This message was sent by Shirley Tarawali on 25 May 2015

As you will surely remember, last year was extra special for ILRI.  2014 marked 40 years since the creation of ILRI (1994) and its forerunners: ILRAD (1973) and ILCA (1974). To mark this institutional milestone ILRI organized several events bringing together global, regional and local actors in sustainable livestock development, including the public and private sectors and research and development agencies.

Below I am sharing some brief highlights and links that we shared with the external people who came to our various meetings. Although we still expect continued feedback and opportunities following the ILRI@40 activities, one important aspect for most of us, is that we should now return to using the standard ILRI logo in our email signatures – so expect an email from ICT this week on how to update your signature!

Read some highlights from our global series of event on ‘Livestock-based options for sustainable food and nutritional security, economic well-being and healthy lives’:

• ILRI@40 conference in Addis Ababa, 7–8 Nov 2014
• A special session at the All Africa Conference on Animal Agriculture in Nairobi, 27–29 Oct 2014
• A special session at the Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, 15 Oct 2014
• ILRI@40 conference in Nairobi, 1 Oct 2014
• A special session at the Tropentag Conference in Prague, 18 Sep 2014

We also think you might enjoy viewing our Storify highlights (rather like a virtual scrapbook)  of blog posts, photos, tweets, posters and presentations from these and other events organized by ILRI from September through December 2014 to mark ILRI’s 40-year anniversary.

At each event, we asked participants to comment on two questions: Looking to 2054, what are the two most critical livestock-related challenges we must answer through research? What is the most promising ‘best bet’ opportunity we should invest in to achieve better lives though livestock by 2054? The link below gives a summary of the responses provided by participants.

• Setting international livestock research priorities: Some challenges suggested during ILRI@40 events

Finally, you are very welcome to join ILRI’s LinkedIn Group. This is a space for all of us involved in livestock research for development to share our interests, news, announcements, job openings and so on. It’s a place to have conversations, engage with each other, have some fun and further our missions. All welcome!