Category Archives: ILRIComms

New map: Benefits of controlling trypanosomosis in the Horn of Africa
Agriculture / Books and Chapters / Cattle / Disease Control / East Africa / Ethiopia / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / SLS / Somalia / South Sudan / Spotlight / Sudan / Trypanosomiasis / Zoonotic Diseases

New map: Benefits of controlling trypanosomosis in the Horn of Africa

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Using the Horn of Africa as an example, the maps illustrate different steps in a methodology developed to estimate and map the economic benefits to livestock keepers of controlling a disease (Shaw et al. 2014). Cattle are first assigned to different production systems as shown in Map 1, illustrating for example, where mixed farming is heavily dependent on the use of draft oxen in Ethiopia, areas of Sudan and South Sudan where oxen use is much lower, and the strictly pastoral areas of Somalia and Kenya. Continue reading →

New map: Impacts of climate change on length of growing periods in Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Books and Chapters / CCAFS / Climate Change / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Knowledge and Information / SLS / Spotlight

New map: Impacts of climate change on length of growing periods in Africa

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Impacts of climate change on length of growing periods in Africa by Philip Thornton The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has published an atlas illustrating the current state of African smallholder agriculture. The Atlas of African Agriculture Research and Development comprises a series of maps and short analyses that showcase and locate the continent’s diverse agricultural … Continue reading →

New map: Rainfall and rainfall variability in Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Books and Chapters / CCAFS / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Knowledge and Information / SLS / Spotlight / Water

New map: Rainfall and rainfall variability in Africa

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An average of less than 1,000 millimeters of rain falls per year across most of Africa (Map 1). Rainfall tends to decrease with distance from the equator and is negligible in the Sahara (north of about latitude 16°N), in eastern Somalia, and in the southwest of the continent in Namibia and South Africa. Rainfall is most abundant on the eastern seaboard of Madagascar; portions of the highlands in eastern Africa; large areas of the Congo Basin and central Africa; and parts of coastal western Africa including Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. Continue reading →

New map: Ruminant livestock distribution in Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Books and Chapters / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Knowledge and Information / Livestock / Livestock Systems / SLS / Spotlight

New map: Ruminant livestock distribution in Africa

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Ruminant livestock are raised across large parts of Africa where environmental conditions allow. Cattle, sheep, and goats are the most widespread, while camels are restricted to drier areas, particularly in the Horn of Africa and the arid parts of western Africa. These maps of ruminant dis­tribution should, however, be used in conjunction with the livestock production systems map to better under­stand the systems and climate zones where ruminant live­stock are found. The role of livestock varies greatly depending on the production system. Continue reading →

New map: Livestock and mixed crop-livestock systems in Africa
Africa / Agriculture / Books and Chapters / CCAFS / Crop-Livestock / Geodata / ILRI / ILRIComms / Knowledge and Information / Livestock Systems / SLS / Spotlight

New map: Livestock and mixed crop-livestock systems in Africa

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Livestock-producing agricultural systems cover 73 percent of Africa and stretch across several climates (Map 1). To some extent, these climates determine what type of farming is practiced. In Africa, livestock-producing systems are broken into two main categories: livestock and mixed crop-livestock. These systems exist in three common African climates: arid/semiarid, humid/subhumid, and temperate/tropical highlands. Continue reading →

Realpolitik–Nairobi ‘Community of Practice’ communicators get real practice impacting policymakers
Agriculture / CapDev / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / ILRIComms / Kenya / Knowledge and Information / Policy / Spotlight

Realpolitik–Nairobi ‘Community of Practice’ communicators get real practice impacting policymakers

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A community of practice for communications staff in research and development organizations (DevComms CoP) based in Nairobi participated in a ‘Science Communications for Policy Impact’ workshop following a conference, ‘Landscapes for People, Food and Nature’, at ICRAF on 3 July 2014. Continue reading →

The International Livestock Research Institute turns 40–Join us at an ILRI@40 event!
Event / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / ILRI40 / ILRIComms / Livelihoods / Livestock / Nutrition / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Spotlight

The International Livestock Research Institute turns 40–Join us at an ILRI@40 event!

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In 2014, to mark 40 years of its international research, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is facilitating a series of events that highlight the ways in which livestock research advances the global development agenda, specifically for sustainable food and nutritional security, economic well-being and healthy lives. Continue reading →

Hard numbers: Making the business case for massive investments in ‘One Health’ to protect ‘One World’
A4NH / Agri-Health / Agriculture / Article / Disease Control / Emerging Diseases / FSZ / Human Health / ILRIComms / Spotlight / Zoonotic Diseases

Hard numbers: Making the business case for massive investments in ‘One Health’ to protect ‘One World’

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The time has come to make the bigger case for massive investment in One Health to transform the management of neglected and emerging zoonoses and to save the lives of millions of people and hundreds of millions of animals whose production supports and nourishes billions of impoverished people per annum. Continue reading →

Getting (the band) back together: US climate report sees reconnecting crops to livestock as smart adaption strategy
Agriculture / Climate Change / Crop Residues / Crop-Livestock / Farming Systems / ILRI / ILRIComms / Intensification / LIVESTOCKFISH / Opinion Piece / Report / Spotlight / USA

Getting (the band) back together: US climate report sees reconnecting crops to livestock as smart adaption strategy

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The new National Climate Assessment released recently by President Obama’s Global Change Research Program contains dour predictions about the impact of climate change on livestock production in the United States. How can the country’s livestock sector adapt to these changes? One strategy suggested in the report will be familiar to experts at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It involves raising livestock and crops together and taking advantage of the synergies between the two. Continue reading →