This blog has been written by Dr. Alice Onyango “If we continue to treat this disease normally, it will treat us abnormally” is a popular quote in Kenya, recently originating from Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, the Cabinet Secretary of Health. This is true in all facets of life including research, where we must accept a “new … Continue reading
Category Archives: LIVESTOCKCRP
New study finds that severe undernutrition of cattle increases their methane production
A study by researchers at the International ILRI, and partners in Germany investigated the effects of moderate to severe levels of feeding below an animal’s energy requirement on enteric methane production in young Boran steers. The study found that methane produced by an animal per unit feed intake increases as the amount of feed consumed by an animal decreases. Continue reading
Setting up a soil analytical laboratory at University of Kabianga
The Restoring African Degraded Landscaped (ReDEAL) project is an interdisciplinary and collaboratively coordinated research project that aims at helping smallholder to avoid further and possibly reverse land degradation without compromising livelihoods and food production. The project partners are Lancaster University, University of Manchester, CIFOR, ILRI and the university of Kabianga. Part of the project is … Continue reading
Senior Kenya government officials visit ILRI’s Kapiti Research Station
Originally posted on ILRI news:
https://flic.kr/p/2iFrCNC Jimmy Smith (centre), Dieter Schillinger (second right) and Sita Ghimire (right) with Kenya government officials who recently visited the Kapiti Research Station (photo credit: ILRI/Paul Karaimu). Three senior Kenya government officials visited the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Kapiti Research Station on 18 Mar 2020. Ambassador Samuel Gitonga, director…
Where does the methane in the atmosphere come from?
In February 2020 a team from ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London and Cambridge University went on a trip through Southern Kenya to sample air. Sampling air may sound arbitrary yet the bigger aim of this field campaign was to derive samples from livestock including cattle, sheep, goats and camels as well as … Continue reading
Building capacity in greenhouse gas analytics beyond ILRI’s Mazingira Centre
Besides the scaling of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using models (see our previous training event here) there is a crucial need to build capacity on core analytics for GHG concentrations measurements such as gas chromatography. Based on the available instruments within ILRI’s Mazingira Centre, local universities (Maseno University) and national research centres (KALRO) we invited … Continue reading
Training on modelling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Africa
Between 22nd and 26th October, ILRI’s Mazingira Centre and FAO jointly organised a training workshop on modelling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems in Africa. Why is this important? Current greenhouse gas emission estimates from livestock and manure in Africa are primarily estimating based on existing expert knowledge which is predominantly derived from livestock systems in developed … Continue reading
Managing the environmental footprint of livestock: Context-specific information needed in Africa
Efforts towards mitigating green house gas emissions should help resource-poor farmers to not only decrease the environmental footprint of their small-scale livestock and whole-farm production systems but to simultaneously increase productivity and improve their livelihoods. Continue reading
Feedback workshops yield significant insights for smallholder dairy farmers in Nandi and Bomet
Farmer feedback workshops carried out in Nandi and Bomet counties in Kenya address various challenges faced by dairy smallholders. Based on results from previous data collected, training sessions on various aspects of dairy farming are delivered. Continue reading
Improved emission factors for enteric methane emissions from smallholder cattle in Western Kenya
After having spent one year in the field and following approximately 1000 cattle from smallholder farmers, Alice Onyango, John Patrick Goopy and colleagues present improved emission factors for enteric methane emissions from smallholder cattle in Nyando Kenya. The study, recently published in Agricultural Systems not only provides TIER 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission estimates, but … Continue reading