Every director general knows, at the time they are appointed, exactly when they’re supposed to leave because their appointment letter tells them so, says Jimmy Smith, who has been the director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for the past 11 years. But “I didn’t realise how difficult it would be to say goodbye to ILRI and the
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, to end hunger by 2030, has become increasingly out of reach as COVID-19 and the escalating climate crisis pushed an additional 150 million people into hunger in 2021. Despite this ambitious goal, agricultural research and innovation funding has been declining globally. An additional $14 billion will need to be provided by international
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease is a major concern for the livestock sector in Mali. Its occurrence can have severe consequences on the large part of the population who depend on livestock as a major source of income, especially women and small-scale farmers in rural areas. Since 2016, a new technology to produce a thermotolerant vaccine has been transferred
The World Health Organization estimates that every year, 600 million people become ill and many die because of unsafe food. Up to 38% of those affected are children under five years of age, and 53% were people living in low- and middle-income countries. To address this gap, the Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Food (EatSafe) project recently organized an
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week is marked annually from 18 to 24 November to raise global awareness on antimicrobial resistance and encourage rational use of antimicrobials to reduce further emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the
Weather forecasting and reliable agricultural advisory services are an important part of rainfed agricultural systems, especially in developing economies. Increased weather variability and rising temperatures as a result of climate change are generating greater demand by farmers for better and more timely climate information. In Kenya, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD)
Foodborne disease is a significant global health problem, with low- and middle-income countries disproportionately affected. Given that most fresh animal and vegetable foods in these countries are bought in informal food systems, much of the burden of foodborne disease here is also linked to informal markets. Developing estimates of the national burden of foodborne disease and attribution to specific food
A master plan to guide the long-term investment and growth of the livestock sector in Odisha, India was launched on 12 October 2022 by the state government’s Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department. Livestock keeping is the second most important economic activity in the eastern India state after crop farming. More than 80% of Odisha’s rural population own livestock, which