This article in the journal Animal reviews the positive and negative roles of livestock in the developing world. Authored by several ILRI staff, the paper also discusses ‘key factors that are likely to determine the future contribution of the sector to food security, environmental protection and economic growth.’ It proposes actions for improving different aspects of livestock systems so that the positive roles outweigh the negatives.
The authors argue that ‘recognising the different roles played by livestock in the developing and the developed world is essential to understand the...
‘Aroundfish’ by Paul Klee, 1926 (via WikiPaintings)
Putting enough food on the table is a daily challenge faced by households around the world. Ensuring that the food contains enough protein and essential micronutrients is a further consideration, and animal products, such as fish and meat from livestock can go a long way to improving the diets of the world’s poor. In addition, small-scale production of animal source foods can be a pathway out of poverty for many communities.
While nutrition is often a priority for the hungry and under-nourished, food safety is also extremely...
Among the fundamentals of a good research program is the ability to demonstrate how the program will deliver the promise of creating positive change to the target population. Theory of Change defines the pathways through which a program will deliver these promises, highlighting the key assumptions and likely risks the program faces. The Theory of Change is an important tool for program planning, management, and measuring the program’s progress towards achieving impact on its target population.
A 2 days workshop to refine the Livestock and Fish CGIAR Research Program Theory of Change was...
Stakeholder discussions and planning for the Livestock and Fish small ruminant value chain development project began in mid-2012. By November, sites were selected and teams were trained to carry out rapid value chain assessments in the project’s 7 research sites (including for the safe food fair food project).
Field implementation of the rapid value chain assessment ran through December 2012 and January 2013 with mixed CGIAR-national teams collecting data in Atsbi, Doyogena, Menz, Horro, Abergelle, Yabello and Shinelle districts (see pictures).
VCA assessment with farmersThe teams used...
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and other partners in Tanzania are embarking on a 4-year (2013-2016) research-for-development (R4D) project targeted at improving rural based livelihoods through milk. This comes after the 2012, 1-year successful inception phase of a collaborative research project titled, ‘More Milk in Tanzania’ between ILRI and SUA funded by Irish Aid. These resources support the commitment of Irish Aid to the CGIAR change process and more specifically the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish,...
Last month, the Tanzania Dairy Board (TDB), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Heifer Project International (HPI), SNV – The Netherlands Development Organisation, Land O’Lakes, Inc., and the Tanzania Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development (MLDF) organized a national dairy stakeholders’ meeting to present the Dairy Development Forum (DDF).
The DDF grew out of the recognition that Tanzania’s dairy development potential can be further harnessed through concerted collaborative partnerships of different players. DDF is...
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided $107,800 to the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish to promote linkages with American universities.
Researchers in the four CGIAR livestock and fish partner centers – ILRI, ICARDA, CIAT and WorldFish – are invited to submit proposals.
Specific objectives for the program are:
Bring high-level research expertise from U.S. universities and other partners to CGIAR centers to tackle agricultural research issues of relevance to resource-constrained settings
Create new collaborations between CGIAR and U.S....
In November 2012, ILRI scientist Derek Baker with Froukje Kruijssen (WorldFish) organized a session at the CTA conference ‘Making the Connection.’ The session examined livestock and fish value chains and drew out lessons from participants’ experience of interventions and the reasons contributing to the success or failure of these interventions (the session notes here are also online)
Three panel members set the scene for the discussion in which the entire audience was actively involved:
Gizaw Negussie, Senior Technical Advisor of the Namibian Meat Board, the regulatory body of...
Reblogged from Safe Food, Fair Food:
A recent analysis showed that the aquaculture value chain in Egypt is mainly based on the production of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and mullet (Mugil cephalus and Liza ramada). The value chain was found to be short with no post-harvest processing (Macfadyen et al. 2011). However, there is a wide spread perception among poor and rich consumers, authorities and even technical staff that farmed fish contains high level of pollutants such as cancer-causing heavy metals, pesticides or hormones.
Read more… 550 more words
Daniel Kerage, a graduate fellow at ILRI from 2006 to 2008 and now continuing his studies in Canada, has won the prestigious Pfizer President’s Presenter Award. The award will be presented at the annual Society for Gynecologic Investigation meeting to be held in Orlando, Florida this March.
As a graduate fellow at ILRI on an East Coast fever project, Kerage evaluated the potential of a vaccine against Theileria parva using Listeria monocytogenes as a carrier of three CD8 T cell epitopes. He also briefly worked on the contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) vaccine project before...
