The effect of dietary inclusion of mango (Magnifera indica L.) fruit waste on feed intake, growth and feed efficiency of Cobb-500 broiler chickens

Animal response trials aimed at investigating the effect of different levels of mango fruit waste (MFW) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of Cobb-500 broiler chickens were carried out. One-hundred sixty day-old chicks with similar body weight were randomly distributed to four treatment diets each with four replications. The four treatments were T1 (100% maize + 0% MFW), T2 (90% maize + 10 % MFW), T3 (80% maize + 20% MFW) and T4 (70% maize + 30% MFW). The experiment was conducted for 7 weeks, during which feed intake and body weight were measured. At the end of the experimental period, 2 chicks from each replication were randomly selected and slaughtered to evaluate the effect of MFW on carcass yields. The average individual daily feed intake was 65.3, 65.6, 70.8 and 66.9 g for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. At the age of 7 weeks, chicks fed on T1, T2, T3 and T4 diets had individual body weights of 1178, 1165, 1066 and 860 g, respectively. Average daily individual weight gain for the respective T1, T2, T3 and T4, was 21.0, 17.6, 16.0 and 13.7 g. The feed conversion ratio (g feed/g gain) was 3.49, 3.96, 4.50 and 5.23 g for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. The dressing percentage of T1, T2, T3 and T4 was 58.6, 62.1, 65.1 and 65.9, respectively. No significance differences were observed in all carcass traits between chickens fed on control diet and treatment diets. Chickens fed on control diet had significantly higher abdominal fat than those of treatment diets. Higher mortality rate was noted in T1 (10%) followed by T2 (2.5%). No mortalities were observed in those chickens fed on T3 and T4 diets. Mango fruit waste can be incorporated up to 20% of the diets of grower broiler chickens without affecting nutrient intake and growth.Keywords: Mango Fruit Waste; Maize; Cobb-500 Broiler Chickens; Growth Performance; Carcass Trait

Forage seed production and management techniques

Despite the large number of recommended and registered forage crop varieties and species for the different agro-ecologies of Ethiopia and critical feed shortage revealed by the very poor livestock productivity, adoption and use of cultivated forage crops in the country is still low. Some of the reasons indicated are inadequate quantity and quality seed supply, lack of technical skills, low seed productivity of forages especially perennial grasses and legumes and poor and subsistence production and none market oriented production systems. These calls to look into the status of the Ethiopian forage seed system, identify the major constraints and enhance forage seed production to improve the seed supply system in the country. The objective of this brief is to give an overview of forage seed systems and recommend major seed production practices in Ethiopia

A model public toilet service in an urban context that improves management and income for the urban poor: Field action report

Background: In Ethiopia, public toilets are commonly provided and managed by municipalities or designated government structures. This traditional model of public toilet management is limited in its ability to generate income for upkeep. To address this, USAID’s Strengthening Ethiopia’s Urban Health Program developed a public toilet management model with an integrated business approach and multiple construction design options. Objectives: To demonstrate a sustainable model for public toilet management that ensures the provision of high-quality and equitable services. Method: A public toilet management model and engineering design with three typologies were developed after a multi-sectoral team of experts conducted studies to identify the key challenges to current management. The management model and engineering design were tested in Kombolcha and Kemisse. Results: From February to August 2018, 5,099 and 18,795 people used the public toilet and shower services in Kombolcha and Kemisse towns, respectively. Of these users, 338 (3.6%) and 318 (3.4%) have a disability. In Kombolcha, four women organized as a medium and small enterprise (MSE) are managing the toilet and shower services; each member receives a 700 birr monthly salary. In Kemisse, five women organized as an MSE are managing the facility; each member receives a 2,500 birr monthly salary. They have a savings of 29,000 birr in the MSE’s account. Conclusion: The developed model helps to strengthen the management of public toilet service quality and sustainability by creating business opportunities. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2020; 34(Special issue 2):42-48] Keywords: Public toilet, model, urban, income, urban poo

Methods of planning livestock feed requirements for smallholder farmers

Planning feed requirements of a given livestock farm is the main and essential activity for successful and profitable husbandry. The scope of the planning could stretch from a traditional system to well organized commercial farms. Planning feed requirements for commercial livestock farms are simpler and follows established principles and guidelines. On the other hand, in traditional livestock systems, such as pastoral, agropastoral and mixed crop–livestock systems, planning feed requirements is usually a challenging task. It is generally considered as routine practice and done in a traditional way, which lacks precision and effectiveness. For example, pastoralists plan to have feed and water through moving from place to place in an annual basis. Under such circumstances, the best way of planning is through experiences, which is an established good practice through trial and error

Cultivated forage production in the mid and high altitude areas of Ethiopia

Feed is the main constraint of livestock production in Ethiopia. The major feed resources are inadequate and poor in quality. Grazing lands are shrinking and degraded, and crop residues are very poor in quality. The formulated concentrate feeds and agro-industrial by products are highly inflated in price, and not affordable to most smallholder livestock producers. Under such scenarios transformation of livestock productivity in Ethiopia needs to bring a breakthrough in quality feed production and supply. Cultivated forage crops are the feasible options to increase feed availability and quality, to protect the environment and much more. This brief describes the potential of cultivated forage crops and the basic production practices for selected and recommended forage crops in mixed crop–livestock production systems in Ethiopi

Evaluation of radio broadcasts on livestock feed and forage technologies

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works for better lives through livestock in developing countries. ILRI is co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia and has 14 offices across Asia and Africa. The institute is one of the CGIAR research centres, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is carried out by 15 CGIAR centres in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) is a program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and operates in six African countries (Mali, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Ethiopia). The program aims to contribute to Feed the Future goals of reducing hunger, poverty and under-nutrition by delivering high quality research outputs that are relevant to these goals. Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING is creating opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base. In Ethiopia, the main aim of the project is to identify and validate solutions to the problems experienced by smallholder crop–livestock farmers. Some problems arise from the difficulties facing farmers in managing natural resources and achieving efficiencies from managing crops, trees, water and livestock together. These efficiencies are often influenced by other factors such as access to inputs and reliability of markets. To address this complexity, Africa RISING takes an integrated approach to strengthening farming systems. It conducts participatory research that identifies technologies and management practices that work for farmers and takes account of contextual issues like markets for inputs and outputs, community and other institutions and policy environments that influence farm households. The project in Ethiopia facilitates wider scaling of validated crop-livestock-natural resource management technologies to reach and benefit more smallholder farmers. Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a three-year (2021–2023) project that operates in six African countries, including Ethiopia. The project is supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and will enhance the research and capacity-building activities of CGIAR and its partners. AICCRA in Ethiopia aims to strengthen the capacity of targeted national partners and stakeholders of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) East Africa to access and implement at scale validated climate-smart agriculture technologies, climate information services and climate-informed digital ag-advisories to build the resilience of agri-food systems. The value chains considered for AICCRA’s project in Ethiopia include beans, wheat, small ruminants and livestock feed and forage options. The AICCRA project in Ethiopia has eight research activities, four of which the livestock feed and forage options value chain contributes to. These four are capacity building to support the implementation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technology packages; identification of climate, gender and social inclusion-smartness of CSA packages; prioritization and awareness increase of best-bet CSA options and approaches for key value chains; and integration of climate-smart options and tailored climate-smart innovation (CSI) advisory systems for specific value chains. The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SIMFS) initiative aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecologies and socio-economic settings. Through action research and development partnerships, the initiative will improve smallholder farmers' resilience to weather-induced shocks, provide a more stable income and significant benefits in welfare, and enhance social justice and inclusion for 13 million people by 2030. Activities will be implemented in six focus countries globally, representing diverse mixed farming systems as follows: Ghana (cereal–root crop mixed), Ethiopia (highland mixed), Malawi (maize mixed), Bangladesh (rice mixed), Nepal (highland mixed), and Lao People's Democratic Republic (upland intensive mixed/ highland extensive mixed). Africa RISING, AICCRA projects and SIMFS initiative contracted a consultant to undertake media and communications-related activities. These included media assessment, facilitating media partnership, training radio journalists on livestock feed and forage technologies, and monitoring the radio broadcasts

Sustainable management practices for durum wheat production: Analyzing specific agronomic interventions on productivity, grain micronutrient content, and quality

As compared with single agronomic crop management practices during grain formation, knowledge about integrated agronomic management practices on grain mineral composition and grain technological properties in durum wheat is limited. This knowledge is important for determining management strategies aimed at increasing grain yield without affecting grain nutritional quality. Integrated agronomic practices such as foliar nutrient application × seeding rate × varieties combined with growing locations were investigated to evaluate the dynamics of yield and grain quality traits. Two durum wheat varieties, three-level of micronutrients (i.e. control, FeSO4, and ZnSO4), and four levels of seeding rate (i.e. 100, 125, 150, and 175 kg ha−1) were arranged in split-split plot design under two different growing locations (environments). The main plots were assigned to the varieties, subplots to micronutrients, and sub-sub plots to the seeding rate treatments. Zinc and iron were applied in a form of ZnSO4 and FeSO4 at the early flowering stage, both at a rate of 25 kg ha−1. Results showed a linear increment in biomass (21.5%) and grain yield (23.5%) under a high seeding rate, even though the 1000-grain weight, the number of grains spike−1, spike length, and the number of grains spike−1 were decreased. Higher varietal and environmental response of seeding rate was observed between varieties. The grain protein content, gluten, and zeleyn index decreased as the seeding rate increased. Grain micronutrient content was significantly influenced by seeding rate and varietal difference. The grain protein content was higher in a dryland environment than in a wet environment. A combined use of density-tolerant varieties, high seeding rate, and foliar-based iron application can improve the grain yield from 2.01 to 3.20 t ha−1 under a potential environment. Hence, all stakeholders should consider the genotype (G), environment (E), management (M), and their synergies, as far as grain yield and quality are considered simultaneously