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Policies, institutions and livelihoods

Using the gender lens in agricultural research and development: Why does it matter?

The International Women’s day is commemorated worldwide on 8 March each year. ‘ Make it happen’ is the 2015 theme. Towards this day, this blog will feature stories of partners collaborating with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in gender research. This first article features...

  • Dorine Odongo
Maarifa blog

Setting up a joint CGIAR exhibition booth at ‘Celebrating FARA’ in South Africa

ILRI’s Iddo Dror and Muthoni U Njiru at the CGIAR booth in ‘Celebrating FARA’ event in South Africa, Nov 2014 (photo credit: CIP). These are some highlights and lessons learned from participating at an event of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) known as ‘Celebrating FARA’ which...

  • Muthoni Njiru
Safe Food Fair Food blog

Biogas production takes off at Wambizzi abattoir in Kampala

Written by Vianney Tumwesige and Kristina Roesel Generating biogas from organic waste could provide two important benefits addressing public health challenges: it can generate clean power (methane for cooking and electricity) as well as reduce the pathogen burden at the slaughter house premises...

  • Kristina Rösel
Policies, institutions and livelihoods

Chesney McOmber joins ILRI as a graduate fellow in the Livelihoods, gender and impact program

Chesney McOmber has joined the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as a graduate fellow for the next four months under the Livelihoods, gender and impact (LGI) program. She is a doctoral student at the University of Florida in the field of political science. Her research interests...

  • Dorine Odongo
Policies, institutions and livelihoods

South Vietnam study shows pig production still most profitable in country’s livestock sector

A local slaughterhouse worker in Vietnam cools down pigs with the help of a hose (photo credit: ILRI/Andrew Nguyen). Under the REVALTER project , the International Livestock Research Institute ( ILRI ), with other partners including French and Vietnamese research organizations, is working to...

  • Dorine Odongo
Safe Food Fair Food blog

Local vendors, not supermarkets, are key to Africa’s food security

A new book released by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners — Food Safety and Informal Markets: Animal Products in Sub-Saharan Africa —probes the complicated world of traditional or ‘informal’ markets in livestock products. The book constitutes around 8 key messages of...

  • Kristina Rösel
Safe Food Fair Food blog

Despite contamination concerns, Africa must embrace ‘wet markets’ as key to food security

ILRI news At the Xipamamime traditional market, in Maputo, trader Augusta Thomas sells chickens (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). A new compilation of 25 studies in Africa finds that informal markets provide essential sources of food and income for millions of poor, with milk and meat that is often safer...

  • Kristina Rösel
Policies, institutions and livelihoods

Catherine Kilelu joins ILRI’s Livelihoods, gender and impact program

Catherine Kilelu has joined the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as a post-doctoral scientist under the Livelihoods, Gender and Impact (LGI) program. She is a joint appointee between ILRI and the Wageningen University. In her position, Kilelu’s work will focus on innovation...

  • Dorine Odongo
Maarifa blog

What ILRI’s visitors are reading and viewing in 2014

The time when research institutions only produced scientific papers and reports is long gone, though these products remain at the heart of what many CGIAR scientists produce. Like our sister CGIAR centres, ILRI’s research publishing is now very diverse, spanning images, video, posters, podcasts,...

  • Peter Ballantyne (ILRI)
Maarifa blog

Scaling social learning for climate change and food security up and out, now or never

Go for it now. The future is promised to no one (Wayne Dyer). Two and half years ago, a group of researchers embarked on an initiative called ‘ Climate Change Communication and Social Learning ‘ (later dubbed ‘CCSL’). Since then, the group has grown and the initiative has moved forward in leaps and...

  • Ewen Le Borgne
Policies, institutions and livelihoods

Integrating livelihoods and rights in livestock value chain research for women empowerment development programs

In the recent past, there has been an increase in calls for integration of gender in agricultural research and development (R&D) owing to the recognition that gender-blind interventions have ended up exploiting women in order to empower households. In response to the call, R&D actors are...

  • Dorine Odongo
Maarifa blog

Why technology adoption is nowhere near where it should be and how social learning could help

The recent annual monitoring and evaluation (M&E) meeting of the Africa RISING program featured a very interesting presentation by David Spielman, of the International Food Policy Research Institute ( IFPRI ) about ‘Improving evidence on the impact of agricultural research & extension –...

  • Ewen Le Borgne