According to the Uganda Dairy Development Authority, annual milk production in the country increased from 2.08 billion to 2.5 billion litres between 2015 and 2017-18. But further improvement in milk productivity since then has been hampered by inconsistent supply of nutritious forages between the wet and dry seasons. During the wet seasons, dairy farmers have surplus forage feeds, often resulting
CGIAR’s SAPLING Initiative targets Uganda’s pig and cattle sectors to expand benefits for farmers Uganda stakeholder workshop Juliet Sentumbwe, director of animal resources at MAAIF, commended ILRI’s pig value chain work in Uganda over the past 10 years. She said the research ‘has been instrumental in raising the profile of the pig sector and pig farming is now recognized as
On 9 August 2022, Delia Grace received the Peter Ellis award for exceptional contributions to veterinary epidemiology during the 22nd International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE), held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Delia Grace is professor of food safety systems at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and joint-appointed scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute. The Peter
The Tropical Chicken Genetics Solutions (TPGS) initiative and their partners held a two-day workshop on 7–8 July 2022 at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia to document lessons from the program and explore opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of complementary chicken-based interventions. The workshop also proposed business models for improving the performance of chicken value chains. TPGS is a genetics innovation strategy
The Government of Vietnam has recognized Jimmy Smith, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and Hung Nguyen, co-leader of ILRI’s Animal Human Health program, for their contributions to agricultural research and development in the country. They received the Medal for Contribution to the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
On 3 August 2022, a workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam kicked off two new research projects—the CGIAR research initiative Protecting human health through a One Health approach and the Korea-funded ICT4Health project. These research projects will help improve human health by using the interdisciplinary One Health approach. The CGIAR One Health Initiative has five work packages: zoonoses; food safety; antimicrobial resistance;
Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute and colleagues have published a new study in BMC Genomics (Jul 2022) that describes the development of a computational tool for genomic surveillance of the Rift Valley fever virus that can aid in rapid detection and control of Rift Valley fever, a viral zoonotic disease affecting both humans and animals such as cows,
Informal milk trading in peri-urban Nairobi plays a key role in supporting both livelihoods and nutrition, particularly among poor households. Gender dynamics affect who is involved in milk trading and who benefits from it. To better understand gendered constraints and opportunities in informal, peri-urban dairy marketing, CGIAR scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Food Policy