East Coast fever causes annual losses estimated at more than USD300 million and more than one million cattle deaths. Recent research-for-development approaches have accelerated the uptake of the ITM vaccine and demonstrated how its use is driving increased incomes for small-scale livestock farmers in Kenya and Tanzania. Continue reading
Poultry farming in Kenya is growing rapidly and remains largely dominated by women, who typically invest most of their earnings in feeding their families and educating their children. That is why controlling major poultry diseases is so important. Continue reading
Recently, a team of scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), led by anthropologist Alessandra Galiè, in collaboration with Emory University, developed the Women’s Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI), a new index to assess the empowerment of women in production systems in which livestock are important. Continue reading
Rising demand for milk, meat and eggs in developing countries is opening up big new opportunities to establish and grow businesses and create jobs. While rapidly changing livestock systems pose a range of environmental, health and equity challenges across the highly heterogeneous livestock production systems worldwide, targeted investment in sustainable livestock research for development can produce more food, increase resilience in communities and the environment, and drive equitable and broad-based economic growth. Helping to ensure that hundreds of millions of poor small-scale livestock farmers, processors and marketers, many of whom are women, benefit from these opportunities will be crucial to achieving many of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Continue reading
Originally posted on ILVAC:
Written by Bernard Bett Several outbreaks of Rift Valley fever in livestock and people have occurred in eastern Africa over the last three months or so. In the first week of June 2018, local media reported at least five fatal human cases in Kenya’s northern Wajir County. More suspected cases in…
A new report was published this month on the value of ensuring consumption of meat, milk and eggs by infants up to two years of age and by expectant and new mothers in developing countries (the first 1,000 days). The report was published by ILRI and the Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security. Highlights of the findings of this joint ILRI-Chatham livestock study were presented at a side event at the EAT Stockholm Food Forum on 11 Jun 2018. Continue reading
This year’s EAT 2018 Stockholm Food Forum (11–12 Jun 2018) explores ways to achieve healthy and sustainable diets for a growing global population. On Monday, 11 Jun 2018, Chatham House and ILRI will host a side event around the findings of an evidence review on the influence of livestock-derived foods—meat, milk and eggs—on the nutrition of women and of children during their first 1,000 days of life, from conception to age two. Continue reading
Estimates of livestock yield gaps are not available and these are necessary for developing feasible scenarios of how the production of different livestock commodities might evolve in the future, how systems might change and what would be the resource use implications and their costs, both for donors and for public and private entities in target countries. Continue reading
Opinion piece by ILRI scientist Silvia Alonso on the ILRI-Chatham House report on the importance of livestock-derived foods in the first 1,000 days of life. Continue reading
An extensive review of research found demonstrable nutritional benefits of providing children, particularly in countries in Africa and South Asia where undernutrition is highest, with livestock-derived foods such as meat, milk and eggs. Consumption of livestock-derived foods was typically found to be very low among poor families in those countries. The influence of livestock-derived foods on nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life, published by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Chatham House, also concluded that it was possible to meet the nutritional needs of the most vulnerable through livestock-derived produce even if total global livestock production slowed down. Continue reading
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