Apiculture commodity development in Goma District: experiences from IPMS

Goma is endowed with different flora and adequate moisture which favors honey production. As a result, bee farmers started producing honey since time immemorial using traditional hives, mostly made of bamboo. Improved hive production in the Woreda started in 1987 among cooperatives formed during the military regime. In 2007, apiculture was identified as one of the priority commodity for Goma PLW through participatory priority commodities identification. Major constraints identified were shortage and/or substandard inputs supply, poor quality honey, lack of market, skill and knowledge limitations of bee farmers and technical staff. To address the challenges, value-chain development approach was exercised and in this regard the following developments were recorded. One interested honey shop was upgraded to become an apiculture input shop in Agaro town with financial assistance from OCSSCo/IPMS and technical assistance from the District Livestock Development and Production Agency (LDPA) and IPMS. This input shop supplied considerable inputs to bee farmers who also provide commercial services for their neighbours. One of the important inputs delivered to bee farmers was imported honey extractor but less demand was observed due to its high price. Moreover, one interested honey producers association named Wojin Gudina Honey Producers Association was formed and got legal identity. The association is expected to play market regulatory role, quality assurance, do bulking of member produce as well as non members to maintain bargaining power. About 44 interested farmers and 12 technical staff received skill and knowledge upgrading training and in this regard Jima University (JU) played a big role. More focus was given to transforming traditional to transitional hives (Kenya Top Bar), which was a change for the frame hives (modern hives) which had been introduced before. Twenty interested farmers received 123 transitional hives in Acha Afeta PA through credit and also transitional hive use has shown significant increase within and outside interested farmers in the last two years. To address market constraints, an effort was made to link honey producer with honey processing and export enterprises and in this regard Beza Mar honey processing and exporting enterprise has already started the process to buy Goma honey. Prior to this, an attempt was also made with another commercial processor but was not successful. The effects of various interventions are just emerging and are expected to come to full fruition over time. A household (HH) survey conducted by the project indicated however that adopters of improved apiculture technologies produced in 2008, on average, about birr 3,400 of honey per year compared to birr 225 by traditional bee keepers. Major lessons learned include that the intervention stimulated increased demand for improved hives and better use of existing hives. As compared to other Districts, involvement of private sector in the sale of accessories for improved bee hives and honey processing is emerging. Most of the honey produced from framed hives is extracted using locally made crude extractors with less or no food graded approval and also less quality honey. These extractors are operated commercially by private individuals, but require further technical support to improve quality. The development of a quality honey market is just emerging, however as indicated in the prices, no clear price incentive for quality honey is observed yet, probably because of the still relatively small volume entering into this market segment. Another indication of the still limited demand for clear honey is the increase in the numbers of traditional hives in the last two to three years

Fruit commodity development in Goma District through farmer-based improved fruit seedling supply system: Experiences from IPMS

In Goma, fruits considerably contribute in improving the nutritional status and income of the community. However, its production and productivity has been very low. The objective of this case study is to share best practices and lessons learned from farmer-based improved fruit seedlings supply system that could contribute to enhance fruit production in Goma Pilot Learning Woreda (PLW). The assessment result highlights that fruits production in Goma is a recent phenomenon and all fruit farmers got their first planting material from unknown sources and hence agronomic and cultural practices required for each fruit type is less known. Consequently, constraints such as extended periods to fruiting, failure to set fruits, unmanageable fruit tree height, diseases and pests, low yield, etc. are very common. Above all, introduction of various fruits to Goma Woreda was made much earlier than the institutional, skill and knowledge of the OoARD (the Office of Agriculture and Rural development) staff handling them. In addition, key technical limitation to fruits development identified through participatory commodity development approach includes scarcity of improved planting materials, large canopies, poor quality fruits, long time to maturity, among others. IPMS and OoARD initiated farmers-based improved fruits planting materials multiplication and distribution system in trying to solve the problem. Six model farmers (3 female, 3 male) were trained and engaged in grafting avocado and produced 2,052 grafted avocado seedlings from internationally known varieties such as Hass, Ettinger, and Fuerte which were sold to 163 households in 28 Peasant Associations (Pas) at Birr 25 per seedling. The farmers earned Birr 42,000 among them in total. Also mother trees of Hass, Ettinger and Fuerte were established in each model farmer’s plot for sustainable scion supply. Taking the advantage of this successful demonstration, OoARD started a scaling out program by including 3 additional model farmers. The 9 model farmers have now raised 17,000 avocado and mango root stock seedling at their own cost amounting to Birr 85,000 which will be ready for grafting starting from January 2010. In addition 3 copy farmers in Kilole PA are also engaged in improved fruits seedlings production. The effort demonstrated that farmers could be good sources for technology multiplication and distribution, which has been a key challenge in technology uptake not only for fruits but for many other commodities in Ethiopia

Smallholder-based fruit seedling supply system for sustainable fruit production in Ethiopia: lessons from the IPMS experience

Ethiopia has a diverse agroecology and many areas are suitable for growing temperate, subtropical or tropical fruits. Substantial areas receive sufficient rainfall and many lakes, rivers and streams could also be used to support fruit production. Despite this potential, the total land area under fruits is very small and mainly smallholder-based. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), the area under fruits is about 43,500 ha with a total annual production of about 261,000 metric tonnes of which less than 2% is exported. Many supply and demand reasons are associated with the poor performance of the sub-sector including technical, organisational and institutional factors. The lack of sufficient supply of planting materials of improved fruit varieties/cultivars and accompanying knowledge were identified as key constraints during a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study conducted by the IPMS project in 2005. This is because the source of planting materials for tropical, sub-tropical improved and temperate fruits are limited to a few mostly government operated sites, which are located far away from potential planting places. To alleviate this problem, IPMS in collaboration with district Offices of Agriculture and Rural Development (OoARD) initiated smallholder farmer-based improved fruit seedling supply system in many of its project districts. This initially required the establishment of improved mother trees and farmer capacity building on nursery and fruit tree management, among others. The objective of this paper is, to share the IPMS experiences in the establishment of sustainable farmer-based improved fruit seedling supply system which contributed to the improvement of livelihoods of many farmers. Nursery operators earned between 100 and 11,000 USD equivalent from sale of seedlings/suckers or fruits in a season. The lessons learnt indicate that farmer-based fruit nurseries a) can be established by linking the right public and private sector actors for knowledge, skills development and input supply b) are cost effective compared to the current suppliers, in most cases c) convinced all actors that farmers can handle the seemingly difficult grafting/budding techniques d) created employment opportunities for the landless youth, individual male and female farmers, e) generates a significant income for nursery operators, f) reduce transport cost of the seedlings significantly. This paper also uses a spatial analysis tool, DIVA-GIS software, to analyse likelihood of adaptability of four fruit species to a wider area within the study districts and the likely production potential and value

Gender focused service provision and its impact: IPMS Goma experience

A presentation prepared for the Gender and Market Oriented Agriculture (AgriGender 2011) Workshop, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 31st January–2nd February 2011

Small ruminant value chain development case of Goma PLW

Presented at the Market-Oriented Smallholder Development: IPMS Experience-Sharing Workshop, Addis Ababa, 2-3 June 2011

Sheep fattening value chain development in Goma Pilot Learning Woreda (PLW): IPMS experiences

Traditionally, most smallholder farmers in Goma and elsewhere in Ethiopia engage in sheep and goat fattening to generate sufficient income to meet household requirements and other social obligations. A rapid assessment with IPMS project partners in Goma found that traditional sheep fattening is constrained by inadequate feed supply, low nutritive value of available feed resources, and lack of technical knowledge which resulted in prolonged fattening period and low economic return. Accidental death or loss of fattened animals for various reasons is another challenge for vulnerable smallholders, especially if sheep are purchased on credit. During discussion with various stakeholders, several potential interventions were identified to initiate a more commercially oriented small ruminant enterprise addressing some of the constraints with new interventions. These included i) reduced fattening periods through supplementary feed using locally available cotton seed meal (CSM), ii) piloting a community-based/managed livestock insurance scheme with 120 target farmers in Kilole PA, iii) introducing an innovative credit scheme through Oromia Credit and Saving Share Company (OCSSCo) for entrepreneurial fattening, and iv) introducing leguminous forage seed multiplication by model farmers. Meetings were held by the district OoA staff in some Peasant Associations to discuss identified problems and potential interventions. Subsequently, one pilot Peasant Association that agreed to include women in the program was selected. Other discussions/trainings were also held with farmers and project partners to develop community-based livestock insurance scheme and to increase knowledge and skills on supplementary feeding and forage (seed) production and selection of lambs for fattening. Following the value chain approach, linkages were created with the woreda veterinary services and an oil extraction factory in the District capital which produced cotton seed meal; this had never been used in the District before. We facilitated the linkage of target farmers with OCSSCo. Data were collected from all 120 target farmers using a questionnaire and group discussion. The study showed that more than 74% of the farmers managed to shorten the fattening period by 50%, i.e. from six months to three months. In the course of first cycle, 510 sheep were fattened of which 15 died. Thirteen (13) were immediately refunded by the community-based livestock insurance scheme and 2 claims were rejected by the livestock insurance capital managing committee based on conditions spelled out in the by-laws. Average return from five sheep in one cycle was about Ethiopian birr (ETB)1 450. Loan repayment by women participants was 100%, and some male farmers defaulted. Scaling out is taking place, which includes fattening more sheep per cycle by some entrepreneurial female farmers