The Kuri cattle breed is found on the shores and islands of Lake Chad. Its main habitat is in southern Chad and north-eastern Nigeria but the breed is also found in northern Cameroon, in Niger and, to a limited extent, in the Central African Republic. The Kuri are also known as the Baharie, Bare, Borrie, Boudouma, Dongolé, Koubouri, Buduma or White Lake Chad. The importance of the Kuri lies not only in its unique physical characteristics but also in its meat and milk production potentials. The breed is so acclimatised to the environs of Lake Chad that it is unable to survive elsewhere.

Adrian Cullis from FAO Ethiopia reflects on the recent conference in Addis Ababa on the future of pastoralism in Africa. The event's fundamental take home message is that "there is a future for pastoralism in Africa." However, it looks like there will be different futures and different forms of pastoralism - with winners and losers. He also outlines the work FAO does in this area, and comments on some issues like gender and productivity issues (of rangelands, of livestock) that received insufficient attention in the meeting.

Presents a theoritical outline of the techniques in the use of tritiated water (HTO) which can be used to estimate total body water, body composition, water turnover, milk intake and feed intake. Highlights its potential errors and gives a comprehensive methodology for the use of tritiated water under field conditions.

This papers examines the trade and price trends for livestock products emerging for the 1990s in sub-Saharan Africa, the issues that these trends present for policy research, the potential impact of research that addresses the identified issues, and wheather ILCA have a comparative advantage in undertaking work on the identified issues and wheather there are potential collaborators to work with. The issues and areas identified constitute a modest set of suggestions for future research.

African farmers are poorly resourced, highly diverse and aground by poverty traps making them rather impervious to change. As a consequence R4D efforts usually result in benefits but also trade-offs that constraint adoption and change. A typical case is the use of crop residues as mulches or as feedstock. Here we linked a database of household surveys with a dynamic whole farm simulation model, to quantify the diversity of trade-offs from the alternative use of crop residues.

Written and coordinated through a ‘writeshop’ approach, this book stands up for traders – who are often treated with mistrust by smallholder farmers. It aims to improve the relationship between producers and traders, thus contributing to more sustainable value chains that provide access to markets for local producers in Africa. Full of short stories that are unique and rich in information, Trading up’s 15 richly illustrated case studies cover a wide range of countries and commodities.