Livestock at a watering hole in Niger. A new report identifies priority areas for government investment towards improving the quality of livestock data in Africa (photo credit: ILRI). 

The Livestock Data Innovation in Africa project has published a new report (May 2012)  that  reviews the results of a global online survey that was carried out to identify priority areas for investments to improve the quality of livestock data. 
The survey was carried out between January and February 2012 among 641 livestock stakeholders including researchers, donors, government officials from livestock ministries or departments, and officials from non-governmental organizations and private companies. 
The objectives of the survey were to: 

• rank the main areas in the livestock value chain where livestock-related data and information are needed;
• review stakeholders' perceptions of the quality of available livestock data and indicators; and
• identify priority areas along the livestock value chain where investments are needed to improve the quality and quantity of livestock data and indicators.

The findings of the report, Costs of livestock data and indicators: results of a stakeholder survey, will provide governments with information on the critical gaps in livestock data. 
In addition, the results will feed into the process of developing a minimum  set of livestock core data that governments should collect, as mandated by the global strategy to improve agriculture and rural statistics.
The Livestock Data Innovation Project is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and jointly implemented by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in collaboration with the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).

A newly published (May 2012) discussion paper from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) presents findings of a study carried out to analyze gender issues in production of dairy goats and sweet potato in four communities in Mvomero and Kongwa districts of Tanzania.

The study identified gender differences in the perceived potential of integrating production of root crops and dairy goats. There were also distinct gender differences with respect to ownership and management of goats and crops.

Men perceived value addition resulting from owning dairy goats and the attendant increase in income for them whereas women perceived change in status quo and increase workload resulting from stall goat management activities.

Women were found to have limited control over decisions on sale and use of incomes generated from sale of goats. Distinct differences in ownership of crops between men and women were also observed; men owned cash crops whereas women owned subsistence or food crops for home consumption.

“Investment is needed in participatory training and creation of awareness on gender for both women and men, to sensitize them on the importance of including both women and men in development projects,” the authors of the paper conclude.

The study was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It was collaboratively undertaken by researchers from the Sokoine University of Agriculture, the University of Alberta and ILRI.

To find out more, please visit the project website

Download the discussion paper

Citation
Saghir P, Njuki J, Waithanji E, Kariuki J and Sikira A. 2012. Integrating improved goat breeds with new varieties of sweet potatoes and cassava in the agro-pastoral systems of Tanzania: A gendered analysis. ILRI Discussion Paper 21. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya.

The East Africa Dairy Development project has produced a manual aimed at helping farmers in the region boost the productivity of their dairy cows through adoption of improved animal feeding practices.

The manual was developed by a team of animal science experts from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the University of Nairobi.

The topics include the basic nutrient requirements of dairy cows; pasture management; production of forage such as hay and silage; feed supplements; practical aspects of feeding calves, heifers and dairy cows; and how to control forage diseases like Napier grass head smut.

Whereas the information has been synthesized in such a way as to be applicable to the East African region, some information may be site specific, and in some instances information that is generalized may need to be customized to suit specific areas.

The manual builds on an earlier version produced by the Smallholder Dairy Project and the Kenya Dairy Development Program that was designed to guide extension workers and smallholder dairy farmers through the basics of feeding dairy animals.

Although dairy farmers are the primary audience of the manual, it may also be a useful information resource for extension workers as well as students of animal production.

For more information, please contact ILRI feed scientist Ben Lukuyu (b.lukuyu @ cgiar.org)

Click here to download the manual

Citation
Lukuyu B, Gachuiri CK, Lukuyu MN, Lusweti C and Mwendia S (eds). 2012. Feeding dairy cattle in East Africa. East Africa Dairy Development Project, Nairobi, Kenya.

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Study identifies feed improvement options for dairy farmers in East Africa

Kristina Roesel presents her PhD proposal during a training workshop on research methods held at ILRI Nairobi (photo credit: ILRI/Tezira Lore).
On 17-18 April 2012, the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) held a training workshop on research methods for eight PhD students and interns attached to ILRI's Animal Health, Food Safety and Zoonoses team which is led by Delia Grace.

The training was facilitated by staff from ILRI's Research Methods Group, InfoCentre, and Markets, Gender and Livelihoods research theme.

The topics included an introduction to R software for data analysis; systematic literature review; using Mendeley to manage and share research papers; presentation skills; integrating gender analysis in research design; animal care and use; research ethics; how to search for journal articles; and use of web 2.0 tools to communicate research.

The session on gender analysis in research design facilitated by Elizabeth Waithanji of ILRI's Poverty, Gender and Impact team was particularly useful in helping the students to define gender-responsive goals and objectives leading to the development of research hypotheses and data collection tools that incorporate gender.

"Disaggregating data collection by gender will enable the generation of research evidence on how men and women are impacted differently by the interventions," Waithanji said.

James Kahunyo presents his PhD proposal during a training workshop on research methods held at ILRI Nairobi. Delia Grace (standing left) facilitates the discussion  (photo credit: ILRI/Tezira Lore). 

The students also presented their PhD proposals to each other and benefited from group discussions on how to fine-tune their project objectives and scope of activities.

Delia Grace -- who is also the coordinator of the agriculture-associated diseases component of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (CRP4.3) -- gave the students tips on how to improve their presentation skills to enable them effectively communicate their research not only to their peers but also to international and non-specialist audiences.

"I found the training to be a very useful opportunity for me to practise my presentation skills and I hope to get better with time," said Isaiah Akuku, a research intern attached to ILRI under a capacity strengthening program of the Consortium for National Health Research (CNHR).

"During my internship, I hope to gain knowledge, skills and experience in research for health so that I can contribute to tackling emerging infectious diseases," he added.

The students' research projects fall under the areas of emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses (Rift Valley fever and mapping of zoonoses hotspots) and food safety (mycotoxins, and public health risks associated with dairy and pig value chains), which are the focus of CRP4.3.

The students are from Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Nairobi and Wageningen University.

On 12–13 April 2012, the Nairobi campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosted an inception meeting for the BMZ/GIZ-funded, ILRI-led Safe Food, Fair Food project to develop action plans for the second 3-year phase of the project to build on previous work from 2008-11.

Present at the inception meeting were project partners from Côte d’Ivoire (Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa University), Germany (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment [BfR] and Free University of Berlin), Ghana (University of Ghana), Japan (Rakuno Gakuen University), Kenya (University of Nairobi), Mozambique (Direcção de Ciências Animais), Tanzania (Sokoine University of Agriculture) and Uganda (Makerere University).

During the first phase of the project, a number of studies on participatory risk analysis were carried out in eastern, southern and West Africa. The project also held national workshops to engage policymakers to raise awareness about the potential food safety hazards that exist along the entire value chain.

Findings from the project also featured prominently at the first International Congress on Pathogens at the Human-Animal Interface (ICOPHAI) held in September 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where some 25 oral and poster presentations were made by researchers and MSc and PhD students attached to the project.

Also in September 2011, the project held its final synthesis workshop to deliberate on the results of national impact assessment studies and develop a project synthesis book which will facilitate dissemination of the research findings to wider audiences.

The project now moves into its second phase which will adopt an action research approach for stakeholder engagement at the regional level towards uptake of tools and approaches to enhance food safety in informal markets in Africa.

To find out more, visit the project website or view the project publications.

The first-ever global conference on women in agriculture was held on 13-15 March 2012 in New Delhi, India. The conference gathered women farmers, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders from all over the world to discuss current and emerging gender-related issues in agriculture and research, as well as derive lessons for future sustainable, gender-sensitive development.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was represented at the conference by Jemimah Njuki, leader of ILRI's Poverty, Gender and Impact team.

Njuki's presentation, Linking women farmers to markets: Patterns of market participation, decision making and intra-household income management, explored various approaches to linking smallholder women to markets as a critical pathway towards their economic empowerment.

View the presentation below.
Linking farmers to markets: Patterns of market participation, decision making and intra-household income management
View more presentations from ILRI

Maasai father and son tend to their cattle in Kenya. Informal channels are important sources of livestock information but there are gender disparities in access to information among male-headed rural households in Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).
Informal channels such as farmer to farmer interactions are more important sources of information on livestock production and marketing for rural farmers in Kenya than co-operative groups, government extension services and radio, a new study has found.

However, this farmer to farmer exchange is more popular among women farmers than among their male counterparts.

The study, published in the February 2012 edition of Livestock Research for Rural Development, assessed how women’s access to livestock information and financial services compares to that of men among male-headed rural households in four districts in Kenya: Kajiado, Kiambu, Meru and Tharaka.

The study also revealed gender disparities with respect to training of farmers in livestock production and marketing.

Men in male-headed households received more training on a greater variety of technical topics such as livestock breeding, health and marketing, whereas women mostly received training on general aspects of livestock management.

Trainings were mostly held within the village but outside the home.

“Increasing access to training by women will require holding training in venues that do not constrain women,” the authors suggest.

Gendered disparities were also observed in access to financial services.

Although both men and women relied on groups as their main source of credit, more men than women obtained credit from formal financial service providers such as banks, microfinance institutions and co-operative societies.

On the other hand, more women than men obtained credit from neighbours and friends.

For this reason, the authors recommend that “provision of credit facilities should be flexible and have consideration for women’s constrained access to collateral”.

Access the full article here

Citation
Mburu S, Njuki J and Kariuki J. 2012. Intra-household access to livestock information and financial services in Kenya. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 24, Article #38. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd24/2/mbur24038.htm

A Mozambican farmer takes her maize harvest to market. Development of agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa can boost economic growth and improve livelihoods (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). 
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have released the proceedings of an international conference held in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2009 to examine the role of agricultural markets in spurring economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa and improving livelihoods.

The AGRA-ILRI conference brought together 150 of the world’s leading market experts to document the practices, policies and investments that can drive agricultural market development in sub-Saharan Africa; reveal the gaps and shortcomings that continue to create barriers; and identify priority actions that should be taken by governments, the private sector, donors and other stakeholders.

The issues discussed at the conference are especially timely in light of recent surges in food prices and the significant burden this is inflicting on millions of poor people, underscoring the urgent need for action.

The proceedings include two papers lead-authored by researchers from ILRI's Markets, Gender and Livelihoods Theme.

The paper, "Integrating informal actors into the formal dairy industry in Kenya through training and certification" by Amos Omore and Derek Baker reviews current thinking on the role of informal agribusiness in pro-poor development, and reports on the example the Smallholder Dairy Project in Kenya.

The project featured collaborative and participatory research, along with training and certification in hygienic milk handling practices as a practical mechanism for optimizing milk quality and addressing regulatory barriers.

It also targeted and helped achieve policy change, which enabled wider piloting of the training and certification activities incorporating a business development service approach by national authorities.

In their paper, "The impact of non-tariff barriers on maize and beef trade in East Africa" author Joseph Karugia and others report on the use a spatial equilibrium model to quantify the impact of non-tariff barriers – such as licences, taxes and customs duties – on the intra-country flow of trade in maize and beef in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The study found that reducing or completely removing the existing non-tariff barriers would result in increased intra-regional trade flows, with Kenya importing more maize from both Uganda and Tanzania, while Uganda’s beef exports to Kenya and Tanzania would increase. The overall result would be positive net welfare gains for the maize and beef sub-sectors across the entire East African Community.

Click here to download the full book or individual sections: 

• Synthesis of outcomes
• Section 1: Developing pro-poor markets for African smallholder farmers
• Section 2: Seed and fertilizer markets
• Section 3: Strengthening finance, insurance and market information
• Section 4: High-value commodities and agroprocessing
• Section 5: Building market institutions
• Section 6: Encouraging regional trade

For more information
Contact Anne Mbaabu of AGRA (AMbaabu @ agra-alliance.org) or Steve Staal of ILRI (s.staal @ cgiar.org) or visit the conference website.

Citation
ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute). 2011. Towards priority actions for market development for African farmers: Proceedings of an international conference. 13-15 May 2009, Nairobi, Kenya. AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) and ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya.

What are women’s specific needs for empowerment in agriculture? What initiatives are in place to effectively link women to markets? What are the policy, institutional, infrastructural and financial constraints affecting agricultural diversity to enhance income?  What solutions exist to reduce women’s drudgery relating to agricultural operations and household needs?

These are just a few of the questions that will be up for discussion at the first-ever global conference on women in agriculture to be held on 13-15 March 2012 at the National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) Complex, New Delhi, India.

Under the theme, Empowering women for inclusive growth in agriculture, the conference brings together women farmers, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders from all over the world to discuss current and emerging gender-related issues in agriculture and research, as well as derive lessons for future sustainable, gender-sensitive development.

Discussions will take place under the following themes:

• assessing women’s  empowerment in agriculture;
• agricultural innovations for reducing drudgery;
• linking women to markets;
• the role of women in household food and nutritional security;
• policies and services to increase women’s access to assets, resources and knowledge;
• the impact of and responses to climate-change related risks and uncertainties; and
• strengthening capacity building and partnerships.

The conference will also develop a framework for action to integrate and empower women for inclusive growth and development through an enduring global partnership program on gender in agriculture.

At the conference, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will be represented by Jemimah Njuki, leader of the Poverty, Gender and Impact team. She is one of the speakers at the parallel session on linking women to markets.

The conference is organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Asia‐Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) with support from the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) under the Gender in Agriculture Partnership.

For more information, please visit the conference website.

On 10-12 February 2011, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) organized a conference in New Delhi, India with the theme, Leveraging agriculture for improving nutrition and health.

To commemorate the first anniversary of the conference, IFPRI has published a book which is a compilation of the background papers originally commissioned for the event and subsequently peer-reviewed and revised.

The 23 chapters in Reshaping Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, edited by Shenggen Fan and Rajul Pandya-Lorch, examine how much more agriculture could do to improve human well-being if it included specific policies, actions, and interventions to achieve health and nutrition goals; what kinds of changes would maximize agriculture’s contribution to human health and nutrition; and how human health and nutrition could contribute to a productive and sustainable agricultural system.

One of the chapters, Agriculture-associated diseases: Adapting agriculture to improve human health by John McDermott and Delia Grace, examines the range of agriculture-associated diseases and explores opportunities for shaping agriculture to improve health outcomes, and related policy implications.

McDermott joined IFPRI in October 2011 as the director of the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health (CRP4). He was previously the deputy director general for research at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Grace leads ILRI's research team on animal health, food safety and zoonoses. She is also the program manager for the component of the Nutrition and Health CRP that focuses on prevention and control of agriculture-associated diseases.

Below is an excerpt from the chapter:

"Agriculture and health are intimately linked. Many diseases have agricultural roots —food-borne diseases, water-associated diseases, many zoonoses, most emerging infectious diseases, and occupational diseases associated with agrifood chains. These diseases create an especially heavy burden for poor countries, with far-reaching impacts. This chapter views agriculture-associated disease as the dimension of public health shaped by the interaction among humans, animals, and agroecoystems. This conceptual approach presents new opportunities for shaping agriculture to improve health outcomes, in the short and long term. Understanding the multiple burdens of disease is a first step in its rational management. As agriculture-associated diseases occur at the interface of human health, animal health, agriculture, and ecosystems, addressing them often requires systems-based thinking and multidisciplinary approaches. These approaches, in turn, require new ways of working and institutional arrangements. Several promising initiatives demonstrate convincing benefits of new ways of working across disciplines, despite the considerable barriers to cooperation."
Download the full book here (in its entirety or by individual chapters)

The Livestock Data Innovation project is carrying out a short online survey which will help identify priority areas for investments to improve the quantity and quality of livestock-related data available to decision-makers.

The survey is available at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LIVESTOCK_INDICATORS

There are just eight questions and you should be able to complete the whole survey in 5 to 10 minutes. Responses are all anonymous and you are free to provide or not provide your contact details.

The Livestock Data Innovation Project is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and jointly implemented by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in collaboration with the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).

For more information, please visit the project website.

Policy interventions to address farmers' shortage of capital, low profit margins and constraints in the supply of day-old chicks can help to reduce the rate of exit from Bangladesh's poultry industry, a research study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) reports.

The results of the study are contained in a policy brief (published December 2011) that highlights findings of surveys carried out in 2005 and 2007 to assess the reasons for exit from the poultry sector in Bangladesh and possible solutions. The study considered both broiler and layer enterprises, and large- and small-scale poultry keepers.

The study was carried out in collaboration with partners from the Bangladesh Agricultural University and the Bangladesh Ministry of Food and Disaster Management.

Download the brief here.

Citation:
Jabbar MA, Rahman MH, Talukder RK and Saha SK. 2011. Exit from Bangladesh's poultry industry: Causes and solutions. ILRI Policy Brief. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi.

You may also be interested in: 
ILRI Research Report: Contract poultry farming in Bangladesh

A smallholder pig farmer in western Kenya: Findings from an ILRI-led study  will help to improve feeding practices and  sow productivity on smallholder pig farms in western Kenya (photo credit: ILRI).
Small-scale pig farming in western Kenya is an important source of family income. Pigs kept are of local breeds that are either tethered or left free to scavenge for food. However, one of the main challenges that pig farmers in western Kenya face is inadequate feed supply.

From 2007 to 2009, a collaborative project led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) carried out research towards improving pig production and health in smallholder farms in western Kenya.

The project has recently published two journal articles, one featuring a descriptive study of smallholder pig feeding practices (Tropical Animal Health and Production, January 2012) and the other highlighting the results of a baseline study on the productivity of local sows (African Journal of Agricultural Research, December 2011).

The findings of the descriptive study of 164 pig farms in Busia District revealed the need for more research on the nutrient composition of the identified local feeds. Additionally, there is need to develop and validate simple combinations of local feeds to formulate balanced feed rations that smallholder farmers can afford.

The baseline study, which was carried out in Busia and Kakamega Districts, assessed the reproductive performance of local sows, investigated the challenges faced by the farmers, and explored opportunities for improving small-scale production of breeding pigs. The baseline data will be useful in identifying key intervention areas and exploring opportunities for improvement in the sector.

The project was undertaken in partnership with the University of Guelph, the University of Nairobi, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

Other outputs from the project have been featured in two earlier posts on this blog:

• New study calls for better training of local pig farmers in western Kenya to boost profits 
• No more guesswork: Tool developed for better prediction of live weights of local pigs in western Kenya 

Citations:
Mutua FK, Dewey C, Arimi S, Ogara W, Levy M and Schelling E. 2012. A description of local pig feeding systems in village smallholder farms of Western Kenya. Tropical Animal Health and Production, Online First 5 January 2012, doi 10.1007/s11250-011-0052-6

Mutua FK, Dewey CE, Arimi SM, Schelling E, Ogara WO and Levy M. 2011. Reproductive performance of sows in rural communities of Busia and Kakamega Districts, Western Kenya. African Journal of Agricultural Research 6(31): 6485-6491.

Fodder market in India: Research by ILRI and CIAT aims to enhance  dairy-based livelihoods in India and Tanzania through feed innovations and value chain approaches (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

Lack of access to adequate high-quality livestock feed is a key constraint towards improved milk yields and hence dairy income for smallholder dairy producers.

As part of efforts towards addressing the problem of feed scarcity, two CGIAR centres, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), have embarked on a research initiative that will use novel systems-based approaches to enhance feeds and feeding in smallholder dairy production systems in India and Tanzania.

By adopting a value chain perspective and using innovation system principles, the project places feed in a broader context and acknowledges that enhancing feed supply involves more than just introducing or promoting feed technologies at farm level but also includes other dimensions such as animal health, livestock breeding and knowledge sharing.

The objectives of the project, dubbed Enhancing dairy-based livelihoods in India and Tanzania through feed innovation and value chain development approaches (MilkIT), are three-fold:

• Institutional strengthening: To strengthen use of value chain and innovation approaches among dairy stakeholders to improve feeding strategies for dairy cows
• Productivity enhancement: To develop options for improved feeding strategies leading to yield enhancement with potential income benefits
• Knowledge sharing: To strengthen knowledge sharing mechanisms on feed development strategies at local, regional and international levels

The three-year project is embedded in the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish. It will be coordinated by ILRI with CIAT acting as a major partner. Dr Bernard Lukuyu and Dr Amos Omore from ILRI's Markets, Gender and Livelihoods Theme will make key contributions in the areas of livestock feeds and technical/institutional options for improving market access, respectively.

Already, some preliminary activities have taken place. In the latter half of 2011, a number of scoping visits were made to the two study countries to identify project sites and partners. A pre-inception planning meeting is scheduled for 24-25 January 2012 in Nairobi to officially launch the project activities. You can read about the scoping visits in this post on the ILRI Fodder Adoption blog.

For more information about this project, please contact Dr Alan Duncan (a.duncan @ cgiar.org)

Download the project brochure

A very Happy New Year to all our readers!

We are pleased to announce that the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) now has a new name: Markets, Gender and Livelihoods.

The new name takes into account the incorporation of ILRI's Poverty, Gender and Impact group that is led by Dr Jemimah Njuki.

The renaming of the Theme was agreed upon on 18 December 2011 during a meeting of ILRI's Management Committee, to take into account changes in research planning and funding in line with ongoing reforms in the CGIAR.

"As we move into new research planning and funding situations, we need to adjust the ways we organize ourselves to meet our commitments and maximize synergies across the institute," said ILRI's Director General, Dr Jimmy Smith, in a message to staff.

The Poverty, Gender and Impact group will continue to provide leadership at the institutional level with respect to work on gender and impact assessment.

Dr Steve Staal continues to serve as director of the Theme.

A farmer feeds her pigs in Nagaland, India. ILRI has produced training manuals to help small-scale pig farmers,  veterinary practitioners and pork traders in Northeast India improve farm productivity and product quality (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).
Small-scale pig production and marketing play important roles in contributing to the livelihoods of poor tribal populations that live in Northeast India.

A 2008 study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) characterized the pig sub-sector in Nagaland, Northeast India and found that the region is home to over a quarter of India's total pig population. Here, 80-90% of tribal communities keep 2-3 pigs, mostly under traditional production systems.

However, the traditional methods of pig production are constrained by lack of management inputs like quality feeds and preventive animal health services. This often leads to low productivity and poor quality of pork products.

Towards improving the quality of pig production and marketing, ILRI's Asia Office and Capacity Strengthening Unit joined hands with national research partners in India to develop three training manuals on smallholders' pig management, veterinary first aid for pigs, and hygienic pork production and marketing.

The manuals are aimed at enhancing the capacity of pig producers, veterinary practitioners and pork traders, respectively, to transform subsistence pig production into small-scale commercial farming that satisfies growing consumer demand for quality and safety.

"It is expected that the implementation of training programs based on these manuals will help to improve productivity and provision of animal health care, and build knowledge and awareness on hygienic pork selling which in turn will improve profitability and livelihoods of smallholder pig producers and pork traders," said Dr Purvi Mehta Bhatt, Head of ILRI's Capacity Strengthening Unit. 

Cattle being watered at the Ghibe River in southwestern Ethiopia. An ILRI-led project has helped strengthen the capacity of local communities to use innovation system approaches towards better access to animal health services (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

A collaborative project led by scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has strengthened the capacity of local communities in Ethiopia’s Ghibe Valley to use innovation systems approaches to improve access to animal health systems.

The Ghibe Valley in southwestern Ethiopia is a fertile region whose rich soils and abundant water resources suggest high agricultural production potential.

However, the region is seriously affected by the deadly trypanosomosis (animal sleeping sickness), a wasting cattle disease which affects the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who depend on livestock for milk, meat and draught power.

In order to enhance the community’s access to animal disease control services, the project tested a collaborative trypanosomosis control model in three woredas (administrative units managed by local government).

The project, which was led by ILRI’s Innovation in Livestock Systems research team, used two action research approaches – asset-based community development and innovation systems – to derive lessons on how to sustainably improve livestock health service delivery and how to translate improved livestock health into increased productivity and incomes.

Thirteen trypanosomosis co-operatives were formed to link private veterinary drug suppliers to the remote communities to ensure sustainable supply of trypanocides to farmers and reduce dependence on the central government system.

The rural communities have been communicating their needs directly to the private drug suppliers in the capital city Addis Ababa and supply mechanisms have been established.

The project produced a guideline in the local Amharic language for collaborative trypanosomosis control for use by community animal health workers in various districts and regions affected by the disease.

The project also shared maps based on the tse tse fly habitat and trypanosomosis risk modelling of Ghibe Valley with the district and regional authorities for their use in targeting disease-control investments in high-risk and “hot spot” areas.

Other regions which face trypanosomosis challenge have been informed of the utility of such information and analysis for directing investments for effective trypanosomosis control.

These interventions have resulted in significant changes in land use and land cover, increased cultivation of staple crops and healthier, more productive cattle.

The four-year project, which ended in August 2011, was funded by the Comart Foundation.

For more information, please contact Dr Ranjitha Puskur (r.puskur @ cgiar.org) who leads ILRI's research team on Innovation in Livestock Systems.

Transporting milk in India. Smallholder dairy farmers in India can benefit from traceability and improved food safety provided by modern milk supply chains (photo credit: ILRI).

Resource-poor, smallholder dairy farmers in India stand to gain from entry into emerging modern milk supply chains despite the predominance of traditional milk marketing in the country, according to a study published in the 14 November 2011 online edition of the journal Agricultural Economics Research Review.

The study also noted that issues of traceability and food safety will strengthen the growing modern milk supply chains in India. In addition, facilities for milk collection and transport and a quality-based pricing system for raw milk will be important factors to consider in scaling up of the supply chains.

The lead author of the journal article is Dr Anjani Kumar, principal scientist (agricultural economics) at the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research in New Delhi and former scientist at the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The co-authors are Dr Steve Staal, Director of ILRI's Market Opportunities Theme and interim Deputy Director General – Research, and Dr Dhiraj Singh, scientific officer in ILRI's Asia office in New Delhi.

Read the abstract of the article here

Citation:
Kumar A, Staal SJ and Singh DK. 2011. Smallholder dairy farmers’ access to modern milk marketing chains in India. Agricultural Economics Research Review 24(2):243-253.

Mozambican women threshing sorghum. A new tool for tracking trade in agricultural inputs in eastern and southern Africa will lead to better understanding of trade dynamics in the region (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

Agricultural policymakers and other practitioners in eastern and southern Africa will be able to better understand the dynamics of intra-regional trade in seeds, pesticides and herbicides through a new tool that has been developed to track the volume and value of trade in agricultural inputs in the region.

The tool was developed by the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) for Eastern and Central Africa – which is hosted by the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) – in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and several national and regional partners. It was presented at a workshop held in Nairobi, Kenya on 16 November 2011.

"There is optimism that continued interaction with the parties involved will help us to further understand the elements of trade and agricultural inputs in the region to continue to improve agricultural productivity and production, and sustainable food security," the workshop organizers said.

Read more on the ReSAKSS blog.

An Ethiopian smallholder dairy farmer with the day's milk.  An ILRI study reports that traditional fermentation of milk in Ethiopia can significantly reduce the risk of staphylococcal food poisoning (photo credit: ILRI).

The safety of milk and dairy products in Ethiopia can be significantly improved through participatory risk assessment approaches to traditional methods of food production, reports a study published in the 4 November 2011 issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology.

The study was carried out to assess the risk of staphylococcal poisoning through traditionally fermented milk in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that can cause mastitis (udder infection) in dairy cows. It can also cause food poisoning through production of an enterotoxin.

Traditional souring of milk is carried out by leaving raw milk in a gourd to ferment spontaneously for 1-2 days through the action of the naturally occurring milk microflora. The organic acids produced during fermentation inhibit the growth of spoilage micro-organisms, thereby prolonging the storage life of the milk.

The study, which is part of research by the BMZ- funded Safe food, fair food project, found that home-made traditionally fermented milk in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia reduced the risk of food poisoning by Staphylococcus aureus by 93.7%.

The research was collaboratively undertaken by scientists from the Market Opportunities Theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Addis Ababa University.

Principal author Dr Kohei Makita is a veterinary epidemiologist on joint appointment with ILRI and the Rakuno Gakuen University in Japan while co-author Dr Delia Grace is a veterinary epidemiologist and leader of ILRI's research team on Animal health, food safety and zoonoses.

Read the abstract of the journal article here.

Citation
Makita K, Dessisa F, Teklu A, Zewde G and Grace D. Risk assessment of staphylococcal poisoning due to consumption of informally-marketed milk and home-made yoghurt in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. International Journal of Food Microbiology (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2011.10.028