ILRI presents at OIE 76th Annual General Session

Dr Jeffrey Mariner presenting the ‘Technical Item’ at this year's Annual General Session of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in Paris held on 25-30 May 2008. Dr Mariner leads the team on animal health and food safety for trade, under ILRI's Markets research theme.

The presentation was titled ‘The role of small farmers in animal health’ and authored by Delia Grace, Christine Jost, G. MacGregor Skinner and Jeffrey Mariner. This OIE-commissioned survey of all member country veterinary services led to the drafting of resolution by a working group which was passed by the General Session on 30 May 2008.

The resolution recommends that ‘the OIE review international standards, definitions and guidelines to identify opportunities to encourage small farmer participation, under the supervision of Veterinary Services, and enhance equity and efficiency in animal health and trade’ among other things.

Congratulations on this outcome to Jeff and team!

ILRI research report: Livestock ownership, commercial off-take rates and their determinants in Ethiopia

In a 2008 ILRI research report, Livestock ownership, commercial off-take rates and their determinants in Ethiopia, Asfaw Negassa and Mohammad Jabbar document the results of a study carried out to assess the commercial off-take rates for cattle and shoats in the highland and pastoral areas of Ethiopia.

The study found very low commercial off-take rates for cattle and shoats among Ethiopian smallholder farmers and pastoralists.

Furthermore, a large proportion of the few animals sold are of such age and body conditions that many of them are unlikely to meet the needs of meat export abattoirs.

The low commercial off-take rates and limited market participation are likely due to small herd and flock sizes, low fertility and high mortality rates, and poor nutrition.

Citation
Negassa A and Jabbar M. 2008. Livestock ownership, commercial off-take rates and their determinants in Ethiopia. ILRI Research Report 9. ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), Nairobi, Kenya. 52pp.

Download the report

New dairy project to improve livelihoods of one million people in East Africa

A USD 42.8 million project aimed at lifting one million people in East Africa out of poverty was launched in Nairobi in May 2008.

Funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Heifer International, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) project aims to help 179,000 families – or one million people – double their incomes by increasing production of high-quality raw milk for sale to commercial dairies.

The EADD project will develop 30 milk collection hubs with cooling facilities where dairy farmers will bring raw milk for collection by commercial dairies. It will particularly target women for inclusion in both the benefits of the project and its leadership.

The four-year project (2008–2012) will be implemented in selected districts in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Heifer International will manage the project with two partner organizations, TechnoServe and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Other collaborators are the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the African Breeders Services Total Cattle Management (ABS-TCM). ICRAF will provide farmers with improved feeding strategies to increase milk productivity while ABS will provide farmers with artificial insemination services and assist in milk testing activities.

For more about information, please visit the project website.