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
Category Archives: Regions
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
An updated look at ILRI research programs: The Biosciences eastern and central Africa-ILRI Hub
A first look at a revamped ILRI research initiative: Biosciences eastern and central Africa-ILRI Hub Continue reading
Kenya’s wildlife populations are in ‘widespread’ and ‘catastrophic’ decline—New study
Here’s a wake up call for all those who care about Kenya’s rich heritage of wild animals, rangelands and pastoral peoples. A new study reporting on the period from 1977 to 2016 says wildlife on the rangelands of Kenya, which still support some of the richest herds of mammals on earth, is in precipitous decline while populations of goats and sheep are increasingly sharply. Continue reading
India and Vietnam in South-South collaboration on shared pig breeds, production systems and cultures
Nagaland launches a comprehensive state pig-breeding policy, the first of its kind in India, developed through participatory and consultative processes. Continue reading
Cloned bull could contribute to development of disease-resistant African cattle
A note in a scientific journal gives an update on long-term research to develop African cattle resistant to the Africa animal disease known as trypanosomiasis. The aim of this research is to help reduce widespread poverty and hunger on the continent by improving livestock livelihoods. Continue reading
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
KALRO–ILRI agreement to deepen cooperation in livestock research in Kenya
On 29 August 2016, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the International Livestock Research Institute signed a memorandum of agreement that will pave way for deepening their collaboration in agricultural research for development. Continue reading
The hand that cares and feeds: India’s unnatural ‘natural’ caretakers of livestock
I was impressed by how much India’s women food producers make the most out of their situations, how often they thrive in what they do despite constraints, how few view themselves as victims of their circumstances, how often, and with what assurance and purposefulness, they exercise agency. Continue reading
India’s addiction to milk as a diabetes pandemic moves to the villages
This is the eleventh in a series of articles on ‘Curds and goats, lives and livelihoods—A dozen stories from northern and eastern India’. PART 11: India’s addiction to milk as a diabetes pandemic moves to the villages Continue reading