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Beca-ILRI Hub news

Former ABCF fellow’s research is conserving and improving indigenous goats in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Livestock farming is an important source of income in rural households in African countries. Goats, which were one of the first animals to be domesticated in the continent, are especially important in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they are kept by 75% of the rural population and...

ILRI News
Beca-ILRI Hub news

Former ILRI researcher champions Brachiaria farming in Uganda

Former International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) scientist, Morris Agaba, is a livestock farmer in Masindi District, which lies in the cattle corridor of western Uganda. Agaba farms Brachiaria grass, an important climate-change forage in East Africa, on 25-acres of his farm. In early...

Beca-ILRI Hub news

Researcher explores native grass for improving livestock productivity in the Democratic Republic of Congo

With a population of close to 90 million people, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, boasts 90 million hectares of pasture that can support 40 million heads of cattle and produce 1.5 million tonnes of beef per year. But the country’s immense...

ILRI News
Beca-ILRI Hub news

Brachiaria grass, a climate-smart ‘wonder grass’ for livestock farmers

In this interview, Mwihaki Mundia, BecA-ILRI Hub’s Communications Officer, sits down with Sita Ghimire, who heads the Brachiaria research and development program at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa - International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, to talk about the origins of...

ILRI News
ILRI News

ILRI revamps and relaunches sequencing service unit

The International Livestock Research Institute ( ILRI) has relaunched its sequencing, genotyping and oligosynthesis platform (Segolip) service unit in Nairobi due to meet increasing demand for sequencing services from researchers in Africa. Established in 1993, the Segolip Unit is ILRI’s...

ILRI News

Four ILRI fellows attend World Food Prize symposium (virtually)

By Timothy Offei-Addo Four fellows from the International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) CapDev Grand Challenge attended this year’s virtual World Food Prize symposium from 12–16 Oct. The symposium addresses cutting-edge issues in food security and nutrition and is widely considered one of...

Beca-ILRI Hub

Speed Breeding, a promising approach to crop breeding

Speed Breeding is a new and exciting approach to breeding originally inspired by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that promises to develop new crop varieties faster, offering hope for food security in the continent. Through Speed Breeding, African researchers are working...

Beca-ILRI Hub

Ko Awono promises to improve Brachiaria grass production and marketing to secure farmers’ livelihoods in Cameroon

Cameroon, like other African countries, relies on agriculture as a main economic activity with livestock employing at least 30% of the country’s rural population. The livestock sector in Cameroon is crucial to its economic growth, food and nutrition security, and job creation. Forages of African...

ILRI News

Getting up close and personal: Building on long-standing CGIAR collaboration, a delegation of diplomats tours advanced livestock science facilities in Nairobi

Her Excellency Annett Günther, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Kenya (second left); Katrin Hegemann, deputy head of Delegation of the EU to Kenya; and Patrick Egloff, deputy head of mission, Embassy of Switzerland (to Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda) during a visit to...

ILRI News

Women in Data Science conference to be held at ILRI’s Nairobi campus on 8 Mar 2019

Women in Data Science conference International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Nairobi, Kenya, 8 Mar 2019 Women in Data Science (WiDS) is an event organized by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Biosciences eastern and central Africa-ILRI Hub (BecA-ILRI Hub) to...

ILRI News

German agroecological livestock research investments are benefiting both people and the planet

(Left) ILRI Deputy Director General for Biosciences Dieter Schillinger welcomes to ILRI Parliamentary State Secretary to the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Maria Flachsbarth. (Right) ILRI Assistant Director General Shirley Tarawali welcomes to ILRI BMZ Deputy...

ILRI News

Improving control of a chicken disease supports the livelihoods of Kenya’s women

Women play critical roles in the small-scale livestock systems that remain ubiquitous in the developing world. While these women typically face severe inequities in being able to own or even access land, capital and other productive resources, they often own or at least manage their household’s...

  • James Stapleton