News

ILRI News
ILRI News

ILRI’s Jimmy Smith on bringing science-based nuance and clarity to today’s polarized livestock debates

In the face of increasingly polarized discourse about the place of livestock in sustainable food systems, Jimmy Smith , director general of the CGIAR 's International Livestock Research Institute ( ILRI ), delivered a keynote presentation at this year’s TropAg conference in Brisbane (31 Oct–2 Nov...

ILRI News

Livestock genetics launches phase two of its alliance

On September 27th, the phase two launch of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) took place at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Nairobi. CTLGH is a global research alliance bringing together various partners, including the Roslin Institute of...

ILRI News

The cow in the room: The roles milk, meat and eggs play in sustainable food systems transformation

Livestock play diverse and integral roles in African food systems, as well as being lifelines for African livelihoods, enabling people to adapt to climate change and possessing great cultural significance across the continent. The livestock perspective is very different in the Global North, where...

ILRI Asia

ICAR and ILRI training to enhance backyard poultry production for India’s food security

A collaboration between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the International Livestock Research Institute ( ILRI ) is supporting the development of backyard poultry production systems in India. Among other activities, the project is developing the indigenous chicken-specific...

ILRI News
ILRI News

Strengthening the role of chicken genetics for sustainable poultry development in the tropics

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 learned from the program and explore opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of complementary chicken-based...

ILRI News
ILRI News

The Africa Dairy Genetics Gains team trains service providers and farmers on breeding practices and provides data capture tools

The Africa Dairy Genetics Gain (ADDG) program held a seven-day training to teach farmers and animal health service providers cattle estrous synchronization, fixed time artificial insemination and data collection. The training held from 20 June – 1 July 2022 was organized by the ADGG team comprising...

ILRI News

Genetic gains research to transform smallholder chicken farming in Southeast Asia

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-led Asian Chicken Genetic Gains , or AsCGG, project is improving smallholder chicken production by increasing access to locally acceptable, adapted and highly productive chickens in Southeast Asia. Launched in May 2021, AsCGG is funded by the...

ILRI News

Genetics breakthrough in disease-resistant native East African cattle breed—The Economist

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) veterinary scientists led by Phil Toye and James Prendergast of the Roslin Institute were featured in The Economist for the serendipitous discovery of a gene that could make African cattle more resistant to East Coast Fever. Reproduced here is the...

ILRI News

Unveiling the Azage Auditorium in remembrance of the late Azage Tegegne

To commemorate his many years of service at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), his extraordinary scientific contributions in livestock science to Ethiopia and across the world, and his deep devotion to his students and colleagues, a dedication ceremony was held on 4 March 2022...

ILRI News
African Chicken Genetic Gains blog

African Chicken Genetic Gains transforms into Tropical Poultry Genetic Solutions to build on outcomes and scale into new countries

In sub-Saharan Africa, chicken production is integral in nearly all poor rural smallholder households, account ing for about 80% of the poultry flock in the region (Akinola and Essien 2011, FAO 2020 ). For smallholder chicken farmers, many of whom are women, chicken production offers numerous...

ILRI News
ILRI News

Cryoconservation of African poultry breeds: Safeguarding indigenous and endangered breeds

Scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) have shown that isolation and freezing of primordial germ cells from chicken embryos can provide a new approach for conservation of poultry material. Application of this method paves the way for conservation of African poultry genetics, and safeguards against loss of diversity in poultry populations, which also threatens endangered species.

ILRI News

Mrode’s article about increasing productivity gains through genomic prediction is selected as an Editor’s Choice in JDS

Raphael Mrode’s article, ‘ Genomic prediction of crossbred dairy cattle in Tanzania: A route to productivity gains in smallholder dairy systems ’, was selected as an “Editor’s Choice” in the November issue of the Journal of Dairy Science . Mrode is a principal scientist in quantitative dairy cattle...