MERS-CoV antibodies found in two people in eastern Kenya
A4NH / Agri-Health / Article / Camels / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Epidemiology / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / ILVAC / Kenya / LIVESTOCKFISH / MERS / Spotlight / Zoonotic Diseases

MERS-CoV antibodies found in two people in eastern Kenya

A new study published in the science journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reports that two individuals in Kenya have tested positive for the presence of antibodies to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV). Neither person is ill nor do they recall having any symptoms associated with MERS. There is no evidence of a public health threat and scientists concluded that the infections caused little or no clinical signs of illness. But they plan follow-up studies, as this is the first indication of a MERS-CoV infection that is not connected to primary infections in the Middle East. Continue reading

Mobile technology-driven capacity development: Lessons from mNutrition and IBLI projects
Africa / CapDev / CCAFS / DRYLANDSCRP / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Nutrition / SLS

Mobile technology-driven capacity development: Lessons from mNutrition and IBLI projects

With global mobile technology growing exponentially, the opportunities for resource- and infrastructure-poor countries to rapidly expand learning are huge. Two projects managed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)—mNutrition and Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI)—have seized this opportunity and developed mobile technology solutions to challenges they encountered. Continue reading

New Kenya value chains program to lift 300,000 plus households out of poverty
Agriculture / Article / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / PIL / Policy / SLS / Spotlight / Value Chains

New Kenya value chains program to lift 300,000 plus households out of poverty

Starting in October 2015, ILRI, in partnership with two other CGIAR centres, has initiated a new three-year USD25 million program to help lift 317,000 households out of poverty, making them food secure and enabling their transition from subsistence to market-orientated farming. Continue reading

Designing practical ways to help the urban poor make choices that improve their nutrition
A4NH / Agri-Health / Animal Products / Consumption / East Africa / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Gender / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Nutrition / Project / Spotlight / Vulnerability / Women

Designing practical ways to help the urban poor make choices that improve their nutrition

To improve interventions in food systems of the urban poor, scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are investigating urban food and nutritional choices in two slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Their aim is to develop interventions that help people make food choices that improve their nutrition while staying within their low household food budgets and access. Continue reading

UK chief scientific adviser visits Kenya: Part 2—’One Health’ surveillance of infectious livestock-to-human diseases
A4NH / Agri-Health / Disease Control / East Africa / Emerging Diseases / Event Report / Geodata / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / LiveGene / Spotlight / Zoonotic Diseases

UK chief scientific adviser visits Kenya: Part 2—’One Health’ surveillance of infectious livestock-to-human diseases

The first scientist of two scientists to make a short presentation to Sir Mark Walport, the UK chief scientific adviser, on his 15 Jul 2015 visit to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, was Eric Fèvre, a veterinary epidemiologist and joint appointee at ILRI and the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool. Fèvre manages several field-oriented research projects on neglected zoonoses on behalf of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. Continue reading

UK Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Mark Walport visits ILRI’s livestock laboratories in Nairobi on 15 July 2015
BecA / Directorate / ILRI / Kenya / Spotlight

UK Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Mark Walport visits ILRI’s livestock laboratories in Nairobi on 15 July 2015

On Wednesday 15 Jul, Sir Mark Walport, the UK’s chief scientific advisor, will visit the Nairobi headquarters of ILRI, tour its state-of-the-art Biosciences eastern and central Africa-ILRI Hub laboratories, and have lunch and discussions with ILRI directors and scientists. Continue reading

Kenya’s native goats and sheep, expertly crossbred, are key to helping farmers cope with climate change
Agriculture / Animal Breeding / Animal Production / Article / Breeds / CCAFS / Climate Change / East Africa / Genetics / Goats / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / Kenya / LiveGene / Livestock / Sheep / Small Ruminants

Kenya’s native goats and sheep, expertly crossbred, are key to helping farmers cope with climate change

Smallholder farmers and pastoral herders in East Africa are the target of an ongoing joint project of ILRI, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Continue reading

Managing the most nutritious, and riskiest, foods in the informal markets of developing countries
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Products / Consumption / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Nigeria / Nutrition / Opinion Piece / Spotlight

Managing the most nutritious, and riskiest, foods in the informal markets of developing countries

A new book compiling 25 contemporary studies on food safety in Africa’s informal markets offers (surprising) lessons for much of the developing world. Continue reading

IGAD’s Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and Great Lakes region member states sign agreement for joint work with ILRI
Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Eritrea / Ethiopia / ILRI / Kenya / Launch / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / SLS / Somalia / South Sudan / Spotlight / Sudan / Uganda

IGAD’s Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and Great Lakes region member states sign agreement for joint work with ILRI

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an an eight-country trade bloc in Africa including governments from the Horn of Africa, the Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes region and with headquarters in Djibouti City, signed a memorandum of understanding last Friday (27 Mar 2015) with the International livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Continue reading