Managing the most nutritious, and riskiest, foods in the informal markets of developing countries
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Products / Consumption / Disease Control / Epidemiology / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / Nigeria / Nutrition / Opinion Piece / Spotlight

Managing the most nutritious, and riskiest, foods in the informal markets of developing countries

A new book compiling 25 contemporary studies on food safety in Africa’s informal markets offers (surprising) lessons for much of the developing world. 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

Fighting fire with fire: New study shows co-parasitic infections of cattle protect the animals from lethal disease
Agri-Health / Article / Cattle / Central Africa / Disease Control / East Africa / ECF / Epidemiology / Human Health / ILRI / Kenya / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKFISH / Southern Africa / Spotlight

Fighting fire with fire: New study shows co-parasitic infections of cattle protect the animals from lethal disease

A Boran calf and girl in eastern Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). A new study of the cattle killer East Coast fever finds a protective process that may also be at work in human malaria: Infections with milder parasites may protect against severe disease. African cattle infected with a lethal parasite that kills one million … Continue reading

New paper explodes a ‘breadbasket’ myth: African food production for African people, please
Agriculture / Article / CCAFS / Climate Change / Food Security / Humid Tropics / ILRI / Intensification / Opinion Piece / SLS / Spotlight / West Africa / Wildlife

New paper explodes a ‘breadbasket’ myth: African food production for African people, please

‘Africa could be on the brink of an agricultural revolution. Political commitment to the sector is thankfully gaining momentum as an effective route to bring African populations out of hunger and poverty. But there is also talk that the region’s potential croplands should feed the rest of the world as well, in addition to providing vast quantities of biofuels. However, a new scientific paper released this week suggests African countries should cast global requests aside and instead focus on staple crop production to feed the continent first.’ Continue reading

Humidtropics program launches research-for-development platform in Ethiopia
Agriculture / Article / ASSP / Crop-Livestock / East Africa / Ethiopia / Feeds / HUMIDTROPICS / Livestock

Humidtropics program launches research-for-development platform in Ethiopia

On 5 February 2015, the Humidtropics Ethiopia Action Site R4D Platform was launched at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa. The platform is designed to oversee, and link with, the local level innovation platforms at field sites for co-learning and guiding Humidtropics integrated research-for-development activities in the country. Continue reading

Celebrating the ‘Year of the Goat’ (or ‘Sheep’, or ‘Ram’) today–with one-sixth of the world
Asia / China / Event / Goats / ILRI / Livestock / Sheep / Southeast Asia / Spotlight / Vietnam

Celebrating the ‘Year of the Goat’ (or ‘Sheep’, or ‘Ram’) today–with one-sixth of the world

On the occasion of Vietnamese lunar New Year 2015, we wish you a New Year of the Goat good health, prosperity and happiness.—Hung Nguyen and the rest of the staff in the Hanoi office of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Continue reading

India’s smallholder farmers are having a ‘livestock moment’
Animal Production / Animal Products / Consumption / Directorate / Food Security / ILRI / India / Intensification / Livelihoods / Livestock Systems / Policy / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / South Asia / Spotlight

India’s smallholder farmers are having a ‘livestock moment’

Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), gave one of three keynote presentations at the recent Agricultural Research Congress, held in Karnal, India, at the National Dairy Research Institute, from 3 to 6 Feb 2015. Continue reading

Despite contamination concerns, Africa must embrace ‘wet markets’ as key to food security
A4NH / Africa / Agri-Health / Animal Products / Books and Chapters / Brucellosis / Disease Control / Food Safety / FSZ / Human Health / ILRI / Markets / Research / Spotlight / Women

Despite contamination concerns, Africa must embrace ‘wet markets’ as key to food security

A new compilation of 25 studies in Africa finds that informal markets provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer than supermarkets. Misguided efforts to control the alarming burden of food-related illnesses in low-income countries risk intensifying malnutrition and poverty — while doing little to improve food safety. Blunt crack-downs on informal milk and meat sellers that are a critical source of food and income for millions of people are not the solution. Continue reading