ILRI Multimedia - film, video, podcasts

Tajeu: The boy born into drought

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Tajeu: The boy born into drought ILRI This story tells of the hopes of a Maasai pastoralist from Kenya's Kitengela rangelands and his dreams for his son Tajeu, who was born during a devastating drought.

Rainwater management in the Nile Basin—Reflections on a stakeholder workshop in Bahir Dar

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Rainwater management in the Nile Basin—Reflections on a stakeholder workshop in Bahir Dar Mengistu, F. In October 2011, project partners and team members in the Nile Basin Development Challenge (http://www.nilebdc.org) met in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia to reflect on project progress and directions. Here, Fantahun Mengistu, Director of the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI), shares some lessons and take home messages from the meeting. He noted that, although a good national policy framework is in place, there are some gaps in implementation at grassroots level: including proper integration between water and agriculture, more emphasis given to blue than to green water, and fully understanding the farmers and the farmer circumstances – “we need to know very well the farmer.” Sustainability is a key issue, it needs increased participation of communities, more emphasis on showing short term benefits to farmers, increased attention to integrated hydrological planning at basin and landscape level – we need to ensure that people getting upstream benefits does not mean that people downstream will suffer.

Sustainably intensifying, sustainably increasing the productivity of smallholder farmers in Africa

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Sustainably intensifying, sustainably increasing the productivity of smallholder farmers in Africa Glover, J. At a recent workshop discussing the design of a new research project on the sustainable intensification of crop-livestock farming systems in Ethiopia, we asked Jerry Glover from USAID's Office of Agricultural Research and Policy to tell us more about the project. The project is intended to intensify some farming systems in Ethiopia, by increasing productivity, decreasing poverty, and increasing the nutrition and health of target populations. It is adopting an innovative approach that integrates component technologies with research on crops and livestock. It also explicitly seeks to mobilize expertise of international and national research to address the specific needs of farmers and their communities. He mentioned that the Ethiopian project is one of three in Africa (the others are in West Africa - Ghana and Mali; and East and Southern Africa: Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi). The overall objectives are very similar "to sustainably intensify, to sustainably increase the productivity of small farmers in the regions." More information on the project at: http://africa-rising.net/

Market-oriented smallholder development—IPMS experience-sharing workshop

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Market-oriented smallholder development—IPMS experience-sharing workshop ILRI To help achieve the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) which Ethiopia is implementing, The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) through the Improving Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers project (IPMS) is proving professional support to smallholder farmers. This is believed to enable smallholder farmers to change their way of production from daily consumption to market-oriented production. During the workshop, Dr Edemalem Shitaye, delegate from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), said that market-oriented agricultural production system has a significant role to achieve the GTP. ILRI’s Deputy Director General, Dr John McDermott noted that the IPMS project is working towards the transfer of significant lessons and experiences gained by participatory market-oriented development. Mr Edmond Wega, CIDA director for Ethiopia and head of development cooperation, said that to bring about growth and development there is a need to produce market-oriented agricultural products and become competitive in the international market.

Introducing the gender and market oriented agriculture workshop in Addis Ababa

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Introducing the gender and market oriented agriculture workshop in Addis Ababa Njuki, J.; Puskur, R. From 31 January to 2 February 2011, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hosts a workshop on gender and market oriented agriculture. Here, two of the meeting organizers - Jemimah Njuki and Ranjitha Puskur introduce the aims and anticipated outcomes of the workshop.

No one institution can do it alone—CGIAR centers join forces to sustain agricultural productivity

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

No one institution can do it alone—CGIAR centers join forces to sustain agricultural productivity Abate, T. At a recent workshop discussing the design of a new research project on the sustainable intensification of crop-livestock farming systems in Ethiopia, we asked Tsedeke Abate from ICRISAT about the workshop. He emphasized the collaboration among the CGIAR centers: "No one institution can do it alone" - especially when the challenges are complex. He noticed especially the 'cultural change' in which the different centers are really coming together. More information on the project at: http://africa-rising.net/

Dairy cattle feed options and practices in Ethiopia

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Dairy cattle feed options and practices in Ethiopia Duncan, A.J.; Greiling, J. Alan Duncan of ILRI and Jürgen Greiling of SNV Ethiopia reflect on a 'fodder roundtable' held at ILRI on 27 January 2011. The meeting discussed and evaluated current practices of feeding dairy cattle in Ethiopia.

Livestock fattening innovation in Ethiopia—The Metema story

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Livestock fattening innovation in Ethiopia—The Metema story ILRI This video documents how a 2005 alliance between the local government office of agriculture, the IPMS project, and local livestock farmers and traders in western Ethiopia took advantage of livestock market opportunities in neighbouring Sudan. Through dialogue with local actors, the team worked out a "new way of doing business." This brought knowledge to farmers, connected them to animal health providers, encouraged shopkeepers to sell feed for fattening, and reached out to farmers through community institutions like the church. What went right in Metema? First, farmers were empowered through sharing of new ideas - on fattening and on market opportunities. Second, the team addressed issues beyond production, reaching out to input providers and others. Third, the team worked with farmers and input suppliers who volunteered to try fattening, with their own resources. Some of the critical building blocks to sustain and scale out this approach include: Effective partnerships among all actors in the value chain; appropriate knowledge for farmers on many topics; stronger input supply systems; stronger support systems for farmers to get hold of services; market information