Motorcycle taxi (boda boda) riders are a common feature in Kenya, providing essential transport services, delivering goods and connecting people. Su Kahumbu, iCow founder and chief executive officer, saw the connectivity of boda boda riders as an opportunity to deliver agricultural knowledge to farming communities to help them improve their productivity. Kahumbu’s idea gave rise to the iCow Soil Advocacy
In Nepal, farmers struggle to increase buffalo milk yields to boost productivity and the resilience of buffalo value chains. One way to improve productivity is to introduce improved technologies like artificial insemination (AI), a cost-effective method to improve genetic potential in buffalo. However, AI alone will not strengthen buffalo value chains unless packaged with other innovations and technologies like feed
That many pandemics, including possibly COVID-19, have had their origins in wild animals might be expected to cause meat consumers to reduce their consumption of risky ‘bushmeat’, which are derived from wild animals, to avoid illness. But a new study of bushmeat eaters at the Kenya-Tanzania border tells a different story. While most people in these rural communities were aware
Results pave way for genetic improvements of native legume to promote widespread cultivation that could yield nutritional and economic benefits An international team of researchers, led by Africans, has fully sequenced the genome of a climate resilient bean that could bolster food security in drought-prone regions. The sequencing of the hyacinth bean or ‘lablab bean’ [Lablab purpureus] paves the way
Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute and research partners from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Tanzania have developed a faster and cheaper way to generate genomic data on the Rift Valley fever virus, the pathogen that causes Rift Valley fever. The new molecular tool could support near real-time genomic-based surveillance, allowing for a faster response to Rift Valley fever
East Coast fever (ECF) is a deadly cattle disease caused by the tick-borne parasite Theileria parva. Up to 50 million cattle in east, central and southern Africa are at risk of ECF, affecting 20 million smallholder livestock keepers who depend on cattle as a source of income and livelihood. A vaccine against ECF, referred to as the Infection and Treatment
A One Health approach for improved food safety, food security and sustainable food systems was explored by the 4th Global Conference of the Sustainable Food System Programme (SFSP) of the One Planet Network on 26 April 2023. About 40 delegates from 15 countries came to visit the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-led One Health field site in Thai Nguyen Province,
Mentorship plays a fundamental role in the lives of young people, providing them with the connections, skills and opportunities necessary to succeed in their personal and professional lives. Throughout his career, Wellington Ekaya, head of Capacity Development at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), has epitomized what it means to be a transformational mentor for young people. Over the course