Category Archives: Agriculture

Brachiaria grass can help Kenya’s dryland food producers improve their soils and yields under a changing climate
Agriculture / Animal Feeding / BecA / Crop-Livestock / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Feeds / Forages / ILRI / Kenya / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Science paper / Soils / Spotlight

Brachiaria grass can help Kenya’s dryland food producers improve their soils and yields under a changing climate

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Results of a recent study by the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute Hub (BecA-ILRI Hub) and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), both based in Nairobi, indicate that the many people farming in Kenya’s semi-arid regions would profit in many ways from planting drought-tolerant Brachiaria grass. Continue reading →

Vietnam launches report on better managing risks to food safety
A4NH / Agri-Health / Agriculture / AHH / Animal Products / Australia / Books and Chapters / Canada / Communications / Consumption / Event Report / Food Safety / France / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Launch / Policy / Southeast Asia / Spotlight / Vietnam

Vietnam launches report on better managing risks to food safety

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A report launched this week on managing risks to food safety in Vietnam was prepared by the World Bank and other research and development partners at the request of the Government of Vietnam. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was the lead technical partner in development of the report. Food Safety Risk Management in Vietnam: Challenges and opportunities was launched on 27 Mar 2017. Continue reading →

The legacy of Norman Borlaug: Alive and well at the International Livestock Research Institute
Africa / Agriculture / BecA / Capacity Strengthening / CGIAR / Directorate / Event Report / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Insurance / Research / SLS / Spotlight

The legacy of Norman Borlaug: Alive and well at the International Livestock Research Institute

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ILRI was honoured by a visit this week to ILRI by Julie Borlaug (left) and Jeannie Borlaug Laube, granddaugher and daughter of Norman Borlaug, respectively. Continue reading →

New Nutrition Knowledge Bank gives direct access to expert nutritional advice via mobile phones
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Agriculture / AHH / Asia / Bangladesh / CapDev / Communications / Gender / Ghana / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Malawi / Mozambique / Nigeria / Nutrition / Project / Spotlight / Tanzania / Uganda / Zambia

New Nutrition Knowledge Bank gives direct access to expert nutritional advice via mobile phones

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A new open-access Nutrition Knowledge Bank has been created as part of a GSMA mNutrition initiative to help tackle malnutrition in Africa and Asia. This collection of content on good nutritional practices includes factsheets and mobile messages for anyone to download and use. Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the mNutrition project aims to deliver nutrition information to 3 million people in 12 developing countries. Continue reading →

Sustainable livestock systems – highlights from ILRI’s corporate report 2015–2016
Agriculture / CCAFS / Climate Change / Corporate Report / Environment / ILRI / Intensification / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Mazingira / Pastoralism / Rangelands / Research / SLS

Sustainable livestock systems – highlights from ILRI’s corporate report 2015–2016

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In 2015–2016, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners revealed extraordinary findings that the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cattle in Kenya maybe up to 10 times lower than previous estimates, clearly making the case for improving Africa-specific understanding of GHG emissions to develop better-targeted climate change mitigation and adaption strategies. Continue reading →

Policies, value chains and livelihoods – highlights from ILRI’s corporate report 2015–2016
Agriculture / Botswana / Corporate Report / Ethiopia / Gender / ILRI / Livelihoods / LIVES / Livestock / LIVESTOCKCRP / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / PIL / PIM / Research / Trade / Value Chains

Policies, value chains and livelihoods – highlights from ILRI’s corporate report 2015–2016

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The experience of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partner scientists in 2015–2016 highlights how research and policy analysis guide prioritization of livestock investments and interventions that transform livestock value chains enabling men and women smallholder farmers to improve their lives. However, building on solid research, it is the training of key stakeholders and research support which delivers direct benefits to value chains actors and poor consumers of animal-source foods. Continue reading →

A ‘theory of change’ for agricultural research for development
Agriculture / Article / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Communications / Food Security / ILRI / Impact Assessment / Policy / Poverty / Research / Scaling / SLS / Spotlight

A ‘theory of change’ for agricultural research for development

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The following are highlights of a new CGIAR paper advancing ways to make agricultural science make a bigger difference to development outcomes. We describe a theory-of-change approach to an agricultural research for development program. Continue reading →

Livestock environmental ‘hoofprints’: Five fast facts to remember—Shirley Tarawali at ‘Farming First’
Advocacy / Agriculture / Climate Change / Consumption / Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Environment / Food Security / GLAD / ILRI / Livestock Systems / Nutrition / Opinion Piece / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight

Livestock environmental ‘hoofprints’: Five fast facts to remember—Shirley Tarawali at ‘Farming First’

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In this guest post, originally published by Farming First, Shirley Tarawali, assistant director general of the
 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), takes a closer look at livestock’s impact on the environment, and what is being done to manage its environmental ‘hoofprint’. Continue reading →

Improving food safety and human health through agricultural research: CGIAR future plans
A4NH / Aflatoxins / Agri-Health / Agriculture / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / Project / Report / Spotlight / Zoonotic Diseases

Improving food safety and human health through agricultural research: CGIAR future plans

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A useful summary of the future plans of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), based in Washington, DC, has been published. Two of the five flagships of this multi-institutional research program are led or co-led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Nairobi, Kenya. Future work of these two flagships is described below. Continue reading →