A common misconception about watermelon is that it contains mainly water and sugar. In reality, it is a nutrient-dense fruit. Watermelon is an excellent source of antioxidants such as lycopene, and also contains vitamins A and C which help prevent cell damage, neutralize and remove free radicals and help fight off different kinds of cancers. Watermelon is also rich in potassium which helps maintain blood pressure to prevent diseases such as stroke, heart disease and also decreases the size of the kidney stones. It is frequently used for body detoxification as it contains a large amounts of water and it also helps in “cleaning” our kidneys. It is a fruit that is rich in an amino acid known as L-citrulline, which the body converts to L-arginine, an essential amino acid that helps relax blood vessels and improve circulation.

Watermelon was introduced in East Shoa Zone of Oromia region which is currently the only place where it is produced in Ethiopia. Though the exact date of its introduction in Ethiopia is unknown, farmers near Koka Lake in East Shoa explained that watermelon was introduced in their area in the 1950s by an Italian man who lived in Koka town. Today,  production is limited to the lake shore areas of Koka, especially when the volume of the lake shrinks. So far, irrigation to produce watermelon is not common. Since there is quite a good demand for watermelon by consumers – who buy it from supermarkets as well as from fruit and vegetable shops – farmers are starting to give more of their land to watermelons.

Quality and yield are the main factors influencing watermelon production in Ethiopia.  The quality of watermelons produced in Ethiopia tends to be low compared to elsewhere. In Ethiopia,data afrm farm gate, roadie market and supermarket test showed its average total soluble solids (TSS) content to be less than 6% Brix; the minimum TSS should not be lower than 9% Brix (world standard). The productivity of watermelon is generally low due to lack of awareness by producers on agronomic practices, time of harvest, and variety types.

So far, producers have not received extension services on watermelon production techniques and marketing from the government or NGOs and they sell their produce at farm gate at low prices.

Double transaction is the norm at farm gate (producers, brokers and traders) and all producers sell through the process of “terega” which means that buyers collects all watermelons at the same time. Theads means that mature and immature watermelons are all harvested, resulting in low quality of the produce.

After grading the watermelons at farm gate, brokers sell the immature ones to local retailers for roadside markets. The better ones are sold to traders from the central market for big supermarkets and hotels.

Watermelon in Ethiopia needs significant improvement in the types of varieties, production techniques and marketing. Intervention opportunities for LIVES could be by introducing adaptable varieties that produce good fruits, providing technical and practical training on production techniques supported by demonstration and establishment and strengthening of sustainable input supply and marketing linkages.   

Written by Amenti Chali,  with contributions from Abule Ebro and Nigatu Alemayehu

Smallholder farmer Tesfaye Aregawi runs a farm on a small plot of irrigable land and a dairy cow in Hadish-Hiwot kebele, in Tigray Region. Tesfaye has recently adopted an uncommon irrigation farming practice – he grows Alfalfa on a plot of about 300 square-meters for his dairy cow alongside his high-value vegetable crops. Allocating irrigable plots for fodder production has until now been unthinkable among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. Neither do smallholder farmers grow sole fodder crops in rain-fed agriculture, where lower-value cereals are produced.

Tesfaye’s story is not an isolated one. Quite a number of farmers in LIVES intervention kebeles have opted to grow fodder in their irrigation and rain-fed plots. For instance, Gebretsadik Abay in Dura kebele, Tigray is delighted that his crossbred heifer conceived at an early age of 20 months, which he attributes partly to feeding alfalfa from his irrigated plot. Similarly, a woman farmer, Lemlem in Genfel kebele, Tigray grows Alfalfa under her irrigated fruit trees, a land which is normally used to grow food crops. She believes that supplementing her cow’s daily ration with Alfalfa increased daily milk production by about one liter. Fodder production in croplands is not limited to Alfalfa only. Grasses are also creeping onto croplands. In Amhara region in Enguti kebele, where LIVES introduced efficient delivery of AI through hormone-synchronization of estrus, farmers like Addis Alemu and Sintayehu Sinishaw, among others, allotted about 225 square-meters of their irrigated land to Napier grass production.

Likewise, farmer Tafere Zemene in Debremawi village decided to grow a productive Rhodes grass in his rain-fed plot of 1500 square meters. The farmer plans to set aside part of his grass plot for seed production thereby providing a source of input for other farmers.

Besides growing sole fodder crops in croplands, other innovative entry points for fodder production are being sought by farmers. No ‘wasteland’ is actually wasted by farmers like Keshi Tewolde-Birhan who lives in Dura kebele, Laelay-Maichew district, Tigray and grows Alfalfa & Napier grass on a 260 square-meter gully. Awareness is rising among farmers coached by LIVES and livestock production is becoming a market-oriented business for them.

What is driving the winds of change in fodder and livestock production? A thorough inquiry may be required to understand the driving forces. However there seems to be two obvious reasons. Farmers may be forced to seek for other sources of feed in the face of dwindling grazing resources. Yet, a shift in livestock development approach might have also played a significant role. Livestock development approach includes coaching of farmers on knowledge-based livestock development and linking them up with input suppliers such as fodder planting materials and market in order to adopt improved farming practices. This is the market-oriented value chain approach for livestock development adopted by LIVES.

The changes being witnessed could be considered as successes. However, to sustain irrigated fodder production in competition with high value irrigated crops and realize a market-oriented system that is envisaged by LIVES, the following needs to be considered. Economies of scale should be addressed as most farmers keep only one or two cows. Fodder productivity from small irrigated plots need to be further improved and fodder processing and conservation technologies should be introduced to sustain higher scales of production. Mechanical feed choppers help ease laborious manual chopping, reduce wastage and facilitate feed conservation through small scale silage making. LIVES’ strategy is to work with clusters of farmers in its intervention kebeles in collaboration with Bureaus of Agriculture, Livestock Development Agencies and other partners in the value chains. Transfer of best practices to learning kebeles will be through a spill-over effect and active dissemination by partners through capacity building and joint planning. It is thus imperative that partners actively collaborate to disseminate the best practices witnessed in fodder development.

Written by Solomon Gizaw, with contributions from Yayneshet Tesfaye, Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Dawit Woldemariam, Haile Tilahun, Zeleke Mekuriaw, Teshome Derso, Worku Teka, Mesfin Tefera

Livestock keepers in Barka-Adisba kebele, Atsbi-Womberta district, Tigray region were once confronted with ‘the tragedy of the commons’, as do many livestock keepers in Ethiopia who depend on communal resources. The idiom ‘the tragedy of the commons’ was coined in 19^th century Britain and expresses the failure of farmers to achieve the collective good of their communal grazing lands through their destructive competitive use. The tragedy is caused by overstocking and overgrazing and expressed in land degradation, feed shortage, low livestock productivity and loss of farmers’ livelihoods from livestock. The Atsbi villagers also had to deal with land policy which stipulated closure of degraded hillside grazing/browsing and discouraged extensive grazing of livestock in communal lands.

The Atsbi livestock keepers however acted proactively through the LIVES’ predecessor project (Improving Productivity and Market Success of Smallholder farmers) in a community-based approach. In 2007, a group of villagers sharing 60 ha of communal land in Barka-Adisba kebele came together and developed by-laws for governing their communal land. They declared the land closed to livestock grazing, apportioned it to the villagers in the group and adopted hay production and stall-feeding for their livestock. These farmers saved their lands from degradation and their livelihoods from peril. This cooperative’s voluntary activity has now been scaled up. The grazing land under sustainable management in the district increased to 4000 ha in 2012.

The Atsbi experience has shown that community-based institutional intervention is a feasible approach to avert degradation of communal lands, losses in biodiversity and livestock productivity as well as farmers livelihoods. This approach is more acceptable to villagers rather than enforcing regulations on them. The success of the approach lies in the fact that it is based on existing social norms and promotes a sense of belongingness. Community-based institutional interventions to prevent the tragedy of the commons could take various forms. For instance, in Dura kebele, Laelay-Maichew district the communal land is passed on to and managed by the village church, while the villagers maintain their use right. Other variations of the community-based approach could be adopted depending on local circumstances.

Changes in social arrangements or institutional interventions may not be the only solutions to avert the tragedy. Technical interventions to rehabilitate and improve grazing lands are also required as most communal lands are already degraded. Otherwise, it might not be feasible to close grazing lands and sustain livestock under stall feeding systems. In its future intervention kebeles, LIVES plans to introduce additional technological interventions to enhance pasture productivity, hay production management and storage including introduction of small-scale manual hay balers. The approach described here is perfectly suitable for promoting intensive dairying and fattening systems with small flocks/herds. Would it also be applicable to extensive systems with large breeding flocks (like the subalpine regions of Ethiopia) which could be the source of animals for the semi-intensive fattening systems and the export market?

Written by Solomon Gizaw, with contributions from Yayneshet Tesfaye, Gebremedhin Woldewahid, Dawit Woldemariam, Haile Tilahun 

LIVES Project in Amhara region is introducing new livestock and irrigated crops improvement technologies in its target sites. One of the new livestock technologies initiated by the LIVES predecessor project (Improving Productivity & Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers), and being supported by LIVES is Oestrous Synchronization and Mass Artificial Insemination (OSMAI)in cattle. The OSMAI in cattle has now been fully taken-up by the Regional Livestock Resource Development and Promotion Agency (RLRDPA) and its zonal and district offices. The current support from the LIVES project on OSMAI in cattle is limited to generating scientific evidence that can help fine-tune the approach and efficiency of the technology under different farming conditions.

The application of OSMAI technology is not limited to cattle. It is an accepted technology for all livestock species including sheep in developed countries. From our professional experience and ongoing genetic improvement activities in the region, we realized the usefulness of hormone assisted estrus synchronization in sheep. Estrus synchronization in sheep enables the use of artificial insemination (AI) from genetically superior rams and as a result, reduces the cost of importing and keeping exotic rams for breeding purposes. It also facilitates application of fixed time AI without detecting heat. Synchronized mating results in synchronized lambing and consequently leads to production of the same age and size lambs that are convenient for group marketing, vaccination and feeding. By using programmed estrus synchronization, lambing season can be adjusted to seasons where disease, parasite and predators are less prevalent and better forage is available for lambs and ewes – both of which improve lamb survival. If required, twin/multiple birth can also be induced by use of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) as synchronization protocol. Cognizant of the aforementioned benefits of hormone assisted estrus synchronization, the Amhara region LIVES project team, in consultation with head quarter staff and Amhara RLRDPA, tested the first round estrus synchronization in sheep at the Debre Birhan Sheep breeding and Multiplication center.

The purposes of the tests are to train livestock experts and veterinarians on synchronization techniques and protocols; to check effectiveness (ability to induce heat and pregnancy) of simplified and cost effective synchronization protocol using Prostaglandin hormone in local (Menz) and crossbred (Menz X Awasi) ewes and to some extent, enhance supply of improved breeding rams to smallholder farmers in LIVES target zones. The preliminary trial indicated that Prostaglandin is effective in inducing synchronized heat and lambing both in Menz and Awasi ewes.

Since estrus synchronization technology is new to many producers and livestock specialists in many areas of the country, further capacity development work is required. Alternative user friendly hormones and synchronization protocols have to be tested in government and private sheep breeding and multiplication centers and in smallholder farmers’ sheep flocks.  Since rectal palpation to detect fetus in the sheep is not possible, cost effective pregnancy detection devices need to be made available. To maximize merits of estrus synchronization as a genetic improvement tool, synchronized ewes should be artificially inseminated with frozen semen from genetically superior rams.

Written by Zeleke Mekuriaw (PhD) with contributions from the LIVES Amhara team 

Maize stover in the field is prone to wastage and tramping by animals (Photo:ILRI\ Solomon Gizaw).

Maize is a major food crop in the lowlands and mid-highlands of Ethiopia, but its stover is not utilized efficiently as animal feed, particularly in rain-fed maize production systems. Rain-fed maize producers’ target is commonly grain production which requires that the cobs be harvested at full maturity of the maize plant thereby leaving the stover too dry. Dry stover is low in nutrients (e.g. 3.7% crude protein as compared to 8.8% in green stover), is less palatable and is not well suited to conserve as silage.

Irrigated maize production offers an opportunity which the rain-fed maize farming does not. Farmers in Fale Kebele of Meta Robi District in Oromia region, like most farmers in irrigated maize systems in Ethiopia, harvest green maize at its milk stage to be sold for roasted cobs. This production strategy is governed by the need to harvest early in the rainy season before the cropland is flooded, which is a common occurrence in low-lying irrigated fields in the wet mid-highlands. Similarly, irrigated maize is usually harvested while green in the moist highlands in order to maximize the benefits from irrigation such as the ability to do multiple cropping. In most cases, sweet-corn provides green fodder as the cobs are meant for fresh use and harvested while the plant is still green. Irrigated maize and sweet-corn production thus allows production of green and fresh stover, which is more nutritious and palatable for livestock than dry stover.

However, similar to dry stover, green stover is also not utilized efficiently by Ethiopian farmers in Fale and elsewhere. The common practice is either to graze the stover in situ or collect, store and feed whole stalks to animals. Such practices result in wastage from trampling by animals and loss of nutrients due to drying and leaching from exposure to sun and rain because of inappropriate storage practices.

A farmer youth group in Fale  was introduced to an innovative way of taking advantage of fodder opportunities offered by irrigated maize farming. Known as the ‘livestock technology-led agribusiness approach’, the method involves twin fodder processing and conservation technologies that use a mechanical feed chopper and small-scale plastic-bag-silage making. This fodder technology package reduces wastage, allows mixing total ration, conserves nutrients in green fodders and improves palatability. The agribusiness approach coaches private entrepreneurs or groups of livestock producers to run small-scale fodder chopping services using mechanical feed choppers/shredders. To this end, the farmer youth group in Fale is being coached and mentored by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) Project to start a fodder processing and conservation business.

Written by Solomon Gizaw (PhD) with contributions from Abule Ebro (PhD) and Addisu Abera.

Onions from the Koga irrigation scheme prepared for distant markets (Photo:ILRI\ Yigzaw Dessalegne)

Ethiopia has diversified agro-ecology with altitudes ranging from 200 meters below sea level to 4,260 meters above sea level, various soil types and different seasons. This has enabled Ethiopian farmers to produce and supply different types of fresh vegetables throughout the year. Vegetables produced in the north are marketed in the south, west or east and vice versa.

Unlike in developed countries, the majority of vegetables in Ethiopia are transported and stored at room temperature. These poor transportation and storage methods result in high post-harvest losses and subsequently trigger daily market price oscillation. As a result, vegetable traders in Ethiopia, both at high and low level, take time and great care in monitoring vegetable varieties and prices across the country daily, often using their mobile phones, so that they only buy the small quantities they need for short periods.

Some traders buy their vegetables and collect them from as far as 700 kms away from their home towns. In previous years, vegetable traders incurred high operational costs in transportation and travelling time. Nowadays, however, they are able to solve this problem by using their mobile phones. Traders in Bahir Dar, for example, now use their mobile phones to order for supplies from Adama, Shashemene or Asela, towns which are an average of 800 kms from Bahir Dar. They deposit payments directly in the wholesalers’ bank account and receive their goods without having left their home towns. Traders also explained that, in most cases, they have never even seen their suppliers or bulk customers in person.

This situation illustrates that mobile phones are easing vegetable marketing problems in Ethiopia and they have great potential in providing market information services to vegetable producers and traders. The use of mobile phones to access market and other value chain information is an area that the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) Project should build on.

Written by Yigzaw Dessalegne (PhD) with contribution from the LIVES Amhara team. 

To meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the world is going to have to ‘act local’. This story is an example of that. It’s about hardships faced by farmers in Sidama, one of Ethiopia’s leading coffee-producing zone, which lies south of the capital, Addis Ababa, and in the country’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and People region.

Farmers and farming systemsin the once extremely fertile midland regionhere are stressed by an increasing human population. A high proportion of children here are malnourished and the farming systems are still more subsistence- than market-oriented. With the rise of Ethiopian markets for cash crops and dairy products, farmers here are specializing in such crops as coffee and chat, which are replacing the region’s traditional food crops like ‘Enset’ (Enset vetricosum).

A modest, unlikely vehicle for farmers here to make ends meet is the pineapple, which was introduced about 50 years ago. Pineapples should do well here, where the warm climate and soils suit the plant. Although pineapples can fruit throughout the year, in Sidama, the peak harvests are from April to May and October to November.

Because pineapple farming is limited to just a few districts in Ethiopia and is grown by just a few producers, the pineapple value chain is underdeveloped in the country. Among constraints faced by pineapple farmers are lack of planting materials, little knowledge of optimal production practices and inadequate marketing system.

Read the full post on the CGIAR Development Dialogues blog

Hybrid tomato seedings at Florensis Ethiopia PLC (photo credit: ILRI\Amenti Chali).

In recent years, use of hybrid varieties of vegetables has become common in East Shoa zone of Oromia region of Ethiopia. This zone is endowed with favourable climatic and edaphic conditions and is close to major markets. At the moment, East Shoa is the source of fresh fruits and vegetables for major markets including those in Addis Ababa.

Hybrid vegetables reduce environmental pollution as high productivity reduces expansion of irrigated land and thus reduces the aggravation of soil salinity, especially in the Rift Valley areas.  In addition, hybrid vegetable varieties are more resistant to disease and pests compared to conventional ones (open pollinated varieties) and thus help reduce the amount of fungicides and pesticides that need to be applied.

In the past few years, farmers have started using hybrid varieties for better yield and to fetch higher prices. Greenlife Trading and Markos PLC are some of the pioneer suppliers of hybrid vegetable seeds in the country. In East Shoa, farmers estimated revenue from the sale of hybrid tomatoes is 200 times more than the open pollinated varieties (OPVs); which means that there is higher yield and better market price. Farmers in Bora and Dugda districts of East Shoa zone say the yield of recently introduced hybrid tomato (Galilea variety) is about 80 ton/ha while that of OPVs is about 20 ton/ha. One farmer from Bora explained that farmers who grew hybrid tomatoes on 1.5 ha harvested 7 times more and earned 700,000 Birr (about 3,500USD) while, OPV tomato produced only twice more and earned 30,000 Birr (about 1,500USD) from the same size of land.

The practice of germinating and raising hybrid vegetable seedlings is emerging as a professional and commercial activity in East Shoa. Previously, farmers produced seedlings of open pollinated varieties at a relatively low cost in their own nurseries. The price for 200 seeds of locally produced tomato seeds was 0.46 Birr, while the price of one seed of hybrid variety is 0.46 Birr. Despite their higher price, there is increasing demand for hybrid seeds in the zone.

Initially, many farmers started raising seedlings of hybrid vegetables in traditional nursery beds but were unsuccessful. One model farmer in Bora District purchased Galilea hybrid tomato seeds which he planted, as a trial, in traditional nurseries in one hectare at a cost of 23,920 Birr (about 1,196 USD). But the seeds were of poor quality and most failed to grow and he lost about 11,960 Birr (598 USD).

In 2012, Florensis Ethiopia PLC, a private commercial company, started producing high quality tomato seedlings to make more hybrid tomato seedlings available to farmers. The company uses special media (peat moss) imported for rooting of flower cuttings, for seedling production on trays. The seedlings are then sold to farmers in the zone and to those in other parts of the country like Alamata, Dire Dawa, Arba Minch and to commercial farms like Upper Awash Agro-industry PLC.

After the failure of his first trial, the model farmer from Bora District entered into an arrangement with Florensis Ethiopia to raise seedlings on 2.25 ha. He bought the seeds for 23,920 Birr and paid a service charge of 18,000 Birr (about 900 USD) to have the seedlings raised, incurring a total cost 41,920 Birr (2,096 USD). After three weeks, he collected healthy  seedlings from the company for planting. He gave away excess seedlings to a relative, who planted them on a 0.5 ha piece of land. Had he followed his own traditional way of seedling management using seeds of hybrid variety, he would have paid 65,780 Birr (about 3,289 USD).

Despite the success of such arrangements, Florensis Ethiopia allocates only 5% of its time and resources to raising seedlings for farmers.

Smallholder growers therefore have to wait at least two months to submit their orders and a minimum of 19 days is required for the seedlings to be ready for transplanting. This supply delay has forced some farmers to pay about 2.80 Birr per seedling from farmers with excess seedlings grown at Florensis Ethiopia (at only 0.35 Birr/seedling). Lack of hybrid seedlings is therefore a major bottleneck for expanding hybrid tomato production in East Shoa and other parts of Ethiopia.  Also, no attempt has been made so far to substitute the imported rooting media with locally available materials except from ongoing research efforts at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research Centre.

To ensure sustainable hybrid tomato production in the zone and beyond, alternative sources of quality seedlings supply are important. Hence, the Livestock and irrigation value chains for Ethiopian smallholders (LIVES) project is exploring options for formulating and demonstrating vegetable seedling growing media from locally available resources by improving previous attempts with technical support from local players.

For more information:

Effect of seedling management on yield and quality of tomato at Adami Tulu Jiddo Kombolcha District, Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

Written by Amenti Chali and Zewdie Adane with contributions from Kahsay Berhe, Dirk Hoekstra and Abule Ebro.

Fattened oxen buyers visiting producer farms in Gamogofa (Photo:ILRI\Yoseph Mekasha).

Cattle fattening is an important component of livestock farming in Gamogofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. The Zonal Bureau of Agriculture reports that there are about 3.5 million cattle in the zone. Although the area is agro-ecologically suitable for cattle fattening, smallholder cattle fatteners are not earning much from the sector. The beef value chain actors who attended the livestock commodity platform meetings organized by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project identified the poorly developed cattle marketing system as the number one challenge in the zone. Smallholder fatteners sell their cattle individually in the nearby markets or to local traders in their villages. The smallholders have generally low bargaining power as they do not have market information and thus traders usually dictate the prices. Due to lack of good market and the unfair prices, a majority of these producers do not see the economic importance of engaging in cattle fattening.

Cognizant of these challenges, the LIVES project worked on potential marketing interventions to enhance the beef value chains in the zone. The project and its partners identified potential market outlets and channels; worked on improving access to market information at different levels and tried to establish market linkages between producers and traders/consumers for domestic and export markets. One of the domestic markets is the Addis Ababa consumers’ cooperative, which was established in various sub-city administrations and woredas.

The consumers’ cooperative works on stabilizing the market by supplying food commodities at reasonable prices. Because the price of beef has increased over time, the cooperatives took measures to increase the number of butcheries in different kebeles and districts in Addis Ababa to supply beef at a reasonable price.

Although the owners of the butcheries set up by the cooperatives prefer medium-sized and moderately fattened cattle, they are unable to buy the animals at a reasonable price. This creates an opportunity for smallholder producers (cattle fatteners) to establish linkages with consumer cooperatives without interference from intermediaries.

The LIVES regional team in SNNPR facilitated the establishment of market linkages between smallholders cattle fatteners in intervention districts in Gamogofa with a consumers’ cooperative in Addis Ababa. Representatives of the cooperative visited the intervention districts (Arba Minch Zuria and Mirab Abaya) to assess the potential, establish linkage and buy sample animals for the 2007 Ethiopian New Year.  During the visit, the team held discussions with cattle fatteners and marketing groups organized by LIVES in the intervention districts, and concerned public institutions (Bureau of Agriculture and marketing and cooperative) on the purpose of forging linkages, the type and condition of the animals they are looking for and the possibility of sustaining the linkages. The discussion highlighted the importance of market oriented cattle fattening. The effort is believed to positively influence public institutions in forging and creating market linkages with other institutional buyers as well.

Tracking fattened oxen from Gamogofa to Addis Ababa market (Photo:ILRI\ Yoseph Mekasha)

The team representing the consumers’ cooperative also looked at the type and condition of the cattle fattened by farmers and supplied to the local markets in the intervention districts. Although some of the animals supplied to market are highly fattened, the team confirmed that there are also moderately fattened animals which meet their requirement. Thus, the consumers’ cooperative representatives bought 21 fattened oxen from producers at two local markets and took them directly to Addis Ababa. This was the first transaction made between the consumers’ cooperative and producers, marking the beginning of the market linkage! This direct transaction was beneficial to both parties as they did not incur any extra cost for intermediaries, and the animals were offered at a reasonable price compared to individual sales to traders locally or buying the animals at Addis Ababa markets. The team signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with cattle fattening and marketing groups to strengthen and sustain the business linkage in the future.

In general, the intervention districts of Gamogofa Zone could supply fattened cattle to Addis Ababa consumers’ cooperatives and beyond. The consumers’ cooperative is interested in strengthening direct marketing linkage with producers and cooperatives in the future.

To exploit this opportunity and make it sustainable, cattle fatteners require technical support as well as revisiting of their fattening practices to meet market needs. Extension staff of the Bureau of Agriculture and marketing and cooperative are expected to enhance the capacity of smallholders, provide market information and provide technical backstopping. To this end, LIVES should continue to introduce and demonstrate market oriented interventions to enhance the performance of beef value chain to improve the economic well-being of smallholder producers.

Contributed by Yoseph Mekasha, Tesfaye Dubale, Birhanu Biazen and Tadiwos Zewdie.

Banana is an important commercial commodity in Gamo Gofa zone of the Southern Nations and Nationalities People’s Region (SNNPR) in Ethiopia. About 80% of the banana supplied to the Addis Ababa market is produced in Gamo Gofa through irrigation. Besides banana, the zone supplies apples and mangos to the national market. The lion’s share of irrigated banana is produced in the two low-lying districts of Arba Minch Zuria and Mirab Abaya in the zone.

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is working with potential stakeholders to enhance banana value chains in these districts. The conventional banana marketing system in Mirab Abaya has been identified as a major challenge affecting the banana value chains in the district.

This story is about the participatory processes of problem identification and introduction of potential interventions to improve banana marketing in Mirab Abaya. The current state of the banana value chains in the district was evaluated through innovation platforms, focus group discussions with producers, discussions with executive committee members of primary marketing cooperatives and through field observations.

There are about 120 local traders (77 in Arba Minch Zuria and 43 in Mirab Abaya) buying bananas from the smallholder producers and selling them all to traders in other parts of the country including in Addis Ababa. Although 14 fruit and vegetable marketing cooperatives (9 in Arba Minch Zuria and 5 in Mirab Abaya districts) were established in the past seven years, only three of them (Ocholo Lante and Genta Kenchama at Arba Minch Zuria and Omolante in Mirab Abaya) offer alternative market outlets for the smallholder producers.

Banana marketing  is better in peasant associations (PAs) where these three marketing cooperatives operate since calibrated weight balances are used enabling farmers to get much better farm gate prices. Despite the huge market potential of banana, in some PAs, smallholder producers choose to grow irrigated maize on their lands because they are not benefiting economically from farming bananas.

Cognizant of the challenges in banana marketing systems, in late 2013 the LIVES project started working with the zonal and district Offices of Marketing and Cooperatives to put together a team of experts to assess marketing problems in the main banana producing peasant associations of Mirab Abaya district. The following bottlenecks were identified:

• Farmers sell banana to local traders through weight estimation, not through actual weight (except in Omo Lante PA where the marketing cooperative is more active).
• Local traders buy 8-15 bunches as one quintal while a single bunch could weigh anywhere from 25-60 kgs. This way of marketing leaves farmers highly exploited by traders and brokers.
• Producers get credit from traders. However, as the smallholder farmers are not getting credit for routine and non-guaranteed household investments, they are forced to depend on the traders to whom they sell their bananas.
• Local price of bananas is set by local traders and their brokers. The brokers lower the price of the banana significantly and set the local price without proper negotiations with farmers.
• Local traders and brokers have monopolized banana marketing and outsiders are not allowed to buy bananas.
• Individual traders collect bananas from individual farmers’ fields. There are no common banana marketing centres where buyers and sellers meet and negotiate.
• Only the Omo Lante marketing cooperative buys bananas from producers. The other four do not as their committee members have basic experience and skills in business management and creating market linkages.

The aforementioned major bottlenecks were discussed by the fruits value chain actors and service providers at a LIVES-facilitated district-level platform meeting held in December 2013. A follow up discussion was held with a group of influential authorities including officials from the district administration, zonal and district offices of Marketing and Cooperatives, district Office of Agriculture and district Office of Revenue. The officials agreed to create awareness on the major market actors, the impacts of improper marketing system and the need to establish a new marketing intervention. The district Office of Marketing and Cooperatives and the Office of Agriculture led this new intervention.

Subsequently, continuous awareness creation meetings were held with producers, traders, brokers, marketing cooperative committee members and PA administrators. The impact of improper marketing systems on banana productivity, household income and overall value chain were communicated and shared among various actors and service providers. Capacity development (awareness creation, coaching/mentoring) interventions were conducted by experts from the Office of Marketing and Cooperatives and LIVES staff. This resulted in a decision by producers and traders to reach an agreement to use well-calibrated weight balances in each PA.

By and large, the following achievements have been realised:

• Use of calibrated weight balances for banana marketing has started in nine banana producing PAs in Mirab Abaya District. The PA administrators and the development agents are providing coaching on the proper implementation of banana marketing and the benefits of using well-calibrated weight balances at PA levels.
• Legal traders from outside the district are now allowed to buy banana from farmers, marketing cooperatives or local traders.
• Three marketing cooperatives (Ankober, Moleand Kolla and Mulato) have started buying bananas from the producers and selling them to traders. With the improved support from the district Office of Marketing and Cooperatives, they are also trying to create market linkages with wholesalers in Addis Ababa and elsewhere.
• Most PAs have already allocated marketing centres that are accessible by trucks. In some of these PAs, both marketing cooperatives and traders are buying bananas at these centres. This has enabled the producers to have better access to market information and also to negotiate prices.
• Starting in January 2014, the Office of Marketing and Cooperatives started recording the daily price and volume of bananas transported from the district. Accordingly, the recorded volume of banana sold from Mirab Abaya district was 850-950 quintals per day from January – May 2014 and 500-700 quintals per day from June – August 2014. The average price of banana was 4.50 ETB (0.22$) per kilogram in January 2014 and grew to 7 ETB (0.35$) per kilogram from June – August 2014. The latter is the largest farm gate price ever in the district.
• Based on the agreements during the platform discussions, every truck has to take an exit card from the Office of Marketing and Cooperatives to enhance fair trade.
• Since January 2014, the district office of revenue has started taxing every truck 700 ETB (35$). As there are anywhere from 10 to 25 trucks driving out of the district every day, the local government is receiving increased revenue due to this intervention.

Although there are encouraging achievements so far, there are also challenges ahead in sustaining these new arrangements. For the intervention to bring sustainable impact, more needs to be done on three major aspects:

• Strengthening the marketing cooperatives and sustaining their role by developing their capacity to improve business management and market linkages.
• Building the capacity of staff of the Office of Marketing and Cooperatives to provide proper and continuous support to marketing cooperatives and traders regarding market information, creating better market linkages and regulatory services.
• Putting in place credit service provision for smallholder producers to reduce their reliance on local traders. This will increase the confidence of the smallholders on the sustainability of the marketing cooperatives.

Written by Birhanu Biazin and Tesfaye Dubale with contributions from Yoseph Mekasha.

Women all over Ethiopia process milk into butter in rural households, perhaps with the exception of areas where consumption of milk in coffee or tea is common.

The LIVES project’s baseline surveys results also indicate that most households sell small quantities in local markets and this constitutes one of the income sources for women.

Butter processing is based on age old traditions with local churns made of pottery or other local materials. Women process soured milk which is accumulated over a 2 to 5 day period. Because most households produce only small quantities of milk each day, women in some locations form groups to collectively process the soured milk from the group members in one churn. This reduces the individual labour time spent on churning by each woman.

Nevertheless, the volume of soured milk churned are usually small (less than 10 litres) and time-consuming in terms of processing time per litre of milk or kg of butter. Many years ago, ILCA adjusted the local churn and developed a mechanism to reduce labour and increase butter extraction. However efficiency gains were limited, which probably contributed to low adoption rates. Some NGOs and companies introduced hand-operated bigger-sized stainless steel butter churns (up to 20 litres). However these were targeted to small-scale private and/or cooperative dairy processing companies in and around district towns. Adoption in rural areas is zero, since the churns are relatively expensive and therefore uneconomical for use by private households or small informal groups.

Comparing household-level butter processing methods in rural areas with the small-scale commercial butter processing in (peri-)urban areas shows up interesting differences. In rural areas, the whole (soured) milk is processed, while in urban areas only the cream (fluid) is processed. The cream is removed from the milk with a mechanical cream separator. Applying this principle of (sour) fat/cream churning in rural areas would be possible without the use of the cream separator, since fat/cream would naturally settle on top of the milk over time and can be removed manually. Big open containers would be required however to create and remove the cream manually. The collected cream can then be transferred to the churners and be processed into butter. The narrow neck of the traditional churn may be unsuitable to pull out larger quantities of butter extracted from cream. We will test the validity of this assumption at a later stage.

Given these facts, the LIVES project imported a cheaper, 10 litre hard plastic new butter churn, with a large opening, capable of churning cream as well as milk. The first test took place in Arbagona District in the Sidama Zone.

The LIVES team used seven litres of soured milk for each churn and conducted churning with the participation of farmers and extension staff. There were some differences in churning time and butter extraction, but the magnitude of the differences was small. On average, about 450 gr of butter was produced from 7 litres of soured milk in about 51 minutes with the traditional churn and in 66 minutes with the new churn. However, using the new churn to process 7 litres of cream obtained from 50 litres of milk resulted in 2.3 kg of butter. Processing time was 65 minutes, which is about the same as the time required to produce 450 gr of butter from 7 litres of soured milk. The participants made several observations on the new churn, including; lack of ventilation hole in the churn, butter granules sticking to the (inside) wall of the churn, shape of the rotor/agitator insufficient to churn milk/cream in the upper part of the container. Also churning cream was harder for the women than churning (soured) milk.

The implications of the quantitative data observed so far suggest that processing cream from 50 litres of milk with the new churn results in less butter (2.3 kg) than processing 50 litres of soured milk (3.2 kg) with the new or traditional churn. However big gains can be made in (female) labour savings i.e. 65 minutes to process the cream of 50 litres of milk using the new churn, as compared to 364 minutes to process 50 litres of soured milk using the traditional churn. Expressed in terms of processing time per litre of milk and kg of butter, the new churn takes respectively 1.3 min/l of milk and 28.3 min/kg of butter, while the traditional soured milk method with traditional churn will take 7.3 min/l milk and 113.3 min/kg of butter.

These potential gains should be discussed in the rural communities to create interest in small scale processing of butter from soured cream by either womens’ groups or private individuals. Possible uses of the remaining soured skimmed milk should also be taken into consideration when discussing the business model.

The lessons from the qualitative assessments we learned so far are that technical adjustments should be made to the new churn to improve its efficiency in terms of time (and ease of use by women) and butter extraction. Additional testing will take place in other LIVES sites and be reported in our butter blog!!!

Story by Yoseph Mekasha, Tesfaye Shewage, Solomon Gizaw and Dirk Hoekstra

The International Livestock Research Institute’s Azage Tegegne, who leads the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project has been honoured by the Ethiopian Government for his role in improving dairy cattle genetics and dairy value chain development in the country.

His action research in ‘the application of hormone assisted estrous synchronization and mass insemination’ technology to enhance cattle genetic improvement through improved reproductive performance’ was recognised by H.E Ato Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, at the 5th national award on science, technology, innovation and research. The award ceremony, held at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on 15 November 2014, was attended by high-level government officials, diplomats, representatives of the international community, family members of the awardees and other invited guests.

Azage’s research was part of the Improving Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers (IPMS) project, which brought together researchers from the Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, Tigray Agriculture and Rural Development Office and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in implementing the genetic improvement work in Wukro, Adigrat, Adwa and in Axum, Ethiopia. Azage was the principal researcher in the project and also led capacity development of regional experts and artificial insemination technicians. Azage secured finance from ILRI to carry out the work as well.

Successes from this project are now being scaled out to other parts of the country including the Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s regions.

Azage, along with LIVES staff, continues to support regional partners in capacity development and providing technical advice for the continued improvement of dairy genetics in Ethiopia.

The award ceremony also recognized students and teachers, trainees and trainers, researchers and innovators who have registered outstanding innovation model and technology in science and mathematics, technical and vocational education, research and innovation in Ethiopia.

Read a related story from LIVES blog: More money, milk and meat: Mass artificial insemination for Ethiopian cattle

National media coverage of the event

የቴክኖሎጂ አቅምን ለማሳደግ ለሚደረጉ ጥረቶች ድጋፍ ይደረጋል፡-ጠ/ሚ ኃይለማርያም

PM awards 268 Ethiopians for outstanding achievements in science, technology and innovation

The Oromia region contributes about 44% of the total annual milk produced in Ethiopia. Smallholder farmers in Oromia contribute the largest portion of this yield, but linkages between them and other dairy value chain actors at various levels, which could increase production and consumption of milk and milk products in the region, are weak or lacking.

To address gaps in the dairy production in the region, the Oromia Livestock Development and Health Agency (OLDHA) in partnership with Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project established the Oromia dairy platform on 6 November 2014. The purpose of this platform is to create a dialog and policy forum for relevant stakeholders in the dairy sector. Key goals of the platform’s first meeting were to:

• identify how dairy sector stakeholders can better work together in various capacities and competencies to support the dairy value chain development in Oromia region
• identify constraints, opportunities and develop strategies for addressing challenges and promote dairy value chain in the region and;
• identify initial steps and modalities for ensuring a dynamic and responsive dairy platform

Forty participants, of whom five were females, attended this first meeting. The participants were milk producers, input suppliers, service providers, milk collectors and processors, milk and milk product traders, representatives from SNV Netherlands – Ethiopia, LIVES, public service providers such as Oromia Agricultural Research Institute,  Oromia Trade and Market Development Bureau, Oromia Bureau of Agriculture, Oromia Bureau of Finance and Economic Development (OFED), OLDHA, Oromia Cooperative Promotion Agency and others organizations working in the dairy value chain in the region.

The one-day event included presentations and discussions on status of dairy development and research in Oromia region, overview of an agricultural value chain platform and practical experience-sharing on dairy platforms. Participants also reviewed opportunities, constraints and possible solutions for improving dairy production, input supply/service provision and processing and marketing of dairy products. After the discussions, participants agreed on the need to set up a dairy platform.

As a way forward, issues of how the platform would be sustained were also discussed.  A participatory working group was created to lead the platform and make preparations for registering the platform. Accordingly, seven members were elected to the working group which is chaired by an OLDHA official, with an OFED official as deputy and a LIVES project staff member serving as secretary. The other five members are from other institutions. The Oromia Bureau of Finance and Economic Development agreed to allocate money to support the platform if OLDHA includes the platform’s activities in its annual budget proposal. The working group is expected to organize a second platform meeting to further build on this momentum. The working group will also develop terms of reference (ToR) to guide future engagements of the platform in terms of management, financing, ownership, membership and contribution.

Written by Abule Ebro  and Zewdie Adane with contribution from Tolera Debela  

This poster, prepared for the ILRI@40 series of events, gives an overview of the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project approaches and strategies as well as the project outputs from January 2013 to October 2014.

The LIVES project approach, which is based on innovation systems, has five major intervention components: Capacity development, knowledge management, promotion, value chain development and research and documentation.

This poster, prepared for the ILRI@40 series of events, gives an overview of Ethiopia’s dairy value chain system. The poster highlights a recent working paper by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian smallholders (LIVES) project, which summarizes results from a LIVES household baseline survey on butter production, processing and marketing in intervention and non intervention sites and an Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) for Ethiopian Farmers rapid assessment on butter value chains in Ethiopia.

Etaferahu Bogale and Zewdu Berasso are a married couple who live in Daye  town of Arbegona district in Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia. The couple own a small shop in the heart of the town where among other items, eggs are sold.

Chicken eggs are an important source of protein and income for smallholders in many parts of Ethiopia. Sidama zone’s chicken population is about 1.3 million (16% of the region) of which about 16% are located in the intervention districts (Arbegona, Bona zuria and Bensa) of the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) Project. These three districts are situated in mid to highland agro-ecologies.

Etaferahu and Zewdu packing eggs for transportation to Hawassa market (Photo:ILRI\LIVES SNNP regional team)

Etaferahu and Zewdu buy eggs from Arbegona district and sell them in Hawassa town. On average, they collect between 13,000 – 15,000 eggs per week to take to the market in Hawassa. About five other egg traders with similar capacities are also operating in the district.

There are 3 market days in and around Daye town of Arbegona, but egg collection is not limited to these days. Etaferahu and Zewdu get their eggs from village collectors who collect eggs from different village markets and get a commission of ETB 0.10/egg. Most village collectors receive working capital to purchase an agreed number of eggs. Sometimes young boys or girls collect eggs and occasionally chicken owners deliver eggs to the couple when they need cash.

In Arbegona, traders inspect egg quality subjectively. The inspection includes manually weighing an equal number of eggs (i.e. if eggs of equal size in one hand are heavier, the conclusion is that they are spoiled), observing physical appearance (the ones that attract flies are spoiled) and looking at the egg against the sun and if the inside seems dark/opaque, the egg is probably spoiled but if it is transparent/bright it is of good quality. Etaferahu and Zewdu use the same method to inspect their eggs. Those that pass the assessment are kept for the Hawassa market while those that don’t are returned. Traders in Hawassa (wholesalers/retailers) also use the same method of quality assessment.

The price of eggs fluctuates following the fasting season of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. For example during the recent fast of Assumption (Dormition) which occurs in the month of August, the price of an egg in Arbegona market dropped from ETB 2.25 to 1.90. Traders in Arbegona usually purchase eggs anywhere from ETB 2.15 – 2.40 each, depending on the quality, volume and regular supply; the higher margin occurs during major holidays such as the Ethiopian New Year.

According to Etaferahu and Zewdu as well as other traders in Hawassa, there is no difference in price between eggs from indigenous and exotic birds during collection, however the selling price of the latter is slightly lower than the former at the Hawassa egg market. Traders normally market mixtures of the different types of eggs together and the larger sized eggs are sold at a higher price in the Hawassa egg market.

Etaferahu and Zewdu have noticed that eggs from indigenous chicken from Arbegona are preferred by the Hawassa market because of their better size and quality. Traders in Hawassa market also indicated that the eggs from Arbegona are larger and have a longer shelf life.

After collection, Etaferahu and Zewdu assemble the eggs in wooden boxes, which were originally constructed to transport tomatoes. They place different packing materials (such as teff or wheat straw) inside the boxes to protect the eggs. Etaferahu mentioned that some of the eggs which break during quality assessment and packing prior to transportation are used to make omelettes for customers in their shop.

Wooden creates for egg packing and transportation  (Photo: ILRI\LIVES SNNP team)

Each week, anywhere from 13 to 15 boxes, each with about 1,000 eggs, are packed and transported to Hawassa. The packed boxes are transported by trucks along with other commodities such as vegetables. Transport charges are ETB 25 per box and approximately 20 eggs per box (1%) get damaged during transport.

Retailers in Hawassa use small cardboard or bamboo boxes and plastic bags with similar packing materials when they sell the eggs. They also use sawdust from furniture shops and saw mills as packing material.

Etaferahu and Zewdu are eager to improve and expand their egg marketing business beyond the Hawassa market but face many challenges. These include lack of working capital, especially during peak demand periods, poor egg transport containers and lack of a proper egg transport system. Moreover, since the couple does not have direct linkage with consumers such as hotels, pastry shops and other institutional buyers, they sell eggs at a lower price directly to wholesalers/retailers at Hawassa market.

To help address their working capital limitations, Zewdu attended a training on Basic Business Skills organized by LIVES. The training included topics such as business plan preparation as well as marketing. Staff from Omo Micro Finance and technical staff from the Zonal Office of Agricultural also took part in the workshop. This helped Zewdu create linkages to develop a business plan which will then be considered by a lending institution.

To reduce losses due to packing/transportation, LIVES is assisting in identifying sources for improved egg packaging materials. LIVES will also provide further support on possible markets and egg bulking arrangements to reduce transport cost per unit of egg in LIVES intervention districts in Sidama.

Written by Yoseph Mekasha and Dirk Hoekstra with contributions from Tesfaye Shewage, Birhanu Biazin,and Dereje Legesse

More pictures  of chicken egg marketing

The baseline survey of the LIVES project and the IPMS sponsored rapid butter market appraisal study clearly demonstrate the importance of butter in rural Ethiopia. The results of the rapid market survey conducted in the 10 Pilot Learning Woredas provided an insight into the functioning of the butter value chain. Results show that to improve the production of fluid milk and to increase the production of butter in rural areas, feed and fertility management need to be improved. Genetic improvement, especially crosses of local breeds with high fat content breeds, should also be encouraged. Since artificial insemination (AI) is not usually available in rural areas, use can be made of mobile teams and hormone assisted oestrus synchronization and mass insemination.

The working paper starts by describing butter production system in Ethiopia and its importance in the LIVES project areas.  It then presents results obtained from the LIVES baseline data exercise as well as from the rapid butter value chain assessment study conducted by the IPMS project. The final section presents conclusions and recommendations on strategies and interventions to increase the size and efficiency of the butter value chain in the country.

Download the working paper

Five International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) researchers–Azage Tegegne, Berhanu Gebremedhin, Dirk Hoekstra, Gebremedhin Woldewahid and Yayneshet Tesfay–working with the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project have been honoured by the Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) for their contribution for the successful completion of the mass synchronization and artificial insemination of cattle in Tigray, Ethiopia and for strengthening regional research system.

The five were recognized by Kiros Bitew, vice president of the Tigray regional state and head of the bureau of agriculture, in the presence of TARI leadership and other high-ranking officials from Tigray at an event held 10 Jan 2015 in Mekele Town.

Recently (Nov, 2014), Azage Tegegne and researchers from TARI were recognized by the Ethiopian government for their role in improving dairy cattle genetics and the dairy value chain in the country.

Above-ground plastic biogas digester and storage bag introduced by LIVES (photo credit:ILRI\LIVES).

Mechanization of livestock production is not given sufficient attention in Ethiopia’s livestock development programs. Most of the country’s livestock production is dependent on manual work, both in rural smallholder and peri-urban/urban medium-scale systems. However, in order to move the smallholder livestock value chain forward, introduction of modern livestock technologies and appropriate mechanization is essential.

Mechanization of the livestock sector would include optimizing productivity (for example, ensuring that cows are milked quickly and completely to remove all the milk in the udder, improving labour management to reduce cost of production, relieving women and girls in rural Ethiopia from the burden of farm and household activities and using livestock waste to generate bio-gas energy and reduce environmental pollution (particularly in urban dairies). Livestock waste can be used to generate biogas, which if packaged and stored, could be used for other purposes beyond providing cooking and lighting.

In the dairy value chain, manual daily farm operations like milking, barn cleaning and feeding are heavy burdens for rural women and children. This could also lead to unhygienic livestock products such as unhygienic milk from poor milk handling practices.

Portable milking machine introduced by LIVES (Photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chain for Ethiopian Smallholders project (LIVES) has introduced a number of dairy technologies, including single and double bucket portable milking machines, biogas packages (including above-ground plastic digester, biogas pump/compressor, biogas storage bag and biogas electric generators) and cow mats. Use of  portable milking machines, biogas electric generators and cow mats is entirely new in Ethiopia. LIVES is also introducing technologies, such as Hormostos progesterone kits and heat mount detectors, to improve synchronized artificial insemination (AI) services in Ethiopia.

Improved poultry cage with hygienic and automatic feeding and watering facility introduced by LIVES (Photo credit:ILRI\LIVES)

In addition to these dairy technologies, LIVES is introducing technologies to boost poultry production in Ethiopia including improved chicken feeding, watering and housing as an alternative to the widespread scavenging system of chicken production in the country. The project is also improving the poultry value chain by reducing constraints in delivery of inputs and services. For example, LIVES has introduced technologies such as small scale incubators to improve supply of day-old chicks by small hatcheries, which in the past relied on large-scale commercial hatcheries.

LIVES has also introduced technologies to improve Ethiopia’s small ruminant and honey value chains. To address challenges in sheep and goat breeding, which is largely unplanned in conventional breed development strategies, LIVES has introduced a pregnancy detection device known as Preg-Tone, to facilitate planned and hormone-synchronized sheep and goat breeding and production. In the honey value chain, LIVES has demonstrated a honey quality-testing device known as a ‘refractometer’ to improve the quality of honey supplied to the markets.

LIVES zonal coordinator demonstrating feed chopper (Photo:ILRI\ Abule Ebro)

Feed is a major cost in livestock production, particularly the need for formulated rations for poultry and dairy production. At the same time, inappropriate conservation and use contributes to fodder wastage. To alleviate these challenges, LIVES has introduced fodder choppers and grain shredders to improve fodder use and conservation as well as livestock feed ration formulation from locally available resources.

The LIVES overall strategy is to identify, procure, demonstrate and introduce appropriate livestock technologies suitable for small and medium-scale production systems in its intervention regions, namely Oromia, Tigray, Amhara and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP). The project works with partners nationally across the four intervention regions. Technical staff and LIVES-sponsored MSc students from regional bureaus of agriculture (BoAs) and research institutes (RARIs) have been trained on the installation and operation of the various livestock technologies, some of which have already been tested and demonstrated to producers, businesses as well as BoA and RARI staff.

The goal to mechanize small- and medium-scale systems also involves linking the various technologies being introduced. For instance, the biogas technology is expected to supply electricity for milking machines in areas not connected to the national electric grid. Furthermore, the capital costs of the technologies need to be justified by the amount of future wages that they will save. Thus it is important that the technologies are introduced through organized groups such as dairy cooperatives. But the best strategy of introducing the technologies is encouraging partnerships between private sector and producers to ensure sustainable business models that integrate with government efforts to create more jobs for the youth and women.

See more pictures of the livestock technologies LIVES has introduced

Written by Solomon Gizaw (PhD)

Teklemariam Simie (right), a farmer in East Shoa zone practicing multifunctional agriculture and agritourism (photo credit:ILRI\Zewdie Adane).

The practice of agritourism and multifunctional agriculture may be less familiar to audiences in developing countries compared to developed ones.  Agritourism and multifunctional agriculture, as alternatives to conventional farming, emerged mainly in recent versions of the European Union’s common agricultural policy (CAP). In the era of rapid urbanization, rural and urban areas have become mutually reliant on each other and the concept of multifunctionality refers to agriculture, that is not only assessed in terms of its contribution to food and fibre production, but also for its wider range of social, environmental and economic benefits. In Dugda District of Oromia Region’s East Shoa Zone, Teklemariam Simie, a 79 year-old farmer is engaging in what may be considered an emerging version of multifunctional agriculture. He integrates livestock rearing with crop production as well as a cafeteria business in his small-scale farm of five hectares in total. Before embarking in the farming business, Teklemariam was a taxi driver in Addis Ababa for 11 years. However, the income he earned did not allow him to provide for the ten family members he was supporting at the time. Therefore he started the farming business in 1973 as an alternative means of livelihood. Teklemariam recounts that his childhood experience and knowledge in rural Bulga, Central Shoa, gave him the confidence to start farming as a business. In the 1980s his farm activity was hampered as a result of the unfavorable socialist policies regarding asset ownership and security. After some time, things became easier and he was able to focus on his farm activities full time. Teklemariam performs much of the farm activities himself although he is supported by his daughter and a handicapped son who lost one of his hands. He grows fruits such as papaya, mango, avocado, lemon, peach, guava, grape and custard apple; and he also grows cotton, silk worm and about 11 types of fodder. In addition, he cultivates basil, green beans, garlic, onion, soya bean and moringa. Cotton was the first crop he planted with the support of the Melkasa Agricultural Research Center. Teklemariam informed us that income from cotton sales was enough to buy two oxen which were then used to expand the farm.

Teklemariam Sime’s hive on a tree (Photo credit:ILRI\ Zewdie Adane)

The farmer grows various fodder seeds such as cowpea, lablab, pigeon pea, alfalfa, sesbania, leucaena, rhodes and elephant grasses, vetch, and bracharia. In 2003, his first year of fodder seed production, he earned about 8,400 Birr (USD 410) from the sale of 110 kg of cowpea. Motivated by this income, he expanded fodder seed multiplication and has invested more than 22,000 Birr in fodder seed production in recent years with the aim of becoming a fodder seed supplier in his village. He says he provides fodder seeds to fellow farmers, some of whom he met at a training on fodder production in Debre Zeit last year (2014). Teklemariam’s farm also serves as a demonstration and field-level practice teaching site for farmers allowing him to share his experiences. In the livestock sub-sector, Teklemariam is involved in poultry, dairy and apiculture production. He buys day-old chicks from Debre Zeit which he rears and sells after three months and has innovatively constructed a traditional incubator out of mud that is heated with wood fire to mimic the electrical incubator. He is currently expanding his poultry business and plans to buy at least 3,000 day-old chicks for commercial broiler production. In terms of apiculture, he plans to increase his 10 hives to 50 by the end of the year. Teklemariam values diversification over specialization in Ethiopia’s weather-dependent and risky farming context. The farm solely depends on manure and natural fertilizer from decomposed parts of trees and crops in the farm but he also conserves and efficiently uses water by among other methods, covering the roots of the trees and the surrounding soil with grasses and other materials to help the soil retain moisture. Teklemariam also started operating a small grocery adjacent to the farm to sell food and drinks to visitors and other customers. He performs all of these activities with only 4 years of formal education. He says that his main teacher was the problems he faced and his commitment to get out of poverty. An interesting aspect of his farm is how all activities are integrated and complement others in terms of inputs and outputs. For example, the apiculture business benefits from access to crops which provide nectar while at the same time, the bees pollinate the crops. On the other hand, the fodder crops provide feed for his dairy cows and manure from the livestock fertilizes crops and is used to produce biogas for cooking and lighting. The farm is not only a source of income for Teklemariam but is also a source of amenity value for his community. Young couples reportedly take shelter in the beautiful green farm for a day or so during weekends particularly during dry seasons when the surrounding vegetation is dry; making the farm one of the few remaining options for shelter from the sun in the area which lies in the East African rift valley. This service, is an opportunity for Teklemariam and can be commercialized as a result of increasing demand from urban dwellers. The farmer supplements his indigenous knowledge on the production and management of his activities with additional knowledge obtained through trainings. He has received trainings and advice from the office of agriculture on improved farming practices such as water harvesting techniques and row planting. He was, recently, the champion of a water harvesting campaign in his peasant association. Teklemariam has also been trained by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project on improved poultry production and marketing which he says has enabled him to better plan his poultry expansion project. Some of the major challenges at the farm are water shortage, lack of someone to take over the farm as Teklemariam is aging and low awareness of opportunities offered by the farm such as its touristic potential. It’s also Teklemariam’s concern that he may not have a capable successor to expand the farm as he envisions it. Time seems to be against him. His daughter who is managing the cafeteria business and his son are the only family members around him. Empowering these two young people to manage their father’s five hectare land through coaching and mentoring is an option. LIVES and its partners could look into ways in which this exemplary farmer could be supported to make the farm more attractive to tourists, marketing and awareness campaigns and value-addition procedures for the farm’s produce such as eco-labeling of products from the farm could increase his income and make it a model of rural agritourism and multifunctional farming. Teklemariam Simie can be reached on his mobile phone at +251 91 957 6853. His farm is about 2.5 kilometres north of Meki town, on the way to Addis Ababa. GPS coordinates: N = 08` 11.668’ E = 038` 51.628’ Written by Zewdie Adane and Abule Ebro.