What is a local innovation platform?

This policy brief is prepared in English, Amharic and Oromiffa languages

Effective delivery of input services (AI, feed and veterinary services) to livestock development in Ethiopia

Minutes of the Fourth Ethiopian Fodder Roundtable Meeting, ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 22, 2010.The IFAD-Funded ‘Fodder Adoption Project’ (FAP) uses feed scarcity as an entry point to address major constraint in livestock development in selected districts in Ethiopia. It also recognizes that fodder scarcity is not just about technologies but also about the collective capacity of a network of individuals and organizations. It therefore uses an innovation system framework to engage multiple actors along livestock commodity value chains–facilitating continuous interaction among stakeholders to generate innovation rather than just research products or technologies. The Fourth Ethiopian Fodder Roundtable was held on the theme of ‘Role of effective delivery of input services (AI, veterinary services, and feed) to fodder/dairy development in Ethiopia’. The roundtable discussions were facilitated based on discussion points emerging from brief PowerPoint presentations. The presentations outlined some key constraints contributing to feed scarcity in Ethiopia: the subsistence mode of production; poorly developed market for livestock products; chronic shortage of fodder biomass; dominance of arable production; feed being an intermediate commodity; weakness of private sector; and an extension system which focuses on the cereal sector. AI provision in Ethiopia is weak due to the constraints associated with lack of breeding policy, lack of regular monitoring of bulls for reproductive performance, absence of a herd registration and recording system, poor technical, financial and managerial support and poor networking of the service. Formation of dairy farmers associations, a cattle breeders association and establishing private business associations were suggested as options for effective delivery of AI services

Underemployment among Mature-Age Workers in Australia

Underemployment is a serious and pervasive problem both in terms of its impact on those individuals affected, and for the economy as a whole. Underemployment is associated with job insecurity, increased casualisation and lower savings, and from a macroeconomic standpoint, underemployment is a signal of inefficiency in the utilisation of skilled labour. This article explores the patterns of underemployment for mature-age workers in Australia, a group for whom the prevalence of long spells of underemployment is especially marked. The research uses a 12-year panel dataset to analyse factors that contribute to a heightened risk of underemployment. Significant path dependency is revealed, whereby previous periods of underemployment increase the propensity towards further underemployment in the current period. Interestingly, most demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, except for the presence of older dependent children and a non-English-speaking foreign-born background for women, tend not to have any direct impact on the propensity for underemployment. These findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to triage these barriers aimed at highlighting the role of improved labour market attachment in promoting the well-being and economic contribution of mature-age workers

Assessment of livestock production and feed resources at Kerekicho, Angacha district, Ethiopia

This document is a product of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI). This is a five-year project that aims to benefit farmers of Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania by improving effective use of scarce water supplies through interventions in small-scale irrigation. It is a part o