Enhancing dairy feed interventions in India and Tanzania – three messages from the MilkIT project

In December 2014, the MilkIT project (Enhancing dairy-based livelihoods in India and Tanzania through feed innovation and value chain development approaches) held final workshops in Lushoto and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. On 11 December, team members met in an ‘Outreach Meeting’ with various stakeholders and partners. The aim of the meeting was to continue synthesizing the key insights of the project through interactions with a wider community. Continue reading →

Growing food and feed with less environmental impact: A dual-crop impact narrative

ILRI and its partners are developing highly productive dual-purpose crops and presenting a strong case for further, stronger collaboration between national and international crop and livestock institutions. Continue reading →

Innovation platforms as a route to dairy development in India

The International Livestock Research Institute has adopted an innovation platform approach as a route to dairy development in the hills of Uttarakhand. Continue reading →

Selecting appropriate feed technologies to support livestock intensification in Uttarakhand, India

In Uttarakhand, feed is one of the most limiting constraints to livestock intensification. Although many nutritional technologies are available to improve the quantity and quality of feed and fodder, or to plug seasonal shortages, farmers seldom use these new interventions because, for instance, women who rear animals are already fully loaded with existing domestic and agricultural work, farmers lack access to credit for feed-based investments, or farmers are uncertain which technologies are most appropriate to them. Continue reading →

Prioritizing animal feeding interventions – TechFit tool takes shape

From 23-24 May this year, a group of feed specialists from ILRI, CIAT, ICARDA and partner institutes got together in Addis Ababa to further elaborate the TechFit tool. This followed from a March 2013 meeting that took stock of progress since the original November 2011 workshop in India. The meeting especially drew on experiences in … Continue reading →

Investment opportunities for ruminant livestock feeding in developing countries

The World Bank just released a new report that “assesses where the demand for feed [for ruminants in developing countries] is likely to change the most, and where investments in feed are most likely to increase animal productivity and improve the livelihoods of those who raise livestock. It covers policy, institutions, knowledge and innovation as … Continue reading →

Well-managed tropical forage-based systems improve livelihoods and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

New research from CIAT – the International Center for Tropical Agriculture shows that well-managed “LivestockPlus” systems involving improved forage crops – plants grazed by livestock – have impressive environmental credentials. Published in chapter 11 of CIAT’s new flagship publication ‘Eco-Efficiency: From Vision to Reality‘ – the authors conclude that “well-managed tropical forage-based systems can contribute … Continue reading →

Barriers to the uptake of improved feeding strategies

At last week’s Africa-RISING ‘quick feed‘ project inception meeting, Werner Stür shared some of the reasons why improved animal feeding strategies seem not to be taken up, and some ways to address this. He started by arguing that current future livestock productivity challenges would benefit significantly from “a little more feed per animal.” He outlined … Continue reading →

Mapping world animal feeding systems in the dairy sector

Animal feeding is of critical importance for the global dairy sector as it is the first step in the milk production chain and its impact can be observed at every level of the dairy chain. The International Dairy Federation (IDF) with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Farm … Continue reading →

Feed and fodder uptake decisions shape technology options available to researchers

In mid-September 2011, ILRI and partners organized a ‘TechFit ‘workshop to ‘develop and test an analytical framework that can be used to collect, structure, screen and prioritise possible feed technologies and interventions from multiple angles – technical, institutional, social and economic’. To better understand concrete feed technology ‘use cases’ and demands, the first day of … Continue reading →