Yesterday (7 Sep 2020), ILRI and four partners—Bidco Land O’Lakes, Corteva Agriscience, Forage Genetics International (FGI) and Land O’Lakes Venture37—announced their new alliance in a project to strengthen dairy production in central Kenya. The project aims to help 5,000 smallholder dairy women to advance their sustainable farming practices and to ease the shortage of dairy products in the country. Continue reading
Category Archives: Countries
COVID-19 and the brain
One common COVID-19 complication is altered mental state, which may be the result of encephalitis – swelling of the brain – caused by the virus itself, or by the body’s immune response to the virus. The latest news about the link between COVID-19 and neurological complications can be found by visiting the Brain Infections Global COVID-Neuro website or following Professor Solomon on Twitter @RunningMadProf. Continue reading
ILRI Forage Genebank supports development of improved forage varieties to increase livestock productivity in Ethiopia
The recent release of the CGIAR Genebank Platform 2019 annual report highlights that, for the third year in a row, germplasm distribution to requesters outside of the CGIAR exceeded that to those inside the CGIAR. Ethiopia ranked as one of the top 10 countries receiving germplasm from the CGIAR. Nearly 60% of these, representing a … Continue reading
ILRI launches new drought index insurance for resilience in the Sahel and Horn of Africa project
In July, ILRI launched a new Drought Index-insurance for Resilience in the Sahel and Horn of Africa (DIRISHA) project, focusing on pastoral systems in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region. Continue reading
Laughter, the universal language
I’m a gender researcher working on a project to control peste des petits ruminants (PPR). I have wondered what our international agricultural research would be like if we researchers and the farmers/herders we work with and for could all understand each other perfectly. Continue reading
New project to improve agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe
A new European Union-funded ‘Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe’ (LIPS-Zim) project is working to increase agricultural productivity in the country’s agro-ecological Zones IV and V. It is promoting the adoption of climate-relevant innovations in livestock production systems and improving surveillance and control of livestock diseases. Launched on 1 January 2020, the LIPS-Zim project is implemented … Continue reading
Grass roots vaccination campaigns support rabies eradication in Kenya
Significant challenges exist in sub-Saharan Africa where vaccination efforts and large-scale campaigns, which focus on rural areas, often have mixed results. In Kenya, the National Rabies Elimination Coordination Committee oversees efforts to eliminate dog-mediated rabies. It is coordinated by the Zoonotic Disease Unit (ZDU) and the ministries of health, and agriculture livestock and fisheries. Continue reading
‘A vaccine is coming—the question is how soon’
Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty addressed the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) at its latest Town Hall meeting Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine and ILRI patron Peter Doherty discussed vaccines, herd immunity, and policy responses to COVID-19 with Director General Jimmy Smith at ILRI’s weekly digital town hall meeting on 29 May 2020. … Continue reading
Woman veterinarian pioneers public-private partnership to improve veterinary service delivery in Ethiopia
To ensure better and rationalized veterinary service delivery that addresses local needs, the Health of Ethiopian Animals for Rural Development (HEARD) project has established public-private partnership task forces in Ethiopia’s Amhara, Oromia and Somali regions. Continue reading
Focus on environmental health: The role of rangelands in an integrated One Health approach
In recent years in the pastoral areas of developing countries, One Health is gaining increasing credibility and visibility as an approach that can combine interventions for both human and animals. However, relatively little attention has been given thus far to the environmental health component including of the resource base – rangelands. Continue reading