Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy is the title of a new book by Livestock-Climate Change CRSP research partners John McPeak and Peter Little.   The book summarizes the results of a multi-year interdisciplinary research project in pastoral areas of Kenya and Ethiopia. The authors describe the ecology and social context in which pastoralism takes place, with a particular focus on the risks that confront people living in these drylands, and how these risks are often triggered by highly variable rainfall conditions, a symptom of climate change.

The authors go on to describe the livelihood strategies employed by pastoralists in these areas, with a focus on how well-being is tied to access to livestock and the cash economy. They conclude that the future development activities need to be built on the foundation of the livestock economy, instead of seeking to replace it.

John McPeak is an Associate Professor and Vice-Chair in the Department of Public Administration in the Maxwell School of Syracuse University; he is a member of the LCC CRSP’s MLPI-2 project in Mali and leads the RIVERS project in Senegal.  Peter D. Little is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Program in Development Studies at Emory University; he leads the LCC CRSP CHAINS project, which takes place in Ethiopia and Kenya. Cheryl R. Doss, also a co-author, is Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs and Economics and the Director of Graduate Studies for the MA program in International Relations at Yale University.

Risk and Social Change in an African Rural Economy is available from Routledge.

The Livestock-Climate Change CRSP Seed Grant Program for Nepal project, “Livestock, Livelihoods, and Climate Change Interaction: A Collaborative Research in the Mountains of Nepal” (LLCCI) was launched last week at LI-BIRD’s headquarters in Pokhara, Nepal.

Reported by Keshab Thapa, Programme Officer, LI-BIRD

The LLCCI project was launched in a formal inauguration session by Mr. Birendra Bahadur Hamal, Regional Director, Regional Agricultural Directorate, Western Development Region, Kaski, Nepal. Photo: Mahesh Shrestha.

With the distinguished guests and professionals from 12 research and development organizations of Nepal and United States, a collaborative research project entitled “Livestock, Livelihoods and Climate Change Interaction: A Collaborative Research in the Mountains of Nepal” was formally launched in LI-BIRD’s headquarters in Pokhara on 08 July 2011. This collaborative action research will be conducted by an interdisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners based in the United States and Nepal. The team is composed of Principal Investigator Prof. Netra Chhetri, a climate change adaptation and food security scholar at Arizona State University (ASU) and two non-governmental organizations in Nepal: Local Initiatives for Biodiversity Research and Development (LI-BIRD) and Nucleus for Empowerment through Skill Transfer (NEST).

The programme was chaired by Dr. Banshi Sharma, Regional Livestock Director, Regional Livestock Services Office, Western Development Region, Kaski, Nepal. The project was launched in a formal inauguration session by Mr. Birendra Bahadur Hamal, Regional Director, Regional Agricultural Directorate, Western Development Region, Kaski, Nepal. Mr. Abishkar Subedi, Programme Director of LI-BIRD welcomed all guests and participants, briefed the objectives of the launching and initiated introduction of the participants.

During the programme, Mr. Sajal Sthapit, Programme Coordinator for Knowledge Management and Capacity Building Programme of LI-BIRD briefly introduced LI-BIRD and its priorities, and achievements to date.

Joyce Turk, Senior Livestock Advisor with USAID, illustrates the relationship between livestock, environmental, and human health. Photo: Mahesh Shrestha.

Ms. Joyce Turk, Senior Livestock Development Manager from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shared the objective of Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (LCC CRSP) of USAID. In her speech, she presented a triangular relationship among environment/climate change, livestock, and human and their interaction for balancing the system with a continuous adaptation and trade off for which the LCC CRSP has been designed. She also stressed an urgent need of knowledge on how livestock and then the livestock keepers’ livelihoods are interacting with climate change and also the health of human, livestock and environment is the most important part to be dealt.

Prof. Shana Gillete, from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of Colorado State University focused on the need of integrating livestock, livelihoods and climate change and develop knowledge product to guide for policy making process.

Prof. Netra Chhetri, of Arizona State University and the Principal Investigator of the project briefly presented the project concept, objectives, and outcomes. According to him, it is a good opportunity for US agencies to collaborate with Nepalese NGOs like LI-BIRD and NEST.

Read More

“Any time you get in the same room a group of scientists, with a group of community members, with people that work in the civil society, there is kind of a magic that takes place,” says Robin Reid, in the opening seconds of the trailer for “Pastoralist Voices on Climate Change,” a documentary produced and directed by Joana Roque Depinho.

Roque De Pinho is a post-doctoral researcher at Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, in Lisbon, Portugal. She also co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced the award-winning documentary “Through our Eyes: A Maasai Photographic Journey” with Lindsey Simpson, who also works on the Voices project. Both women are graduates of Colorado State University. The film team also includes Nicholas Tapia, a CSU videographer and alumni.

The Pastoralist Voices documentary is produced in conjunction with the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program’s Pastoral Transformations to Resilient Futures: Understanding Climate from the Ground Up (PTRF) project led by Dr. Kathleen Galvin and Robin Reid, from CSU. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’s (CGIAR) Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has also lent support to the film.

read more »

Three proposals from three different U.S. Universities selected for funding.

The Livestock-Climate Change CRSP (LCC CRSP) has awarded a total of $240,000 to three U.S. universities and their international partners in Nepal to improve the livelihoods of small-scale livestock producers impacted by climate change.

The LCC CRSP selected Nepal as a focus country for several reasons. In Nepal, nearly 70% of households depend on livestock production for a significant part of their income and as a source of meat, dairy products, and eggs. Nepal is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts. Finally, Nepal is one of the 20 Feed the Future countries, due to rampant malnutrition rates and a high degree of food insecurity.

The LCC CRSP released the Nepal Seed Grant Program request for proposals on January 28, 2011; proposals were due on March 7, 2011. The LCC CRSP received a total of 13 proposals. An external review panel of subject matter experts (i.e., veterinary medicine, economics, agronomy, livestock production, and climate science) from U.S. universities and government agencies reviewed the proposals. Final selections were based on panel recommendations, input from the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington D.C., the USAID bilateral mission in Nepal, and expertise of the LCC CRSP management entity.

The Nepal Seed Grant cohort includes three U.S. university partners; one university in Nepal; and a total of seven U.S and international aid, development, and research organizations, and government agencies.

read more »

Dr. Richard Bowen, Professor of Bioscience, named as new PI for the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP. Photo courtesy of Richard Bowen, LCC CRSP.

Dr. Richard Bowen, Disease Expert, Picked to Head LCC CRSP

Dr. Richard Bowen, professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and member of Colorado State University’s Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, has been named to lead the university’s Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program (LCC CRSP), replacing Dr. Mo Salman, who resigned in order to pursue other demanding projects.

“We are grateful to Dr. Salman for his guidance during the implementation of this program. We support his desire to return his focus to his other important research and outreach priorities,” said Bill Farland, vice president for Research at Colorado State University. “And, we continue to be excited about the opportunities for discovery and outreach the LCC CRSP offers and can achieve under Dr. Bowen’s leadership. Dr. Bowen is an excellent researcher who brings extensive international experience to this important partnership with USAID.”

“The LCC CRSP is an important program for CSU and several other universities in the U.S.  More importantly however, it offers the potential for the developed world to have a real impact on the lives of livestock owners in several impoverished regions of the world that are increasingly vulnerable to a multitude of insults, climate change among them,” said Bowen, “I am pleased and excited to be a part of the LCC CRSP team and look forward to a productive journey.”

Bowen researches infectious diseases that can spill over from domestic or wild animals to human populations. Currently, he is working to understand the human-animal interface as it relates to transmission of avian influenza viruses. He is also working to understand how West Nile Virus infects domestic animals, wild birds and reptiles and to develop and test vaccines.

Bowen is the Director of the Animal Models Core at the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease. In this capacity, he supervises numerous trials to evaluate vaccines and therapeutics to protect against a broad range of pathogens.

“Dr. Bowen’s illustrious leadership during his tenure at CSU will be needed to meet the challenges of a program that was designed to address the dynamic interactions of livestock, humans, and the environment. USAID looks forward to working with Dr. Bowen and his management team in a successful partnership,” said Joyce Turk, Senior Livestock Advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development and USAID-liaison for the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP.

The Livestock-Climate Change CRSPs latest program brief, “Livestock, Climate Change, and Nutrition: Leveraging Livestock to Improve Livelihoods,” describes how livestock research in West Africa, East Africa, and Central Asia is contributing to improving nutrition and health for families and communities.

This week, the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP released “Livestock, Climate Change, and Nutrition: Leveraging Livestock to Improve Livelihoods.” The publication was authored by Sarah Lupis, Shana Gillette, and Jessica Davis of the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP along with Michael Lacy from the University of Georgia and Sarah McKune from the University of Florida. read more »

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia has received more than $440,000 as part of a collaborative research, outreach and education program aimed at encouraging sustainable poultry production in the West African country of Mali. This project is part of the Livestock-Climate Change Collaborative Research Support Program at Colorado State University (CSU) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development bilateral mission in Mali under a $5.25 million Poultry and Pastoralism Associate Award.
read more »

The first issue of Chronicles, the quarterly newsletter of the Livestock-Climate Change CRSP is now available on line and in paper formats.

Inside this issue:

• Climate Change Resilience, One Chicken at a time
• 2010 Seed Grand Projects
• LCC CRSP PI Receives Prestigious Penn Vet Award
• Feeding the Future through Livestock-Climate Change Research
• 2010 Graduate Student Fellows
• African and U.S. Universities Partner to Tackle Development Challenges Across Africa
• Travel Log
• Introducing the Advisory Board
• Special Section: Country Profile, Mali
• Special Section: Partner Profile, Michael Lacy (University of Georgia)

To request hard copies of the newsletter, email Sarah Lupis, LCC CRSP Communications Specialist, at Sarah.Lupis@ColoState.edu. Be sure to include:

1. Your complete mailing address
2. The number of copies you are requesting
3. A phone number or email where you can be reached