Ethiopia small ruminant value chain assessment: First results assessed

Stakeholder discussions and planning for the Livestock and Fish small ruminant value chain development project began in mid-2012. By November, sites were selected and teams were trained to carry out rapid value chain assessments in the project’s 7 research sites (including for the safe food fair food project). Field implementation of the rapid value chain … Continue reading →

Characterizing goat genetic resources in Ethiopia

On 20 and 21 December 2012, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) ran a training course for national partners and collaborators on methods and approaches for phenotypic characterization of animal genetic resources. “For genetic resources to contribute to food security goals, we need … Continue reading →

Ethiopia value chain sites selected; rapid value chain assessment initiated

Earlier this year the Ethiopia team led by ICARDA set out plans for the program to transform sheep and goat value chains in the country. Since July, the team has engaged with national partners and stakeholders to identify research sites and partners. And today, the first of two planned training workshops on tools for the … Continue reading →

Intensifying sheep production – using sheep fattening as a driver of change

Earlier this year, ILRI and ICARDA joined national partners in two ‘feed assessment’ projects in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Livestock Feeds project (funded by ACIAR) and the ‘QuickFeed‘ early win project of the Africa RISING program both set out to  test a suite of rapid diagnosis tools to identify promising feed and fodder interventions. At the … Continue reading →

Ethiopia livestock feeds project tests tools to guide feed interventions

On May 28-29, 2012 the Ethiopian Livestock Feeds Project held a synthesis workshop at ILRI in Addis Ababa. The project team, including the core partners from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute, had been working together to refine various tools including FEAST, Techfit and a simple value chain … Continue reading →

Stakeholders discuss directions for Livestock and Fish value chain research in Ethiopia

On Friday 6  July 2012, we convened a ‘Small Ruminant Value Chain Consultative Meeting’ in Ethiopia. Led by scientists from the  International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and the International Livestock Research Institute, we aimed to arrive at a common understanding of the goals, objectives and implementation approach of the program, discuss … Continue reading →

ICARDA features its research on livestock

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), partner in this Livestock and Fish research program recently featured some of its current livestock research activities: Sheep-barley grazing trials – Barley (grain as well as biomass) is a major source of livestock feed throughout West Asia and North Africa. ICARDA scientists have identified barley … Continue reading →

Core stakeholders provide feedback on the Livestock-Fish research program

As a brief aside to the Agenda of Action 2nd Multi-stakeholder Platform Meeting hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Phuket, Thailand – Jimmy Smith, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Director General, and Tom Randolph, CGIAR Research Program (CRP) 3.7 director hosted a consultative seminar to discuss the program … Continue reading →

Tom Randolph appointed Director of the CGIAR research program on livestock and fish

Dr Tom Randolph has been named Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish. The Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Dr Jimmy Smith, made the announcement on Thursday 13 October 2011. ILRI leads this CGIAR research program – which will be collaboratively undertaken with the International Centre for Tropical … Continue reading →

CGIAR Fund Council approves proposal for research program on livestock and fish

At the 5th CGIAR Fund Council Meeting held on 6-8 July 2011 in Washington, DC, the Fund Council approved the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) proposal, More meat, milk and fish by and for the poor (CRP 3.7). The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is the lead centre for this research program. The research program will … Continue reading →