Livestock feeds in the CGIAR Research Programs

Presented by Alan Duncan at the FAO West Africa Regional Workshop on Crop Residues, Dakar, 10-13 December 2012.

Livestock feeds in the CGIAR Research Programs from ILRI

Mitigation Potentials In The Livestock Sector

13 November, 2012. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) live streamed Dr. Mario Herrero, Senior agro-ecological systems analyst at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The science seminar covered the topic of mitigation potentials in the livestock sector, which was followed by a 30 minute interactive discussion session.

 

Sharing Agricultural Practices to Enhance Food and Nutrition Security in the Horn of Africa

23-25 October. Addis Ababa.   AgriKnowledge ShareFair at the International Livestock Research Centre (ILRI) campus inrganized by FAO Subregional Office for Eastern Africa and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the Eastern African Grain Council (EAGC).

The AgriKnowledge ShareFair brought together the multiple expertise and networks of international organizations from the region namely: Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Senior officials from Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contra la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CiLIS) and the affected countries in the Sahel will also be participating at the fair.

Dr. Castro Camarada, FAO Coordinator for Eastern Africa explains why sharing information on good agricultural practices is vital to enhancing food and nutrition security in the region.

 

Groundbreaking Report on Zoonotic Diseases and Poverty

Some 60 percent of all human diseases, and 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases, are zoonotic (human-animal transmitted infectious diseases). In light of these staggering figures, the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), released beginning of July a report mapping the top 20 geographical hotspots of emerging zoonotic diseases and emerging disease outbreaks. 

Among the study’s findings, the report reveals the heavy disease burden of zoonoses for one billion of the world’s poor livestock holders, in addition to surprising new data on emerging diseases in industrialized countries, many of which have never been mapped. Report on zoonoses shows the disproportionate affect of zoonotic diseases on the world’s one billion poorest livestock holders (Photo credit: International Livestock Research Institute).

The study identifies three classifications of high-priority zoonoses, the first of which, endemic zoonoses, causes the vast majority of illness and death in poor countries. Endemic zoonoses, such as brucellosis, are present in many places and are usually transmitted as food-borne illnesses. Given its widespread nature, the review suggests that endemic zoonoses are of greatest concern where the objective is reducing the burden of human illness and enhancing the profitability of livestock for poor small-scale livestock farmers in the developing world.

Other zoonotic diseases include epidemic zoonoses, such as anthrax and Rift Valley fever, which typically occur as outbreaks and are sporadic in temporal and geographical distribution. And the report examines emerging zoonoses, which are relatively rare and are characterized by rapidly increasing rates of incidence or expanding geographic ranges. Emerging zoonoses, such as bird flu and HIV-AIDS, can spread to cause global cataclysms. While zoonotic diseases can be transmitted to humans by any animal, most human infections are transmitted from the world’s 24 billion livestock.