Closer, smarter integration of crops, animals and soils has bolstered food security, livelihoods and incomes in rural Zimbabwe
Animal Feeding / Animal Health / Animal Production / ASSP / Cattle / Crop-Livestock / DRYLANDSCRP / Event Report / Extension / Fodder / Food Security / Forages / Goats / ILRI / Impact Assessment / Legumes / LIVESTOCKCRP / LIVESTOCKFISH / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Soils / Southern Africa / Spotlight / Zimbabwe

Closer, smarter integration of crops, animals and soils has bolstered food security, livelihoods and incomes in rural Zimbabwe

Partners and funders of a research-for-development project in rural Zimbabwe called ‘ZimCLIFS’ yesterday (18 Sep 2017) convened in the capital, Harare, to take stock of how small-scale mixed crop-and-livestock farmers improved their food and nutritional security and their livelihoods in four main districts (Goromonzi, Murewa, Gwanda and Nkayi, from 2012 to 2017) and in two spillover districts (Mutoko and Uzumba, from 2015 to 2017). Continue reading

Forage farming changes lives of Zimbabwe smallholder farmers
Animal Feeding / ASSP / Crop-Livestock / DRYLANDSCRP / Food Security / Forages / ILRI / Intensification / Livelihoods / Livestock / Project / Southern Africa / Zimbabwe

Forage farming changes lives of Zimbabwe smallholder farmers

Many rural households in Zimbabwe rely on food aid to meet their nutritional needs. This problem, often aggravated by unemployment and falls in income, threatens the livelihoods of low income and food-insecure populations. 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

No longer business as usual: Improved feeds transforming dairying in Zimbabwe
Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Article / ASSP / Cattle / Dairying / DRYLANDSCRP / Fodder / Food Security / ILRI / Intensification / Livelihoods / Livestock / Project / Southern Africa / Women / Zimbabwe

No longer business as usual: Improved feeds transforming dairying in Zimbabwe

Farmers participating in the Zimbabwe Crop-Livestock Integration for Food Security (ZimCLIFS) project have increased their gross margins by up to 70%. The ongoing food security improvement project is targeting the country’s dairy farmers to help improve feed farming and overall dairy production. Continue reading

Case study on the first insurance for Africa’s camels, cows, sheep and goats
CCAFS / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Report / SLS / Spotlight / Vulnerability

Case study on the first insurance for Africa’s camels, cows, sheep and goats

Iddo Dror prepared this case study with case writer Shreya Maheshwari and IBLI team leader Andrew Mude as the
basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.
This case was prepared in collaboration with the IBLI team and benefited from useful insights by a range of partners
and collaborators of the IBLI program. Continue reading

Africa’s first ‘Islamic-compliant’ livestock insurance pays 100 herders in Kenya’s remote drylands of Wajir for drought-related livestock losses
Australia / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Event / ILRI / ILRIComms / Insurance / Kenya / Launch / Pastoralism / PIL / Spotlight / UK

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