Genetic-phenotypic and production-system diversity in goat populations in Ethiopia: Options for sustainable production

Global Affairs Canad

Livestock input supply and service provision in Ethiopia: challenges and opportunities for market-oriented development

Livestock production in Ethiopia has, for long, remained subsistence with limited market-orientation and poor institutional support. Producing for the market requires re-orientation of the production system and development of a knowledge based and responsive institutional support services. Institutional support services of extension, research, input supply, rural finance and marketing are key areas of intervention that can play a central role in the transformation of subsistence production into market orientation. Livestock production systems in Ethiopia can be broadly categorized into mixed crop–livestock system, pastoral and agropastoral system, and urban and peri-urban production systems. The demand for institutional support services for livestock development in these production systems can vary significantly. The way extension system is oriented in Ethiopia may not be in the best interest of livestock keepers and lacks the responsive capacity to the demands for livestock services. In fact, most often livestock development issues are left to development projects and NGOs that have limited scope, coverage and duration. The major inputs for livestock development include animal genetic resources, feeds and forages, veterinary drugs, vaccines, machinery equipment and utensils as well as knowledge. Most of these inputs have been supplied only by the government or government sponsored projects. Limited credit facilities to support livestock development have been provided by microfinance institutions, food security projects, small-scale micro enterprises and NGOs

Participatory evaluation of cattle fattening innovations of smallholder farmers in Gamogofa zone of southern Ethiopia

The study was conducted in Gamogofa zone, southern Ethiopia, located 445-505 km south of Addis Ababa. The area is semi-arid lowland with altitudes ranging from 746 to 1450 m asl and mean temperature ranges from 22 to 25 °C. The dominant farming system is mixed crop-livestock. Cattle, goats and poultry are the major livestock species, while maize, sorghum, teff, banana and mango are the major crops. Cattle fattening is an important undertaking and source of livelihoods. However, the fattening system is traditional low-input-low-output and producers are not benefiting much from the sector. This study evaluated the challenges and constraints, and cattle fattening innovations introduced through the participation of stakeholders in the study area. The study used focus group discussion, key informants interview, livestock commodity platforms and questionnaires for data collection. The major challenges and constraints identified are; a) feed and feeding related - lack of improved fodder and poor utilisation, lack of fodder conservation practices, poor natural grazing lands management and energy loss due to long distance grazing; lack of access for concentrate feed; b) cattle related - inappropriate cattle type for fattening; c) production related - long cycle fattening (> 8 months), poor housing and poor cattle management; d) market related - unorganised cattle marking, dominance of local markets with brokers which makes producers price takers, lack of market linkage; e) capacity related - lack of knowledge and skill on improved cattle fattening by producers, input providers and livestock extension staff. The following interventions were introduced: a) capacity related, which includes skill based training and coaching & mentoring of producers and livestock extension staff on improved cattle fattening, improved reproductive management and artificial insemination; b) fattening innovations which includes stall feeding instead of grazing, short cycle (3-4 months) multiple fattening per annum, improved on farm fodder production, improved fodder utilisation through chopping, fodder conservation through bag silage making & proper harvesting and storage of crop residues, initiation of commercial concentrate feed supplying business and use of concentrate supplementation, better animal selection from the market and deworming before fattening, establishment of fattened cattle marketing groups, and marketing linkage with buyers

Commercialization of Ethiopian agriculture: Extension service from input supplier to knowledge broker and facilitator

Transforming Ethiopian agriculture from its current subsistence orientation into market orientated production system forms the basis of the agricultural development strategy of the Government of Ethiopia (GoE). The agricultural extension service is one of the institutional support services that has a central role to play in the transformation process. This paper makes use of literature review and information collected using Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) techniques in eight woredas of four Regional States of Oromiya, Amhara, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) in Ethiopia to assess the extension service development, and analyse the approaches and processes used by the current extension system. The paper also identifies some of the major bottlenecks in the extension system and suggests recommendations for a more market oriented support service. We find that the extension service is in the process of transition, with emphasis being shifted to the use of the newly established Farmers Training Centres (FTCs). The FTCs are expected to serve as hubs for the transfer of improved technologies and knowledge, skill development, and the provision of other institutional support services. We also find that agricultural extension service is provided almost exclusively by the government through the woreda (district) Offices of Agriculture and Rural Development (OoARD). Although the country is following market oriented agricultural development strategy, we find that the extension service that has been organized for achieving food security objectives has not yet been adapted (both in capacity and organizational structure) to provide extension service required for transforming subsistence agriculture to market oriented agriculture. Major problems of the extension system include top-down and non-participatory approach, primarily supply driven, low capacity of experts and development agents, low morale and high turnover of extension staff, and shortage of operational budget and facilities. It is recommended that steps be taken to adapt the extension service to fit into the market oriented development strategy. It is also recommended that support is provided to the extension services to develop pluralistic and interactive operational models geared towards market oriented agricultural development including involvement of the private sector extension through co-operatives and large-scale commercial production and marketing companies. The creation of agricultural innovation teams both at the federal and regional levels will help develop innovative approaches and capacities at the district level, thus contributing to the alleviation of the top-down nature of the extension service. Furthermore, it is recommended that the Agricultural Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) colleges be involved in the learning process and continuously include lessons learned in their curricula

Indigenous chicken production and marketing systems in Ethiopia: Characteristics and opportunities for market-oriented development

This working paper presents a synthesis of research findings undertaken in three woredas or districts (Bure, Fogera in Amhara Regional State and Dale in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State) in Ethiopia. These woredas are Pilot Learning Woredas (PLWs) of the Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian Farmers Project being implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The major objective of these studies was to assess the existing indigenous chicken production and marketing systems and identify major constraints and priorities for improvement and extension interventions. A formal survey with structured questionnaire and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods relevant to village chicken production systems were used to collect data. The result of these studies revealed that the dominant chicken production system of the study districts is an extensive/traditional type of production, using local chicken ecotypes, managed mainly on scavenging with seasonal feed supplementation of home-grown grains and household food refusals

Linking graduate research to market-oriented agricultural development: IPMS experience with Ethiopian higher learning institutions

Graduate programs in agriculture and allied disciplines in Ethiopia are expected to make concrete contribution to market-oriented development of smallholder agriculture. This, among others, calls for realignment and engagement of the programs with smallholder farmers and, value chain, R&D and policy actors. No panacea exists, however, as to how to ensure effective linkages, and thereby responsiveness. Lessons from initiatives on the ground in the country and beyond is thus crucial to inform the development of appropriate policy and innovative strategy. With the same purpose, this paper discusses the key challenges facing the graduate programs and IPMS initiative to enhance the relevance of graduate research to challenges in commodity value chain development. The paper draws lessons and identifies strategic options based on the insights from IPMS experience as well as other emerging opportunities to improving the relevance and quality of research and learning in the graduate programs. The paper concludes by explicitly recognizing that improving the quality and relevance of graduate research and learning is a daunting task, requiring a holistic approach, multi-pronged and multi-level strategies, and long term commitment