Livestock in developing countries—Misperceptions, facts and consequences
Biodiversity / Climate Change / Consumption / Directorate / Event Report / Human Health / ILRI / Nutrition / Policy / Presentation / Spotlight / UK

Livestock in developing countries—Misperceptions, facts and consequences

Jimmy Smith, the director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), is in London today (5 Oct 2017), speaking at an Extinction and Livestock Conference organized by Compassion in World Farming and the World Wildlife Fund. Continue reading

Sense of an ending—Imperatives for delivering research with the (SDGs) end in mind
Directorate / Environment / Human Health / ILRI / Livelihoods / NRM / Nutrition / Policy / Poverty / Presentation / Pro-Poor Livestock / Research / Spotlight

Sense of an ending—Imperatives for delivering research with the (SDGs) end in mind

Speaking last week at the opening of the annual meeting of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH), ILRI Director General Jimmy Smith reminded his scientific audience of the specific livestock means by which the world can meet their ambitious goals. The four livestock development pathways Smith describes for meeting the SDGs—economic growth, equitable livelihoods, nutrition and health, ecosystem health—(see below) are largely unknown outside of the South, where they are taken for granted. Time for that to change, Smith said. Time for livestock researchers to conduct their science ‘with the end in mind’. Continue reading

Why livestock are essential for Agenda 2030—Jimmy Smith at the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development
Advocacy / Directorate / Event Report / Food Security / Gender / GLAD / Human Health / ILRI / Nutrition / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight / Staff / Women

Why livestock are essential for Agenda 2030—Jimmy Smith at the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development

United Nations High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development, Special Event: The Role of Livestock in Achieving the SDGs,Friday, 14 July, 2017: Opening remarks by Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Continue reading

Coming up 13 Jul: ‘Agriculture and Food Day’ at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
Advocacy / Agriculture / CGIAR / Directorate / Event / Food Security / Gender / GLAD / Human Health / ILRI / Policy / Poverty / Spotlight / Women

Coming up 13 Jul: ‘Agriculture and Food Day’ at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

The director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Jimmy Smith, will moderate a day-long ‘Agriculture and Food Day’ at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which started yesterday (10 Jul 2017) and runs through 19 Jul at the United Nations Headquarters, in New York City. Continue reading

Ethiopia’s ‘livestock roadmaps’ for growth and transformation to a middle-income nation
Advocacy / ASSP / Directorate / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event Report / Food Security / GLAD / ILRI / Intensification / ISP / Markets / News clipping / Policy / Poverty / Pro-Poor Livestock / Scaling / Spotlight / Value Chains

Ethiopia’s ‘livestock roadmaps’ for growth and transformation to a middle-income nation

Jimmy Smith is a panel member in a special session occurring today organized by the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture—Sustainable livestock and the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. In this session, Smith provides a concrete example of livestock advancing Agenda 2030 in the form of an Ethiopian ‘livestock master plan’ developed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries with ILRI’s technical support and project funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as in-kind resources invested by the Ethiopian Government and ILRI. Continue reading

Capitalizing on women in livestock development—ILRI’s Jimmy Smith and Isabelle Baltenweck speak out
Advocacy / Directorate / Event Report / Food Security / Gender / GLAD / ILRI / Livelihoods / Opinion Piece / PIL / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Spotlight / Women

Capitalizing on women in livestock development—ILRI’s Jimmy Smith and Isabelle Baltenweck speak out

A recent opinion piece on women and livestock was written by Isabelle Baltenweck, an agricultural economist and deputy leader of ILRI’s Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods program. Her piece was published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation News.  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

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

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’

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

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

Record payouts being made by Kenya Government and insurers to protect herders facing historic drought
Camels / Cattle / CCAFS / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Event Report / Goats / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Launch / Pastoralism / Policy / Pro-Poor Livestock / Rangelands / Resilience / Scaling / Sheep / SLS / Small Ruminants / Spotlight / Vulnerability / Water

Record payouts being made by Kenya Government and insurers to protect herders facing historic drought

More than Ksh214 million is on tap for 12,000 pastoral households in six counties of northern Kenya through innovative policies that use satellite imagery to trigger payments for feed, veterinary supplies and water. Continue reading