A new science paper argues for broadening traditional approaches to livestock sustainability and veterinary vision in developing countries. Two of the three livestock science authors—Brian Perry and Tim Robinson—have formerly worked at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) while the third—Delia Grace—co-leads ILRI’s Animal and Human Health program. Continue reading
Category Archives: Pro-Poor Livestock
Ethiopia sets out the futures for its growing poultry, dairy and meat subsectors
A new livestock sector analysis from the Ethiopia’s Livestock State Ministry (LSM) and Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was recently published. This work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to help Ethiopia in its fact-based planning. Continue reading
Shirley Tarawali on convergence in consumption of milk, meat, eggs at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
Shirley Tarawali’s keynote presentation at a GFFA expert panel session focused on Food of animal origin: Demand and diversity. She said that global demand for livestock-derived foods is changing both in quantities—with demand flattening in rich countries but increasing in low- and middle-income countries—and in qualities, varying by region and commodity, and that meeting that rising demand for livestock-derived foods ‘sustainably, responsibly and efficiently’ requires two main things—(1) moderating the demand, wasting less, producing more and improving production efficiency while also (2) taking account of the diversity of livestock systems and producers to maximize opportunities to address the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Continue reading
Kenya’s Robin Mbae on livestock and climate change at Berlin’s Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
Robin Mbae, deputy director of livestock production at the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, describes Kenya’s planning and implementation of interventions to address the impacts of climate change on the livestock sector and vice versa. Continue reading
Lora Iannotti on livestock and animal-source foods at Berlin’s Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
Lora Iannotti described the role of animal-source foods in human nutrition. Iannotti, associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University, in St Louis, Missouri, has considerable expertise in maternal and young child nutrition and nutrient deficiencies. Continue reading
BMZ’s Stefan Schmitz on sustainable solutions for the livestock sector
Following a welcome by ILRI Director General Jimmy Smith, Stefan Schmitz, head of BMZ’s division of rural development and food security and commissioner for BMZ’s special initiative on One World–No Hunger, launched in 2014, gave an opening speech. Continue reading
Escaping rural hunger and poverty in the developing world: A Global Farming Data Competition
ILRI and the Jean Golding Data Science Institute at the University of Bristol, UK, are challenging any data lovers to come up with novel, useful or exciting ways to use a big new dataset to improve understanding of farming practices and outcomes in low-income countries. Continue reading
Cereal straws and stovers for sustainable livestock futures: When crop biomass becomes livestock gold
Michael Blümmel, deputy program leader for the Feed and Forage Development program at ILRI, is lead author on a new paper that explores the big benefits of treating cereal straws and stovers—the ‘residues’ of cereal crops after their grain has been harvested—to release their sugars, thereby turning these crop residues into nourishing feed for ruminant farm animals—cows, water buffaloes, goats and sheep. Continue reading
‘Legacy Award’ bestowed on Jean Hanson, ILRI’s forage genebank gatekeeper for the last three decades
Along with six other distinguished scientists, Hanson today, 25 Feb 2018, received an inaugural ‘Legacy Award’ from the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which bestowed this award on Hanson for dedicating her career to forage conservation. Continue reading
Towards a sustainable, responsible and efficient livestock sector—Jimmy Smith at the Berlin Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
A delegation from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was involved in several of this year’s GFFA events, including a kick-off event, with ILRI Director General Jimmy Smith serving on the panel. Continue reading