This working paper presents the results of a study commissioned by the International Centre for
Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) under the Grass2Cash project whose primary objective was to understand
the underlying reasons why farmers adopt ten improved forage varieties in the four Western Kenya
counties of Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia and Siaya. A gendered perspective to the motivations and
challenges of adoption, and a review of the project assumptions were secondary objectives. A total of

The convoluted nexus between bovine livestock and the dynamics of armed confrontation in Colombia is a terrain open for exploration. While a vast array of archival sources suggests a historical, problematic connection between livestock production, land dispossession and rising violence in rural settings, academic narratives remain scarce.

Drylands occupy more than 40% of the world’s land area and are home to some two billion people. This includes a disproportionate number of the world’s poorest people, who live in degraded and severely degraded landscapes. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification states on its website that 12 million hectares are lost annually to desertification and drought, and that more than 1.5 billion people are directly dependent on land that is being degraded, leading to US$42 billion in lost earnings each year.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is implementing
the Program for Climate Smart Livestock (PCSL) in Kenya, Uganda,
and Ethiopia. PCSL is designed to build the capacity of governments,
the private sector, and livestock keepers towards improving livestock
productivity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to
climate change. In late November 2020, ILRI held a virtual workshop
with relevant stakeholders to discuss potential transformative pathways
for the livestock sector in Kenya.
PARTICIPANTS

Contamination of key staples with aflatoxins compromises the quality of food and feed, impedes trade, and negatively affects the health of consumers whereas acute exposure can be fatal.

Participatory rangeland management (PRM) was developed by ILRI and partners in Ethiopia, piloted and then upscaled. PRM improves the productivity of rangelands and access to resources for local rangelands users (communities). In 2018, the European Union invested Euro 1.5 million in the Piloting of PRM Project in Baringo County, Kenya and six shared grazing lands in Tanzania (targeting 450,000 pastoralists and agropastoralists). In 2020/21 PRM is being upscaled through a USD 30 million investment on 8.8 million hectares in Ethiopia.

This paper explores the economic implications of fall armyworm (FAW) and its management strategies by exploiting exogenous variation in FAW exposure amongst households in southern Ethiopia. We find that FAW exposure affects maize yield and sales negatively, but not consumption. Furthermore, we find evidence of crowding-in and intensification of insecticide use in response to FAW exposure. We also find suggestive evidence that existing extension service arrangements lack the capacity to deal with emerging threats such as FAW.

This information note summarizes the state of livestock farming in the Orinoco region and the conditions that combine there to develop GANSO (abbreviation for sustainable livestock farming in Spanish, Ganaderia Sostenible), an innovative technical and financial assistance program aimed at a transformation to low-carbon and sustainable livestock farming that embraces productive, economic, social and environmental factors.