneticist gentleman scholar
Noel Murphy died on Friday 16 January 2015, leaving the world devoid of a gentleman and scholar, and his friends and family bereft of a pillar of quiet strength, wisdom and thoughtfulness. Continue reading
Lavish new pictorial book honours the world’s primary food producer–the family farmer
Livestock matters a great deal in developing countries, playing an increasingly important role in food security and economic development. In fact, the livestock subsector is growing faster than all other agriculture sectors in developing countries worldwide. And importantly in the International Year of Family Farming, the bulk of that livestock production is occurring on small family farms. Livestock farming offers unique features to support local livelihoods and economies, especially for women. Continue reading
Life begins at 40: Of sweet spots–and the sweetest spot of all for the International Livestock Research Institute
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which turned 40 years old in 2014, organized a series of events with old and new colleagues, partners and friends, and with them looked back on what we have accomplished in the past 40 years and fleshed out ideas for the next 40. Continue reading
One-for-all and all-for-one: Breaking down the walls between the livestock, health and environmental sectors
In case you missed it, here is the gist of a keynote presentation on ‘one-health’ made by Jimmy Smith, the director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), at the 5th biennial conference of the International Association for Ecology & Health, held in Montreal, Canada, 11−15 Aug 2014. Smith’s presentation was titled: ‘Healthy people, animals and ecosystems for global food and nutritional security’. Continue reading