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Engendering gender in the LIVES project

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Gender and value chain for LIVES team- group picture
Last week from August 19- 22, 2013, the full LIVES team had a four day interactive training session on gender and value chains in the LIVES project. The team, with different levels of experience and background in research and development, refreshed their knowledge on gender concepts, revised the LIVES gender data collection and analysis tools, and pre-tested the tool through farmer group discussion (FGD) with groups of male and female focus group farmers two kebelles of  Lume district.

The LIVES gender specialist took the lead in organizing and providing the training along with LIVES/IWMI colleagues and the LIVES Knowledge Management expert. The training had interactive conceptual and hands on sessions. Issues such as differences between gender attributes and sex/biological attributes; the evolution of gender since the 1970s and after, practical needs and strategic needs and the gender analysis framework were discussed. The group exercised and discussed the process of identifying and categorizing roles/jobs and gender needs; the importance of customized sets of skills/interventions to different skill sets (men and women) rather than the rhetoric equal opportunities to all while dealing with development. The training enabled the trainees to be aware of differences in gender roles and exercise mapping these roles in a given context.

The team, comprising LIVES regional staff (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray), LIVES HQ team and the capacity development unit of ILRI, brainstormed strengths, weakness/ limitations, and possible opportunities, and threats of the LIVES project during its implementation of gender sensitive commodity development approach.

reviewing training expectationsOn the second and third days, participants reviewed and tested the gender analysis tools developed by ILRI and customized for the LIVES project. After interviewing separate groups of men, women and mixed group farmers on poultry value chain development, participants recognized the importance of separate group discussions and identified possible hiccups in terms of getting quality data, with additional advantage of saving  staff time and project resources. Based on this field exercise the regional teams drafted their action plans to carry out gender analysis across LIVES intervention areas.

Following the workshop, a half day session looked at fruit and fruit seedling development and the importance of environment in value chain development; and possible areas of gender mainstreaming in irrigated fruit and vegetables were highlighted. Discussions were followed by a field visit to the fruit and vegetable fields of Melkassa research center where tropical and sub-tropical fruit and vegetable varieties are tested and released.

More from the training event



Livestock and fish gender group visits LIVES sites in West Shoa

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The gender working group of the CGIAR research program on livestock and fish recently met in Addis Ababa to find ways to engender livestock and fish value chains.

Vistiting Gadisa Gobena Dairy Farm, input shop and farmer training center The LIVES project had an active role in the event: it helped mobilize local gender experts to share their experiences and the project organized a field trip  to one of its project intervention sites in West Shoa Zone of Oromia Region.

Participants visited a dairy farm and a small scale irrigation group in Ejere district; and a private input supplier and service provider in Ambo town. During the visit, they interacted with men and women smallholder farmers; private input suppliers and service providers. Experiences and suggestions for improvement were shared among the visitors and the producers/service providers.

 (Compiled by Ephrem Tesema, LIVES Gender Expert)

Pictures from the workshop


LIVES project joins hands to train university staff on value chains

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The LIVES project recently joined hands with national and international partners to help reinforce university based capacities on agricultural value chain development and gender mainstreaming.

Berhanu Gebremedhin and Ephrem Tessema recently contributed to a workshop organized by the Netherlands NUFFIC program for participants from universities in Jimma, Hawassa, Ambo, Haramaya, Semara, Bahir Dar, Wolayita Sodo and Adama. The LIVES team shared practical experiences on value chain development and gender mainstreaming.

Universities in Ethiopia need technical support from international research and development organization to help integrate value chain development and mainstream gender into their curricula. For the LIVES project, they also have important roles as potential centers to promote and scale up research lessons.

Contributed by Ephrem Tesema


Canadian gender experts visit LIVES project intervention districts in East Shoa Zone, Oromia

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DFATD gender specialist visit LIVES sites
At the beginning of this month, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) gender experts visited East Shoa zone, one of the LIVES intervention sites. They wanted to look into the gender mainstreaming efforts and related activities done since the project started.

The team visited different sites and interacted with development agents, the gender focal person of the zone and male and female farmers engaged in fruit grafting and large ruminant fattening. The team also visited the Malima Beri vegetable market where 75 women are organized into a marketing group by the small and micro enterprise office and district cooperative office of Dugda district. The group sells tomatoes and onions alongside the highway. Currently LIVES is looking at options to construct proper vegetable sheds for this marketing group.

Contributed by Ephrem Tesema


Tomatoes and onions improving livelihoods in Gamo Gofa Zone

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Vegetable irrigation in SNNP (Photo:ILRI\Tesfaye Dubale)

 

Irrigated vegetables such as tomato and onion can easily be produced in the lowlands of Gamo Gofa Zone in Ethiopia. However, despite  growing market demands by local hotels, restaurants and lodges in Arba Minch town, there are only a few farmers who produce irrigated tomato and onion in Arba Minch and Mirab Abaya districts. The Central Rift Valley areas around Ziway and Meki were regular suppliers of onion and tomato until recently.

The main reasons for low yields of locally produced vegetables in Arba Minch include; lack of proper inputs such as seeds and agro-chemicals, frequent damage by pests and diseases, limited knowledge and experiences of improved production techniques, and poor access to market information and linkages.

For years, Ayele and his wife Amarech produced irrigated banana and maize with gravity irrigation from the Sille River. This year however, they decided to try  market-oriented irrigated vegetables as well and they allocated a hectare of land to tomato and another hectare for onions.

After receiving proper training on vegetable production – the quality and amount of seed required, the couple spent ETB 5,000 (approximately USD 250) to buy the Marglobe tomato variety and the Adama red onion variety. They were also trained on proper techniques of seedbed preparations, sowing, watering, field preparation, transplanting in proper spacing, furrow irrigation techniques, weeding, staking of tomatoes, proper applications of fungicides and harvesting.

To fill the gap in the supply of high quality tomato seeds, the couple started extracting tomato seeds. They supplied their neighbours and community with high quality seed and earned about ETB 5,000 from seed sales.

On their farm, the yield of tomato and onion was 254 quintal/ha and 224 quintal per hectare, respectively. As they were linked with potential traders, restaurants and hotels at Arba Minch town, they sold the tomato and onion for ETB 6.50/kg and ETB 5.50/kg on average, respectively.

Vegetable irrigation in SNNP (Photo:ILRI\Tesfaye Dubale)

Ayele and Amarach at their irrigated onion farm. Photo: Tesfaye Dubale

The overall cost-benefit analysis revealed that Ayele and Amarch earned a gross revenue of ETB 191,000 per hectare and a net return to family labour of about ETB 110, 000 per hectare (ETB 98,000 per hectare from onion and ETB 122,000 per hectare from tomato) per season.

Although tomatoes have high initial investment costs and require lots of engagement through the production season, the profit is still higher than onions.

Given their success, Ayele and Amarach are trying to produce twice a year by rotating these two crops. This makes profit margins high while also reducing pest and disease cycles.

Following a field day that was organized to share the couple’s story, several more farmers showed interest in irrigated vegetable production.

It’s the hope of LIVES staff that improved production techniques of irrigated tomato and onion will be adopted by many smallholder farmers, satisfying demand from Arba Minch town. Attention should be given, however, to stagger planting in order to avoid excess supply.

The case of Ayele and Amarech proves that smallholder farmers can transform themselves to a more market-oriented production system with proper extension services that build their capacities and foster market linkages.

Written by Birhanu Biazen, LIVES Regional Expert, SNNPR With contribution from the SNNPR LIVES team and Dirk Hoekstra


Traditional butter churn beats modern alternative in Ejere, Ethiopia

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Traditonal and modern churn set side by side (Phtoe:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

Traditional and modern churn set side by side for trial in Ejere district (Photo credit ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

One should not make the mistake of thinking that ‘traditional’ is synonymous with backward. While traditional methods of agricultural production and processing may have to be modernized through introduction of more up-to-date technologies, these modern technologies need to be better than traditional ones to be adopted by farmers. A case in point is the use of the traditional butter churn in Ethiopia.

Debritu and Jigi, women dairy farmers in Ejere District, Ethiopia, comparatively evaluated a traditional and modern butter churn with facilitation by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders  (LIVES) project along the lines of a similar test, in Sidama zone

In the test, Debritu used the traditional pot butter churner, a technology which has been passed on from her foremothers. Jigi on the other hand was using a modern plastic churn with a stainless agitator and a gear system that multiplies churning force.

Sometimes, the traditional method beats the modern one! Debritu churned out 260 grams of butter in 20 minutes, whereas Jigi took 65 minutes to churn 200 grams of butter. In the second round Jigi adopted part of the traditional technology, i.e. a pre-churning stirring of the sour milk using a stick with a three-pronged end. In this round, Debritu and Jigi finished in 32 and 21 minutes with a butter yield of 400 and 230 grams, respectively.

Debritu and Jigi churning milk by the two types of churners_Ejere (Phtoe:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

Debritu and Jigi churning milk using the two types of churners (photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw).

This story is from an action research activity conducted to evaluate a modern butter churn as an alternative to the traditional pot churner with the objective of easing rural women’s labour.

Findings from this observation show that technologies need to be evaluated for their technical efficiency and socioeconomic feasibility before they are promoted for adoption by agricultural producers. The search for an efficient butter churn (including modifying the modern churn evaluated here) that could be affordable and acceptable by farmers like Debritu and Jigi continues.

Watch video that shows Debritu and Jigi churning their milk!

 

Written by Solomon Gizaw and Dirk Hoekstra.


Finding inner strength and hope: Livestock business empowers Ethiopian couple

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Bull calves bought for fattening_East shoa (Photo:ILRI\Addisu Abera)

One of Bizunesh’s bull calves ready for fattening (photo credit:ILRI\Addisu Abera).

This story is about a couple, Bizunesh Abu (30) and Wendu Gutema (40), living in Mojo town, Oromia who are involved in dairy farming and fattening of bulls calves. Prior to starting the their livestock production business, Bizunesh and Wendu had both suffered illness that caused them to lose motivation for living and improving their livelihoods. But their reality changed two years ago when Bizunesh attended a short-term training on business entrepreneurship.

Organized by Mekedem Ethiopia, a local NGO, the training included giving seed money of ETB 2,000 (USD 100) to the trainees to start a business. Right after the training, Bizunesh was motivated to start a business of fattening bull calves bought from traders and farmers in the Mojo market and sold at the same market at a higher price.

With an additional 740 ETB from her savings, she bought two bull calves which she sold two months later for a total of ETB 6,700 (USD 320). She reinvested the money from the sale of the animals a couple of times until she had enough savings to buy a lactating crossbred dairy cow for ETB 16,000 (USD 780). The cow produced about 10 litres of milk per day, which they sold at a price of 10 ETB/litre to a milk processing plant. They used profit from the milk sales to buy animal feed and bull calves as well as other items for the farm and household. After they had enough savings from the sale of milk, they started another cycle of fattening calves and saved more to buy a second crossbred cow with its calf. Now they get 18 to 19 liters of milk per day from the two cows. All this happened in a period of two and a half years.

Bizunesh says she finds livestock rearing fascinating because it has given her newfound determination to support herself and her family by her own efforts. She has chosen to be a full-time urban farmer. Her husband, Wendu also enjoys livestock rearing and recently left his job as a security guard to work with Bizunesh in the farm. Bizunesh chose bull calves after observing the increased demand for their meat in Mojo town. ‘But even if the bull calves are not sold on time, they keep growing and fetch even higher prices,’ she says.

The couple explain that the price of bull calves decreases between September and January as farmers bring many grass-fattened animals to market. Particularly in September, they only buy two to three bull calves, which they sell in January when prices increase as the supply of fattened animals from rural farmers declines. They also target holidays to sell the fattened animals.

Bull calves bought for fattening_East shoa (Photo:ILRI\Addisu Abera)

Bull calves are kept by the roadside as Bizunesh and Wundu do not have an alternative space (photo credit: ILRI\Addisu Abera).

The calves are fed agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs) and crop residues, with the former bought from retailers in Mojo town. They also buy straws of barley, wheat, teff and lentil from farmers and occasionally from retailers and Atela (a residue from local brewery) from Tella traders in town to feed their animals. They do not buy feed in bulk due to shortage of storage place and capital. Animal health services such as vaccination and deworming are provided, at a cost, by a nearby veterinary clinic.

Both Bizunesh and Wendu have completed elementary level education. They do not have further training in livestock management. They also lack basic training in record keeping and rely on memory for all the information related to their animals’ condition, their expenditures and revenue.

The couple faces many challenges in running their business. Waste management and unfavorable smell from the manure makes their neighbors unhappy and their calves are crowded in small space especially in rainy season due to lack of land, the high price of input, particularly feed, and difficulty in getting credit are also major problems.

But the couple hopes that the bull calves fattening and the dairy business will eventually help them build a milk processing plant and create job opportunities for fellow Ethiopians.

We got introduced to this couple, who were once bedridden and hopeless but are now successful and visionary, during a feed assessment survey. After an inspiring discussion with the couple, we advised them on different issues of livestock business and pointed out that the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project can assist them through training on improved livestock management, proper feeding, record keeping and business plan development. In future, the project plans study tours to their farm so that other farmers can learn from their experience in managing their bull calves fattening and dairy production business.

 Written by Abule Ebro, Adissu Abera, Zewdie Adane and Nigatu Alemayehu.


Making a living from mobile beekeeping in Tigray: Mileat Gebrehiwot’s story

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A partial view of Mileat’s apiary_Tigray (Photo: ILRI\LIVES)

A partial view of Mileat’s apiary in Tigray (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES)

Most people would agree that, traditionally, beekeeping in Ethiopia is carried out by smallholder male farmers using a limited number of beehives in or near their homestead in a fixed flora-rich environment. But the beekeeping practice we observed on one farm in Wurko town in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, is completely different. Firstly, the work is managed by a young lady, Mileat Gebrehiwot, who just completed high school education and has had no formal training in beekeeping. Secondly, unlike most smallholder farmers who are accustomed to keeping a few beehives, she manages 80 beehives in about 1,600 m2 of land. Thirdly, as her apiary is situated in a rocky hillside that barely supports diverse bee flora throughout the year, her colony management strategy is completely based on moving the beehives seasonally.

Mileat is one of the beekeepers technically supported by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project and is a member of a local beekeeping platform. We wanted to further explore the mystery of her success in beekeeping that could be beneficial to other beekeepers in the country.

Mileat inherited the skill of beekeeping from her father who died unexpectedly in 2010 leaving behind the full responsibilities of managing 60 beehives to his family members. As a teen, she was always by her father’s side and gained basic skills in managing honeybees and later developed the practical skill of splitting honeybee colonies. Mileat’s inherited skill and knowledge helped her to convince her mother to retain 10 of the beehives after the death of her father almost five years ago. Now she is the owner of 80 hives. Fifty of them are used for honey production and the remaining 30 are managed according to the requirements of a breeding colony. The average annual honey harvest in 2014 was 600 kg, which earned her about ETB 120,000 (USD 5870). Her additional income from the sale of 30 colonies is about ETB 48,000. Her clients are farmers from nearby districts, beekeeping youth associations and honey traders from Mekelle town.

Mileat’s apiary located on a rocky hillside in Wukro being visited by LIVES staff_Tigray (Photo: ILRI\LIVES)

LIVES staff visit Mileat’s apiary that is located on a rocky hillside in Wurko (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES).

Mileat’s colony management strategy is extraordinary in that she always recognizes spatial and temporal variations in her environment and moves, seasonally, all the beehives to areas where the preferred honeybee flora such as Leucas abyssinica, Becium grandiflorum, acacia and other low growing herbs are abundant. She does this by renting a lorry, for a one way trip, at a cost of ETB 1,300. Before deciding to move the colonies, she first identifies sites rich in bee flora and assesses the availability of both nectar (for honey) and pollen (for colony strength) in sufficient quantities. Once she is sure of the abundance of flora, she trains casual workers in loading and unloading of beehives and the security measures needed to minimize damage to the queen and possible absconding. The movement of colonies takes place in June and terminates in November each year, and sites chosen for movement are located within a 30 km radius. She indemnifies the owners of such sites by paying their land tax and giving them oilseed planting materials free of charge. Once they have been relocated, Mileat closely inspects each of the hives at least once a week and provides additional food as needed. She believes that the proper feeding of honeybees is an essential for minimizing absconding and weakening the population of wax moths and other pests.

Mileat also renders services to her community free of charge including wax molding, supporting families in need of colony splitting and honey harvesting. Her plan is to establish a honey exporting company by leasing a large area in her native birthplace, Wukro.

In conclusion, the young beekeeper has defeated the long held stereotype about the inability of women to engage in beekeeping and successfully demonstrated the possibility of large scale mobile beekeeping even in areas where the availability of bee flora is not sufficient to sustain a colony throughout the year.

 Written by Yayneshet Tesfay, Dirk Hoekstra and Dawit Woldemariam.



Familiarizing smallholder beekeepers with ‘Ethio ribrab’ beehives

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Written by Gebreamlak Bezabih and Guesh Godifey (Tigray Agricultural Research Institute) and Yayneshet Tesfay, Dawit Woldemariam and Haile Tilahun (International Livestock Research Institute).

Farmers constructing Ethio-ribrab beehive (Photo:ILRIL\LIVES)

Farmers constructing an Ethio ribrab beehive (photo credit:ILRI\LIVES).

Beekeeping is an important traditional practice in most parts of Ethiopia. With an estimated 10 million beehive colonies half of which are kept in traditional and improved hives, Ethiopia ranks first in Africa and fourth in the world in honey and beeswax production. Traditional hives made from mud and wooden logs are by far the most pervasive accounting for more than 97% while improved hives account for only 2% of beehives in the country.

Managing bees using traditional hives is not only difficult but the quality and quantity of honey produced is small, with an average yield estimated to be below 7 kg/hive. Public agricultural extension in rural Ethiopia is working to replace these traditional hives by introducing top bar beehives to smallholder farmers, and in Tigray region of northern Ethiopia the annual distribution has reached more than 20,000 hives.

But with a shift from traditional to improved hives, the likelihood of farmers facing acute shortage of beeswax is high and there is a need to identify sustainable ways of providing beeswax that also attracts bees and minimizes absconding. One way of achieving this is through the introduction and popularization of the ‘Ethio ribrab’ hive, which is a variant of the Kenyan top bar hive.

The introduction of this type of hive is not meant to replace improved frame beehives but to complement them by providing beeswax made from local honeybee flora. Honey harvested from this type of hive is of better quantity and quality compared to honey from a traditional hive. The popularization of Ethio ribrab hives has also the added advantages of being made by smallholder farmers using local materials and is easy to work with and inspect the colonies.

Ethio-ribrab beehive constructed by Farmers (Photo:ILRI\LIVES)

Farmers demonstrating the Ethio-ribrab beehive they constructed (photo credit: ILRI\LIVES).

Considering the multifaceted advantages of Ethio ribrab hives, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in Tigray has demonstrated these hives to beekeepers, who after having received trainings, transferred colonies from traditional hives. Field observations suggest that farmers who used Ethio ribrab hives have harvested 15 to 20 kg/hive of honey and 1 to 2 kg beeswax, and this is by far more than what is possible using traditional hives.

Download  steps guide for constructing an Ethio ribrab hive that is currently being used by farmers in the LIVES intervention sites in Tigray.


External monitoring mission visited LIVES intervention sites

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External monitoring mission visiting LIVES intervention site in Bensa district, SNNP Region ( Photo Credit: ILRI\ Yoseph Mekasha)

External monitoring mission visiting LIVES intervention site in Bona district, SNNP Region ( Photo Credit: ILRI\ Yoseph Mekasha)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is in a position to support the scaling out of the interventions across the project areas. While not final, this was the immediate perception of the external evaluation team after a five-day visit—between 16 and 21 November 2015—to LIVES sites in Bona, Bensa and Arbegona districts of  Sidama zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia.

During a debriefing with the LIVES leadership team in Addis Ababa, the evaluators—Douglas Clements, LIVES External Monitor and Haregewoin Admassu, Gender Advisor for Global Affairs Canada (GAC)—expressed their satisfaction about progress since the first monitoring and evaluation mission. They found evidence of more ownership of the project by local partners. This increased ownership—they said—will contribute to the scaling out of the interventions within the project areas in the future.

During the last three years, the number of LIVES intervention peasant associations—the lowest tier of government—has increased. Presently LIVES has demonstration households for various commodities in 351 peasant associations, and the evaluators have recommended a consolidation of this number in the four regions.

Prior to the visit, the external evaluators held a meeting with the LIVES team in Addis Ababa to discuss approaches on planning, implementation and documentation. The revised performance monitoring framework (PMF) was also discussed. While the PMF indicators remain the same, the project targets have been more clearly defined. In this reporting period, LIVES will conduct a survey on some PMF targets at an intermediate outcome level. This will give the LIVES team and partners clear evidence to determine whether or not they are on track to meet their targets.

Discussion was held on the progress in relation to value chain development, knowledge management, capacity development and agribusiness interventions. This is key given the importance of capacity development and knowledge management in supporting role the adoption and scaling out of commodity value chain development interventions. For instance, coaching and mentoring cannot be provided to all producers. LIVES so far identified 4,291 market-oriented input and output producers who had the skills, an entrepreneurial mind-set and resources, and showcased them as demonstration households. They also develop learning materials to support self-learning of market-oriented producers and service providers. Moreover, a number of input and service providers have been established—such as feed suppliers, fodder seed producers, bee wax producers, and short-cycle fattening and finished cattle marketing groups.

Community-based sheep breeders’ cooperatives, commercial concentrate feed suppliers, vegetable seeds and agrochemical suppliers and improved grazing land were among project intervention sites visited. In addition, zonal and district partner staff were interviewed to gauge ownership and interest in the LIVES project activities.

The external evaluators are expected to finalize their report by the end of December. The report serves as an input for LIVES to make the necessary adjustments to reach its targets, and feedback to GAC.

 

 


Mini incubators increase chicks sales for women in Tigray

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Mini incubator introduced by LIVES

A mini-incubator introduced by LIVES (photo credit:ILRI\Yayneshet Tesfay).

Small-scale hatcheries are recent additions to the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) efforts to modernize and improve the way smallholder poultry keepers in Ethiopia produce chicks for the market.

The mini-hatcheries were meant to solve the problems faced by both small-scale commercial poultry producers, who need the supply of day-old chicks of exotic breeds, and rural chicken producers. Supply of day-old chicks by the large-scale commercial chick producers have been insufficient. The brooding characteristics of local chicken breeds is one of the challenges for increasing egg production. The broody cycle can be interrupted by both traditional methods and injection of estrogens. However, the hen’s role of hatching eggs needed to be replaced by hatchery technologies.

The Rahwa poultry association is owned and run by eight women in Enticho town in Tigray region. Established in 2013, the association main goal is marketing day-old chicks. The members have an 800-egg capacity incubator that has been infrequently used over the last three years due to large power requirements and frequent electricity outages.

Supported by LIVES and the regional research system in Aksum, the women group members decided to test a LIVES-supplied mini incubator which has a capacity of hatching 42 eggs in one round. The group compared the new hatchery with their old one. The old incubator was performing poorly with egg hatchability often not exceeding 55% (average 48%). When the mini-hatchery was used at an altitude of 2020 metres, the hatchability increased to 83%, producing 25 chicks. This has almost doubled the size of eggs that can be set using hens.

By Bahlibi Weldegebrial, Bruh Weldemariam, Haile Tilahun, Yayneshet Tesfay, and Solomon Gizaw.


Forage seed businesses increase women farmers’ incomes

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By  Ephrem Tesema, Abebe Mamo, Dereje Legesse and Worku Teka

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smallholder forage seed farmers being trained near Debrezeit (Photo Credit:ILRI\Dereje Legesse)

About a year ago (August 2015), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)-led Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in collaboration with the ILRI/GIZ FeedSeed Project organized a training on forage seed production and marketing for 21 female smallholders and five forage experts.

The event, held at ILRI’s seed unit in Debre Zeit, targeted farmers already engaged, or willing to engage, in forage seed production and marketing from Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s (SNNP) regional states were involved in the training. Most of the trainees said that capacity development support was key next to access to land, quality seeds and output market outreach.

The training gave participants practical skills on quality seed identification, agronomic practices and on selection of suitable source seed on the basis of soil types and agro-ecological zones. It also offered business and marketing skills to the women farmers.

After the training, most of the participants allocated parts of their farms to forage seed production and decided to fully engage in the feed seed marketing business and to use the forage they produced to improve the feeding of their animals.

Bringing together these female smallholders, both young and adult, enabled an exchange of lessons from across four LIVES intervention regions-Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP. The experience of these female farmers revealed that there are potential opportunities that can be capitalized on despite the constraints they face in establishing themselves as feed seed suppliers.

Neteru Takele, 32, from Maksegnit Chira Manterno, Gonder Zuria Woreda in North Gonder Zone, was one of the women who already allocated plots and decided to produce high-quality feed seeds after the training. She also decided to share the practical skills she had learned with other smallholders to help them produce feed for their livestock.

Before the training, in June 2014, Neteru had started growing Rhodes grass and Alfalfa mainly to feed her dairy cows. She had two dairy cows (one local and one crossbreed) and two heifers. At the time, she fed her dairy cows locally available feed mostly made up of treated grass traditionally called gefera.

The change in engaging to produce seed feed happened after LIVES project team and extension agents from North Gonder zone were approached her. Then after, she learnt not only to grow livestock seed to feed her own animals but also to produce feed seed to sale for other farmers and to generate income for the household. As a result, in November, 2014, she produced Rhodes grass seed for the first time and bartered the seed with 45 kg of teff[1]. The price of teff was estimated to be about ETB 560(≈ USD 26[2]). However, among 32 male farmers who bought and bartered the Rhodes grass seed from her, only 2 became successful in producing livestock feed.

During the skill training in Debre Zeit, Neteru said that the failure of the seed she sold to other farmers was likely due to seed quality problem or mistakes done by farmers in cultivating the grass such as prematurely harvesting it or harvesting it after it had dried.

A March 2016 review of the farming and business progress of these women farmers, seven months after the training, also evaluated Neteru’s progress. It showed that she was now growing Rhodes and Desho grass on 0.125 hectare of land and she also produced onions on 0.125 hectare giving her an income of ETB 2, 000. She has also started fattening oxen partly using the feed from her plot and concentrate feeds. Recently, she bought oxen with ETB 4,000 and resold it with ETB 8,000.00 after keeping the animal under improved fattening management for three months. She is currently fattening a bull bought at ETB 6,000 which she expects to sell at a profit in a few months. She has also used a cross-bred bull from a neighbour to impregnate her cow and recently got a calf.

Additionally, Neteru has managed to buy a house worth ETB 5,500 of which ETB 1, 500 was generated from the sale of forage harvested from her own plot. She is now preparing an additional 0.125 hectares of land in the backyard of the newly-bought house to expand the production of forages and onions.

Neteru appreciates the improved extension services given by LIVES agents in recent years who used to visit her forage plots. She says that the commitment from the project to supply source seed and to render practical and field-based training has helped improve the lives of her family members. She says farmers like her are now able to run their farm activity in line with market orientation and with cost-benefit assessment.

Neteru’s trajectory shows that capacity development of female smallholder farmers can lead to viable household-based forage seed production and marketing enterprises that improve the livelihoods of farming households in Ethiopia.

 

[1]  Eragrostis abyssinica – a cereal indigenous to Ethiopia

[2]   1 USD = 21.92 ETB

 

 

 

 


Training and coaching gets women excited about dairy production

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by Mamusha Lemma, Abule Erbo and Addissu Abera

 

lomi

Lomi Kordofa LIVES supported dairy farmer (Photo Credit:ILRI\Addisu Abera).

 

Lomi Kordofa is a female-headed household. She farms at Illu Aga peasant association in Ejere District, West Shoa Zone. Ten years ago, a local non-governmental organization taught her to keep dairy cows. She started by keeping 14 local-breed cows, which she later sold to buy 5 cross-bred dairy cows.

Lomi says the main challenge in improving her dairy farm is lack of knowledge and skills in dairy production. She has attended training, study tours and has received coaching and mentoring support from the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project on feed preparation, frequency of feeding and watering, barn design and construction as well as growing fodder crops and conservation of locally available feed resources.

Before the LIVES training, she used to graze her dairy cows in the field, where they lost energy due to mobility. Also, they were not housed properly and were not provided with sufficient water. The cowshed she had did not have a proper floor, and it was not suitable for the cows to stand, let alone sleep. And it is difficult and time-consuming to clean the shed.

Now she has learned the importance of proper shelter, the use of hay in the off-season, the need to provide sufficient water for her cows, and the importance of forage crops for dairy feed supplements. As a result of better feeding, watering and housing of her cows, they now produce more milk.

Lomi’s participation in continuous coaching and mentoring has enabled her to set up a custom designed barn for her cows, that includes an improved floor with sleeping mats, improved feeding and watering mangers and a separate space for the calves.

She says it’s now much easier and also takes less time to clean the barn, freeing her to do other activities. The cows are now able to sleep comfortably on the mats, which have also saved her much straw, which was previously used as bedding for the cows.

‘The condition of the cows has also improved because of better housing and feeding,’ she said. She adds that this improvement has resulted in enhanced milk production for her household. Milk production has increased from 8 to 14 litres on average from each of her cross-bred cows. She sells a litre of milk at ETB 12 in the local market. In addition to getting more milk, she also now has well-conditioned heifers, which come into heat relatively early.

After seeing the benefits of proper feeding of cows, Lomi has allocated more land to fodder production. She grows alfalfa and Desho grass using fertigation.


LIVES gender equality strategy

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Research has highlighted the crucial importance of the contribution of women to agricultural value chain development and governance in Ethiopia, according to scientists from the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). As a means of publicizing the importance of genders within farm productivity, the scientists developed a poster highlighting the various techniques used to enhance the involvement of women within community farming strategies. This will enable the reduction of gender equality gaps, whilst improving livestock productivity across various regions within Ethiopia.

Download the poster: Tesema, E. 2016. LIVES gender equality strategy. Poster. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: ILRI.


Enhancing gender and youth -inclusive livestock value chain development in Ethiopia

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By Ephrem Tesema

Partial view of training participants

Participants at a training (photo credit:ILRI\LIVES).

Ethiopia recently rolled out its second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) which, among other goals seeks to increase livestock and fisheries production, productivity and increase market access for livestock and livestock products in targeted areas with increased participation of women and youth.

The process of increasing women and youth participation in the livestock value chain will require institutional innovation and the development of new skills and capacities at different levels in the country.

The Women and Youth Directorate of the Ethiopian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) recently (3-5 August 2016) held a training in Adama on ‘gender in livestock value chain development for 48  of which 15 female participants drawn from the ministry, regional coordinators from the bureau of livestock and fisheries, veterinarians and focal persons from women and youth affairs offices.

The training provided new skills on the methods and approaches of developing market-oriented women and youth-inclusive livestock and fisheries value chains to participants who are expected to cascaded skills gained to extension and development agents located at different (lower) levels.

The trainees visited the Livestock and Irrigation Value chain for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project intervention sites in Lume District of East Shoa Zone in Oromia to learn about the practical use of livestock technologies adopted by smallholders (including young women) engaged in improved dairying, large ruminant fattening, poultry, livestock feed production and marketing.

In his closing remarks, H.E. Ato Sileshi Getahun, Minister for Livestock and Fisheries said that women and youth inclusive livestock value chain development is now a government priority in line with GTP II. He said the government is looking to partner with projects such as LIVES in implementing the national development plan.

The three-day training was facilitated by a team from the LIVES, MoLF and Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

For the full training report click here

 



Breaking stereotypes in beekeeping: Zeritu Ahmed’s story

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By Ephrem Tesema and Mesfin Tefera

bee

Women making traditional hives from bamboo and mud (photo credit: ILRI/Mesfin Tefera).

Apiculture is one of the new ventures introduced by the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for the Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project in South Wollo, Amhara Region.

Locally made transitional beehives, which are easily managed by women, were installed close to farmers’ homesteads and LIVES facilitated awareness-raising activities on the importance of enhancing women’s involvement in beekeeping.

One of the immediate outcomes of the intervention has been an increase in the number of women beekeepers, from virtually none to 15 women beekeepers at present in intervention areas in South Wollo.

The use of top-bar beehives contributed to an increased household income not only because of increased yields but also because of the higher quality of honey produced. This growth is leading to growing demand for high-quality  honey in the market and opening up new opportunities for upscaling this intervention model into areas beyond the intervention sites.

Zeritu Ahmed, a female smallholders in Kalu District attended apiculture training organized by the LIVES project and the district office of agriculture. Afterward, she became one of the innovative full-time farmers engaged in apiculture overcoming constraints related to existing gender norms and the challenges of working in a male-dominated enterprise.

Zeritu is now a model farmer for other farmers (both men and women) in the surrounding area and has earned respect for her courage, innovativeness and for being a role model for other women to venture into apiculture.

Zeritu’s experience and her role as a model beekeeper shows that integration of women into the honey value chain has a positive effect on household income and employment. The program has encouraged partnerships between women groups of beekeepers and the Honey Producers Associations in South Wollo to further strengthen the honey value chain as a whole. A revolving fund that can provide affordable input technology services to group members and embedded management skill training by the Honey Processors’ Association is now being explored to ensure the initiative is sustainable.

Setting up input supply mechanism for bee colonies and wax and also engaging in honey production simultaneously would enable more women bee keepers to generate higher income from apiculture. And these groups would also help in bulking produce and enhance access to markets thereby reducing instances of arbitrary selling of honey at low prices. Increased support to the initiative is expected to yield enormous benefits in terms of gender empowerment, value addition to products in the honey value chain and in improving incomes for smallholders.


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