CGIAR livestock support is enhancing community resilience in the face of on-going drought in the Horn of Africa
CGIAR / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / LIVESTOCKCRP / Pastoralism / PIL / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Somalia / South Sudan / Spotlight / Sudan / Trade / Vulnerability

CGIAR livestock support is enhancing community resilience in the face of on-going drought in the Horn of Africa

Widespread drought conditions in the Horn of Africa have intensified since the failure of the Oct–Dec 2016 rains. Areas of greatest concern cover much of Somalia, northeast and coastal Kenya, southeast Ethiopia and the Afar region, and South Sudan, which faces a serious food crisis due to protracted insecurity. One focus of the East African-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is to help developing-country livestock communities enhance their resilience in the face of recurring droughts. ILRI belongs to CGIAR—a global research partnership of 15 centres and their partners working yo reduce poverty, enhance food and nutrition security and improve natural resources and ecosystem services. Continue reading

Record payouts being made by Kenya Government and insurers to protect herders facing historic drought
Camels / Cattle / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Event Report / Goats / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Launch / Pastoralism / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / Scaling / Sheep / SLS / Small Ruminants / Spotlight / Vulnerability / Water

Record payouts being made by Kenya Government and insurers to protect herders facing historic drought

More than Ksh214 million is on tap for 12,000 pastoral households in six counties of northern Kenya through innovative policies that use satellite imagery to trigger payments for feed, veterinary supplies and water. Continue reading

On selling insurance (not lottery tickets) to Africa’s struggling (stargazing) livestock herders–New York Times
Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livelihoods / LIVESTOCKFISH / Opinion Piece / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Spotlight / Vulnerability

On selling insurance (not lottery tickets) to Africa’s struggling (stargazing) livestock herders–New York Times

Insurance that pays out when forage coverage drops—known as index-based livestock insurance—is an elegant idea. Andrew Mude, an economist and principal scientist at ILRI, last month was awarded the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application. The award, a major prize in agricultural research, is given by the World Food Prize Foundation and financed by the Rockefeller Foundation. Tina Rosenberg covers the story in the New York Times. Continue reading

A first look at ILRI’s new research programs: Sustainable Livestock Systems
Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / Environment / ILRI / Intensification / NRM / Participation / Pastoralism / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Vulnerability

A first look at ILRI’s new research programs: Sustainable Livestock Systems

BETTER SCIENCE, BETTER LIVES The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), headquartered in Africa and working in poor countries worldwide to provide better lives through livestock, held its Institute Planning Meeting from 4 to 7 Oct 2016. This is the sixth of a series of blog articles reporting on plans for ILRI research programs, including ILRI’s work in … Continue reading

Kenyan accepts 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application at World Food Prize Event in Iowa
Africa / Animal Production / Award / CCAFS / CGIAR / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livelihoods / Pastoralism / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Spotlight

Kenyan accepts 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application at World Food Prize Event in Iowa

Andrew Mude, an economist and principal scientist at ILRI, is being presented with the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application today, 12 Oct 2016, for his work leading an innovative livestock insurance program that employs satellite data to help protect livestock herding communities in the Horn of Africa from the devastating effects of drought. Continue reading

Kenyan economist Andrew Mude wins the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application
Award / Communications / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / SLS / Spotlight / Staff / Vulnerability

Kenyan economist Andrew Mude wins the 2016 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application

Andrew Mude, a principal research scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Nairobi, Kenya, was yesterday named the 5th recipient of a prestigious award for his work in providing insurance to livestock herders in East Africa’s drylands through innovative, state-of-the-art technologies. Continue reading

Serious rain: East Africa’s annual Easter resurrection
Drought / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Opinion Piece / Spotlight / Water

Serious rain: East Africa’s annual Easter resurrection

Exactly four days following Easter Sunday this year, the ‘long rains’ arrived in Nairobi, watering the earth, flooding the streets, pounding the rooftops. All night that night, and all night the following nights, the kusi monsoon, blowing inland from across the Indian Ocean, has delivered the beating rain. 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

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