Approaches, methods and processes for innovative apiculture development: experiences from Ada'a-Liben Woreda Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The Improving Productivity and Marketing Success (IPMS) for Ethiopian Farmers'; Project being implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) commissioned Sap-Tec PLC to study the existing potential and execute apiculture development in Ada';a-Liben woreda, one of the IPMS'; ten Pilot Learning Woredas (PLWs). The main objective of this apiculture intervention was to identify the current beekeeping practices, assess potentials and problems, and provide solutions through the introduction of a participatory market-oriented modern beekeeping practice as an income-generating activity to farmers and others who are interested to complement their income. The activities reported in this paper are based on studies and interventions undertaken to enhance market-oriented apiculture development in Ada';a-Liben woreda between 2005 and 2007. This working paper is divided into a number of sections. The first two sections describe the major strengths and constraints of the bee industry in Ethiopia. Section 3 describes the beekeeping institutes and associations. Sections 4 and 5 analyse the most important opportunities and threats for apiculture development and marketing intervention in Ada';a-Liben woreda. Section 6 presents IPMS intervention strategies and lessons learned in knowledge sharing, capacity building, and commodity development including technology transfer, platforms, input supply, credit facilitation and market linkage. This section also discusses the methods used and the achievements obtained so far. Finally, Section 7 discusses both general and industry specific recommendations, which form the basis for further development of the industry. This working paper is intended to provide preliminary information on lessons drawn in beekeeping interventions in Ada';a-Liben woreda and to share the experiences to those who have already launched or are planning to launch apiary development program as an alternative income generating activity. It also highlights the methodologies applied and the lessons learned from the apiculture interventions of the IPMS project for scaling up to other woredas. The main objective of this apiculture intervention was to identify the current beekeeping practices, assess potentials and problems, and provide solutions through the introduction of a participatory market-oriented modern beekeeping practice as an income-generating activity to farmers and others who are interested to complement their income

Integrated health interventions for improved livelihoods: a case study in Ethiopia

Open Access Journal; Published online: 14 Mar 2020Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face multifaceted and co-existing risks, such as human and animal diseases and pests. Even though smallholder farmers often experience these challenges simultaneously, interventions to address these challenges are often implemented in a piecemeal fashion. However, managing agricultural production constraints without alleviating human and livestock health burdens might not generate significant and sustained benefits to achieve the desired development outcome (e.g., reducing hunger, malnutrition, and poverty). As such, building farmers’ resilience and adaptive capacity to co-existing production constraints and health burdens may require an integrated and holistic approach. Understanding the potential benefits of an integrated approach would provide critical information, for example, for revisiting the extension systems and for designing pro-poor holistically integrated interventions to tackle interrelated challenges facing smallholder farmers. In this paper, we examined the economic benefits of integrated human–plant–animal health interventions aimed at controlling malaria, stemborer infestations of crops, and trypanosomiasis, along with beekeeping as a livelihood diversification option in rural Ethiopia. We developed a whole-farm multiperiod mathematical linear programming model to examine the economic consequences of the interventions. Our results suggest that relaxing livelihoods and the human–plant–animal health constraints that farmers face has the potential to at least double income. The results further show that exploiting the potential synergies among interventions can generate higher economic benefits. The annual income from the combined interventions is 35% higher than the sum of the income gains from each intervention alone. Our results support an integrated approach to achieve holistic outcomes in areas where these development constraints co-exist

The economics of multiple interventions to achieve holistic outcomes: Pilot evidence from Ethiopia

The growth and development of many African countries is restricted by human, livestock, and crop health related constraints. For instance, Trypanosomiasis affects both humans and livestock, malaria remains a public health burden, and crop pests such as cereal stemborers cause huge yield losses. Solutions that address several of these constraints can make a significant contribution to the economic development of Africa. This paper examines the economic implication of four ecological interventions introduced in a pilot study in rural Ethiopia to control Trypanosomiasis, malaria and stemborers, in addition to livelihood diversifications and income generation via an additional beekeeping intervention. We develop a multi-period linear programming model to analyze the economic implication of these interventions both individually and in combination using the objective function. Our model simulation results demonstrate that all interventions individually substantially increase discounted net income and resources productivity by 11 to 94 percent compared to the baseline farming system. However the cumulative impact achieved was 33 percent larger when the interventions are introduced jointly, suggesting synergetic benefits of interventions. Our results hence support an integrated approach to development and provide important insights for development practitioners and policymakers alike to break the silos per the United Nations Agenda 2030. Acknowledgement : This work was supported with co-funding from Biovision Foundation, Switzerland, and core financial support provided to icipe by aid from the UK government