Researchers at the Roslin Institute will be using funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates, which is a proven approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health is an alliance between the Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Africa-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The partner institutions are making additional contributions with a value of £10 million to support the initiative over the next five years. Continue reading
Category Archives: UK
UK chief scientific adviser visits Kenya: Part 1—Legacy of British-ILRI partnerships in animal health research
There has been a long-term, consistent and highly productive engagement between research institutions and funding bodies of the United Kingdom and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its predecessors, the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) and the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA). Continue reading
It’s simple (everybody eats); It’s complicated (everybody eats differently)
The inestimable Tara Garnett, of the Food Climate Research Network, offers much new food for thought on ‘the meat question’ in a new discussion paper on What is a sustainable healthy diet? and a new think piece, Gut feelings and possible tomorrows: (where) does animal farming fit? Continue reading
Food scares: Agrifood systems everywhere need greater cooperation and investments in safer foods and farming
An interesting, if scary, read is chapter 6 of the recently launched flagship report of IFPRI on reducing and managing food scares, co-written by Delia Grace at ILRI and John McDermott, who directs the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, led by IFPRI. Continue reading
Scottish and Kenya scientists in new alliance to improve animal breeding and health in developing countries
Challenges faced by livestock farmers in tropical developing countries are the focus of a new alliance involving researchers from Scotland and Africa. The new Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health will initially focus on the use of genetic information to improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates. Continue reading
Africa’s first ‘Islamic-compliant’ livestock insurance pays 100 herders in Kenya’s remote drylands of Wajir for drought-related livestock losses
Today, for the first time in Africa, an insurance policy that combines an Islamic-compliant financial instrument with innovative use of satellite imagery is compensating Muslim pastoralists for drought-induced losses suffered in Kenya’s northeastern Wajir County, where livestock are valued at Ksh46 billion (USD550 million). Continue reading