Category Archives: Pro-Poor Livestock

ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance and Takaful Insurance of Africa win ‘2017 Insurance Innovation Award’
Award / Drought / East Africa / IBLI / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock / Livestock Systems / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / SLS / Spotlight

ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance and Takaful Insurance of Africa win ‘2017 Insurance Innovation Award’

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ILRI’s Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) program and Takaful Insurance of Africa are this year’s winners of the prestigious Insurance Innovations Award 2017. The announcement was made at the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re)’s Insurance Awards gala dinner held on Monday 22 May 2017, at the Serena Kigo Hotel, in Kampala, Uganda. Continue reading →

Livestock for food security and nutrition—Committee on World Food Security policy recommendations
A4NH / Agri-Health / AHH / AMR / Animal Diseases / Animal Health / Animal Production / Disease Control / Farming Systems / Feeds / Fodder / Food Safety / Food Security / Forages / FSZ / Gender / Genetics / Human Health / ILRI / Intensification / Livelihoods / Livestock Systems / Policy / PPR / Pro-Poor Livestock / Soils / Spotlight / Zoonotic Diseases

Livestock for food security and nutrition—Committee on World Food Security policy recommendations

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The following policy recommendations build on the main findings of the CFS High Level Panel of Expert’s Jul 2016 report #10, on Sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition: What roles for livestock? The sustainable development of agriculture, including livestock, is essential for poverty reduction and the achievement of food security and nutrition. Continue reading →

The multiple benefits of livestock are in focus this week as experts meet in Ethiopia
Animal Breeding / Animal Diseases / Animal Feeding / Animal Health / Animal Production / Animal Products / Directorate / Ethiopia / Event Report / Food Security / ILRI / ILRIComms / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight

The multiple benefits of livestock are in focus this week as experts meet in Ethiopia

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More than 250 livestock experts from over 50 countries are exploring ways of ensuring that the long-term benefits of livestock contribute to sustainable development. They’re participating in the 7th Multi-Stakeholder Partnership meeting of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), in Ethiopia, this week. The 8–12 May 2017 meeting was officially opened by His Excellency Professor Fekadu Beyene, Ethiopia’s minister for livestock and fisheries, on Monday in the capital, Addis Ababa. Continue reading →

ILRI opens state-of-the-art genebank and bioscience facilities in Ethiopia
Animal Feeding / Biodiversity / Biotechnology / Capacity Strengthening / CGIAR / Ethiopia / Event / Feeds / FFD / Forages / ILRI / Launch / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight

ILRI opens state-of-the-art genebank and bioscience facilities in Ethiopia

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The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) officially opens state-of-the-art facilities for genebank and bioscience research on 24 April 2017. The facilities will help protect a crucial component of the planet’s biodiversity—the diverse grasses and legumes that feed the world’s food animals. Research conducted here on livestock feed materials improves the sustainability and productivity of the livestock sector in many low-income countries across the world. Continue reading →

Brachiaria grass can help Kenya’s dryland food producers improve their soils and yields under a changing climate
Agriculture / Animal Feeding / BecA / Crop-Livestock / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Feeds / Forages / ILRI / Kenya / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Science paper / Soils / Spotlight

Brachiaria grass can help Kenya’s dryland food producers improve their soils and yields under a changing climate

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Results of a recent study by the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute Hub (BecA-ILRI Hub) and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), both based in Nairobi, indicate that the many people farming in Kenya’s semi-arid regions would profit in many ways from planting drought-tolerant Brachiaria grass. Continue reading →

Simplistic livestock solutions no help for poor people in transition from smallholders to ‘smartholders’
Africa / Asia / Australia / Directorate / ILRI / Opinion Piece / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Spotlight

Simplistic livestock solutions no help for poor people in transition from smallholders to ‘smartholders’

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Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), who previously led the World Bank’s global livestock portfolio, was in Australia last week, talking to ILRI’s scientific colleagues and donor representatives in Canberra and Melbourne. ILRI is chaired by Australian Lindsay Falvey and its patron is Australian Nobel Prize laureate Peter Doherty. Continue reading →

From livestock smallholders to ‘smartholders’: Nurturing development with animal-source foods
Agri-Health / Animal Products / Consumption / Crop-Livestock / Directorate / Event / Food Security / Human Health / ILRI / Livelihoods / Livestock Systems / Nutrition / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Resilience / Spotlight

From livestock smallholders to ‘smartholders’: Nurturing development with animal-source foods

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Scientists from across the globe gathered at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences on 29–30 Mar 2017 to discuss ways to improve nutrition through animal-source foods in some of the most impoverished regions in the world. Chronically affecting 24 per cent of the world’s children, roughly 159 million in 2014, malnutrition is responsible for almost half of all child deaths worldwide. Jimmy Smith, director general of ILRI, was one of the keynote speakers at the opening of the Global Nutrition Symposium, the theme of which was ‘Nurturing development: Improving human nutrition with animal-source foods’. Continue reading →

Beef value chain actors reap big gains from new financing in Southern Africa
Animal Feeding / Cattle / CGIAR / Event Report / Intensification / Livestock / Markets / PIL / PIM / Pro-Poor Livestock / Southern Africa / Spotlight / Value Chains / Zambia / Zimbabwe

Beef value chain actors reap big gains from new financing in Southern Africa

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Efforts by research and development partners are offering renewed hope for livestock financing in Southern Africa. This was revealed at an International Conference on Livestock Value Chain Finance and Access to Credit, organized by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with the Swaziland Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (SWADE) and Swaziland’s Micro Finance Unit (MFU) 21-23 Feb 2017. Continue reading →

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

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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 →