Livestock production in arid and semi-arid rangelands is a risky enterprise. Covariate risk of catastrophic livestock loss due to drought is the most critical uninsured risk facing livestock producers. These losses can lead to persistent poverty. We are trying to design an index based livestock insurance (IBLI) program as a viable means to help pastoralists in northern Kenya manage such covariate risk of livestock losses due to drought.

The aim of this study was to evaluate accuracy of farmer's paternity identification which determines success of future breed selection and hence genetic gain. Paternity of 269 Orma/zebu and Sahiwal/zebu calves was evaluated using genetic markers and the likelihood based method. Results indicate that only 6.7% farmer alleged paternities were confirmed, 88% parent-offspring relationships were rejected and 18% parent-offspring relationships were undetermined. However, 82% of offsprings were assigned at least 80% confident paternities to one of the sampled candidate males.

Marketing transactions take place in an environment where information is shared and exchanged among and between sellers, buyers and middlemen. It is argued that traders and middlemen have a competitive advantage over producers in negotiating for prices, because the former have access to prices in both primary and terminal markets, while the latter only have limited access to prices in the primary markets. This Research Brief highlights the situation regarding access to livestock marketing information by producers in pastoral markets of Kenya.

Farmer-herder conflicts are enduring features of social life in the Sudano-Sahelian zone.

A survey was carried out between August and December 2004 in four sites in Niger,

namely Bokki, Katanga, Sabon Gida and Tountoubé to determine the proximate and

long-term causes of conflict over natural resource use, to evaluate the appropriateness of

existing institutional arrangements for managing conflicts and identify innovative options

and incentives to reduce the incidence and severity of conflicts. The research was

Discusses the use of forage legumes in the contexts of seasonality of other feeds particularly natural pastures and crop residues, the seasonality in animal movements, the competitiveness for land and labour of forage legumes, and the complementarity of forage legumes with other feeds in smallholder as well as pastoral production systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Ends with research implications & recommendations.

ILCA acknowledged the potential for increased animal agriculture in the subhumid zone of West Africa by establishing a research base at Kaduna in northern Nigeria. FulBe agropastoralists were selected at the target group because they own most of the cattle in the zone and cattle are the predominant livestock, at least in terms of biomass and traded products. After consultation with experts, farm surveys, and a simulation analysis, ILCA chose to focus the research on overcoming the dry-season nutrition constraint.