Systemwide Livestock Programme

Vacancy Number: LWRS/PLE/04/10
Department: People, Livestock and Env.
Duration: 3 years

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) seek to recruit a highly competent and dynamic scientist to broaden our capacity to address natural resource management and agricultural productivity issues related to the interactions between water, livestock,and crops in West Africa. The position will conduct research at local through to landscape/regional scales to assess and provide solutions for the integrated management of water and livestock resources. The position will be based in IWMI’s West Africa office in Accra, Ghana or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and reports to IWMI’s Theme Leader on Productive Water Use and ILRI’s Theme Director on People, Livestock and the Environment.

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Livestock have an important role in improving the nutritional status of low-income households, they confer status, are of cultural importance and create employment opportunities within and beyond the immediate household.  The increasing demand for animal protein in low- and middle-income countries provides an opportunity for the rural poor to improve their livelihoods but the nature of livestock farming is determined by policy and institutional frameworks that rarely favour the poor.”

Read the entire story on Vetsweb.com

The effects of climate change – such as drought, livestock deaths and resource conflict – may be all too apparent for the pastoralists of northern Kenya, but there is much to be done to explain the true causes

Read the rest of the story on allAfrica.com

On 12 April, Bruno Gerard presented an update on the SLP to the ILRI Board of Trustees. See the presentation:

The importance and consequences of animal feed and feeding has largely been under-estimated and under-valued by donors, development agencies and policy makers alike. To rectify this, FAO is in the process of forming a network for all those with an interest in animal feeds and feeding. The objective is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information. It is envisaged that the network will function through the FAO Feed Portal which will be operational in the coming months, and  will provide a platform for debate on a wide range of  animal nutrition related issues, for example: research and development in developing countries, challenges and opportunities in meeting the demand for feeds; the  importance of animal nutrition in increasing livestock productivity and  mitigating greenhouse gases and pollutants from livestock systems, and preparing adequate responses to ongoing global warming.

The long term goal is to launch a Global Feed Initiative and it is hoped that discussions through this network will pave the way for achieving this.

Those working primarily on animal feeds and feeding are invited to join the network by providing the following information to Harinder Makkar (Harinder.Makkar@fao.org)

FAO,  Animal Production Officer (Animal Nutrition).

1. Name (essential):
2. Email (essential):

1. Contact details (optional) including postal address, telephone and fax numbers, website.
2. Primary area of interest/expertise  (please do not list more than three areas) (essential)
3. CV and List of Publications in the last 5 years (optional)
4. Are you:

a) willing to have your details listed publically on the FAO Feed Portal, or

b) would you prefer they remain restricted to FAO.

If interested please  provide the above information by the end of April . Please feel free to pass this invitation onto other colleagues who you believe may wish to join the Network.