International Livestock Research Institute
By combining science, partnerships, and training, ILRI’s work on capacity development is helping countries strengthen their ability to respond to climate change, food insecurity, animal disease, and antimicrobial resistance.
At the heart of this work is ILRI’s Mazingira Centre in Kenya. Through integrated laboratory, field, and modelling systems, the center helps African countries produce internationally recognized livestock greenhouse gas emission factors—estimates of how much pollution is produced by a specific activity—using locally measured data. Collecting Africa-specific field data is essential for accurately representing the continent’s livestock systems in global climate models and for identifying the most effective mitigation options.
“Mazingira really backstops a huge shift in being able to manage your own affairs in terms of greenhouse gas accounting,” said ILRI lead scientist Anthony Whitbread. Recent studies tracking the emissions of almost 1,500 cattle across different production systems in Kenya, for instance, are helping improve the accuracy of national greenhouse gas inventories and climate reporting.
The center exists not just to create new knowledge, but also to share and retain it. Mazingira scientists train and supervise African Masters and PhD students, and run trainings for students from the Global North, too.
Also facilitating the exchange of climate knowledge between regions, the Africa-Asia Biosciences Challenge Fund fellowship, implemented by ILRI and its partners in 2026, brought together scientists from East Africa and Southeast Asia for training and discussions on climate-smart livestock systems, strengthening regional networks and south–south learning.
In addition, ILRI supports a growing ecosystem of science-policy platforms, including the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES), set up to strengthen Africa’s voice in global climate negotiations. Notably, ILRI worked with AGNES to develop its climate negotiators leadership program, which has trained over 1,000 specialists to date.
Beyond climate, ILRI has worked with Kenyan authorities to address another pressing challenge: the spread of antimicrobial resistance. By furnishing eight labs with better equipment and training animal health officials in 18 counties, ILRI has helped ensure that Kenya has the infrastructure, skills, and knowledge needed to understand and curb resistance.