‘So what exactly are you researching anyway?’
Advocacy / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Capacity Strengthening / Climate Change / Communications / ILRI / Pro-Poor Livestock

‘So what exactly are you researching anyway?’

A ‘pitching’ challenge at ILRI helps young scientists explain what they do—and why it matters—to inquisitive friends, donors and policymakers Sometimes all it might take to prevent the spread of a contagious disease is to nail up a fence door left casually hanging open on its hinges. That’s one of the key lessons from Titus … Continue reading

Animal health experts on the ‘goat plague’ known as PPR chart ways forward for better controlling a widespread disease harming the world’s small-scale sheep and goats producers
Africa / Agriculture / AHH / Animal Health / Asia / Diagnostics / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Goats / ILRI / Middle East / PPR / Sheep / Small Ruminants / Vaccines

Animal health experts on the ‘goat plague’ known as PPR chart ways forward for better controlling a widespread disease harming the world’s small-scale sheep and goats producers

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), also known as ‘goat plague’, is a viral disease related to rinderpest of sheep as well as goats. This contagious transboundary disease hurts the livelihoods of millions of small-scale livestock farmers, threatening food security with estimated economic losses exceeding USD1.5 billion per year. The disease threatens 80 per cent of … Continue reading

In Mali, an old vaccine can be a new way to fight poverty
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Article / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Goats / Mali / Pastoralism / PPR / Pro-Poor Livestock / Sheep / Vaccines

In Mali, an old vaccine can be a new way to fight poverty

Scientists working at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have found a way to significantly increase the vaccination coverage of goats and sheep in the Sahel against one of the most common and widely feared animal diseases—the peste des petits ruminants (PPR) or ovine rinderpest—a viral infection which is endemic to the region and kills … Continue reading

Climate change already damaging children’s health, says new Lancet report
Africa / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Launch / Livestock

Climate change already damaging children’s health, says new Lancet report

Climate change is already damaging the health of the world’s children and is set to shape the well-being of an entire generation unless the world meets Paris Agreement targets to limit warming to ‘well below’ 2 degrees Celsius, according to a major new report published in The Lancet. Continue reading

University of Illinois bestows its 2019 International Alumni Award on ILRI chief Jimmy Smith
Agriculture / Award / Directorate / ILRI / North America / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight / Staff / USA

University of Illinois bestows its 2019 International Alumni Award on ILRI chief Jimmy Smith

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has bestowed its Madhuri and Jagdish N Sheth International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement on Jimmy W Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Established in 2000, this annual university award recognizes its international alumni who are highly distinguished in their profession, have made outstanding contributions to government, humanity, science, art, or human welfare, and exemplify the strength of their education at Illinois. Continue reading

Livestock in context: A plea for intellectual rigor and collegial disagreement
Advocacy / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Consumption / Event Report / Farming Systems / Livelihoods / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Nutrition / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock

Livestock in context: A plea for intellectual rigor and collegial disagreement

Lawrence Haddad, the executive director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and 2018 World Food Prize co-winner, gave two presentations at the International Tropical Agriculture Conference held 11-13 November in Brisbane, Australia. The first, titled Let them eat meat, was covered in an earlier blog post. His second presentation, titled Why animal source foods … Continue reading

The future of livestock in the developing world: myths, complexities and trade-offs
Agriculture / Directorate / Environment / Event Report / ILRI / ILRIComms / Livestock / Livestock Systems

The future of livestock in the developing world: myths, complexities and trade-offs

The future of livestock in the developing world was one of the principal themes at the third International Tropical Agriculture (TropAg) Conference held from 11-13 November 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. The conference focused on the challenge of feeding the world’s ever-growing population, which is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. The greatest challenges will … Continue reading

Towards sustainable food system transformations in the Global South
Advocacy / Agriculture / Climate Change / Communications / Consumption / Environment / Event Report / GLAD / Livelihoods / Livestock / Nutrition / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock

Towards sustainable food system transformations in the Global South

The world is just eleven harvests away from 2030, but for hundreds of millions of people the goal of ending hunger set forth in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) remains as loftily elusive as ever. What can be done to put the developing world on the right track? Continue reading

Enhancing food security through sustainable livestock systems
Advocacy / Agriculture / GLAD / ILRI / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock

Enhancing food security through sustainable livestock systems

Iain Wright, deputy director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), gave the keynote presentation at a side event on enhancing food security through innovation in sustainable livestock systems at the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) conference held in Rome last week. Continue reading