By Yigzaw Dessalegn and Worku Teka

Priest (Kese) Belete Mola with pumps brought for maintenance in Dembia District (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegne).

Dembia District of Amhara region has a huge potential for irrigation development. The district is located at the shore of Lake Tana, along several streams and rivers and has a plain topography. Farmers produce vegetables by pumping water from Lake Tana, Megech River and a number of streams.

In support of this effort, the local government arranged access to credit for smallholder farmers there to enable them to buy irrigation pumps. As a result, between 2005 and 2014, 862 pumps were distributed in the district. Because of the economic benefits of irrigated agriculture, many farmers have bought their own pumps, some owning more than one, which they use to move water to distant farmlands through a relay system or rent to other farmers.

But pump break downs are common because of incorrect operation and lack of maintenance. Many farmers are unable to read and understand the pump manuals which are written in English and pump maintenance services were available only at Kola Diba, the district capital where they were offered by a few people and are expensive.

A participant in a platform meeting organized in Dembia by the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders project (LIVES) project, acknowledged this problem saying ‘the pumps are in the field but service providers are found several kilometers away from the irrigation sites, in town’.

The meeting discussed ways of providing practical training to farmers and service providers on pump operation and maintenance. It also offered training to 13 experts and 59 farmers from Dembia, Gondar Zuria and Lay Armacheho districts in two cycles in December 2013 and July 2014.

Priest (Kese) Belete Mola was one of the farmers in the district who received the training on pump operation and maintenance service. During this training he learned about the different parts of irrigation pumps, proper operation procedures, signs and most common causes of pump failure and assembling and disassembling pumps.

Following the training, he purchased the necessary tools for ETB 660.50 (USD 32) from Gondar town to test his knowledge and skill by disassembling and assembling his own pump. He succeeded on his first attempt and started providing pump maintenance and repair service to farmers in his village, Guramba Michael. Having found about his skills, farmers from neighboring Kebeles now bring to him pumps for repair. Kese Belete says he repaired and maintained 40 pumps in the 2013/14 irrigation season and 87 pumps in the 2014/15 irrigation season. The maintenance and repair service charge ranges from ETB 150 to 200 per pump depending on the type of service he provides and farmers can pay for maintenance service charges in the form of labour if they are short of cash.

He says the use of poor quality oil is the most common cause of pump failure which causes the pump to overheat. Kese Belete provides free advisory services on how to keep the pumps well maintained his customers. Other trainees in the district such as Yirga Atalo, have been inspired by Kese Belete Mola to start providing pump repair and maintenance service in their villages.

Farmers bring their water pump for maintenance to district office of agriculture Gondar zuria (Photo credit:ILRI\Fanos Mekonnen)

Farmers say the availability of repair services at the kebele level has helped them reduce the time needed to access these services, offers alternative payment methods apart from cash and is much cheaper. Farmers can now easily repair their equipment which prevents frequent breakdowns and they get advisory service on effective pump operation.

According to Elfeneshe, a development agent at the Guramba Michael peasant association, the availability of these services has helped many farmers’ whose crops would have failed during drought’.

This story also proves that farmers have the ability to maintain or repair pumps if they are trained practically and are coached/mentored as well. However, inadequate availability of pump spare parts in the capital of the district remains a challenge to this system but LIVES is working, with partners to improve availability of pump spare parts in Dembia.

LIVES Steering Committee members and LIVES staff members group photo during the 5th PSC meeting at ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa. (photo credit: ILRI\ Aklilu Bogale)

The 5th meeting of the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders Project (LIVES) Steering Committee was held on 12 June 2015 at the ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Siboniso Moyo, Program Leader for Animal Science for Sustainable Productivity (ASSP) and Director General’s Representative in Ethiopia. Participants of the meeting included representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) of Canada, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) and Regional Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs).

During the meeting, the annual progress of the project in the areas of value chain development, capacity development, knowledge management, promotion, research and documentations at all levels were presented. In addition, committee members discussed the annual work plan and budget for the upcoming fiscal year April 2015 – March16.

The LIVES Project Manager Dr. Azage Tegegne noted the past year was a year of consolidation and expansion as LIVES moves into its third year of implementation. To this effect, there have been a series of revisions to key strategic directions, approaches and interventions. In particular,the Performance Monitoring Framework (PMF) was revised to make project targets more realistic, achievable and easier to monitor. In the upcoming fiscal year, project activities and interventions will be intensified further; and results and lessons learned will be scaled out beyond project areas. In addition, new beneficiaries will be selected and included to reach project targets.

Dr. Azage Tegegne (LIVES Project Manager) explaining about the new milking technology introduced through LIVES (photo credit: ILRI\Aklilu Bogale)

During the meeting which also consisted of plenary sessions, committee members provided productive thoughts and inputs on the way forward. It was stressed that further efforts need to be put in place to strengthen gender balance in capacity development and knowledge management activities of the project. It has also been noted to further align project strategies and interventions with the work plans of the Woredas.

LIVES ultimate outcome is  increased economic well-being for male and female smallholder producers in the regions of Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) through the development of livestock and irrigated value chains .

LIVES/IWMI experts demonstrating the operation principle of WFD to smallholders (Photo Credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegn)

By Beamlak Tesfaye and Yigzaw Dessalegn

The Koga irrigation scheme in Mecha District in the West Gojjam Zone of Amhara is one of the largest irrigation schemes in Ethiopia. Under the scheme, 7,000 hectares are irrigated using 19.7, 42.3, 117 and 783 km of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary canals respectively, and 12 storage structures for delivering water to more than 10,000 smallholder farmers.

Farmers in the scheme use furrow irrigation to grow different crops which are planted at different times of the year. They access water at intervals (of eight or more days) depending on the amount of water available in the dam. But this method has resulted in under and over irrigation contributing to low productivity, lowering of the groundwater table, leaching of fertilizer, destruction of soil structure, higher labour costs and conflict over water access.

To address these challenges, the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project through the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has this year (Jan 2015) introduced an irrigation scheduling device known as a ‘wetting front detector (WFD)’ for testing at the Koga scheme.

The wetting front detector, which costs 60 USD,  was developed in Australia in 2004 and is being used in different countries such as South Africa to improve water management in irrigation schemes.  The detector help farmers to judge how much water plants need throughout their growing period. LIVES provided eighteen WFDs  to Ambomesk, one of blocks in the scheme and field days and trainings were used to guide farmers and irrigation agronomists on how to use them.

Field day participants observing the popping of WFD indicators during the process of irrigation (Photo Credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegn)

The LIVES/IWMI intervention has started bearing fruit as the WFD has been acknowledged and valued by piloting smallholders at the Abomesk block with the efficiency of the easy-to-use devices demonstrated on two test crops (wheat and potato). Many farmers have expressed perceived benefits of the WFD during the field day conducted in April 2015.

One of the piloting farmers, Liyew Fetene said the WFD has helped him estimate the appropriate irrigation interval at different growth stages of the potato crop as well as during fertilizer application. ‘I am no longer in conflict with other neighbouring smallholders and the water users association executive committee,’ he said.

Other farmers say the WFD helps save water, time, labour, fertilizer and reduces conflict caused by competition for water. Likewise, the Abomesk water users association members and irrigation agronomists have appreciated how the devices has helped improve the productivity of farmers. In addition, all participants in the trial have witnessed higher productivity of vegetable crops irrigated with the help of WFD compared to crops grown in the control plot (using current practice of frequently irrigating) which uses more water and is less productive.

LIVES/IWMI will continue testing the WFD for different crops, soil types in the Koga scheme and other parts of the country, prior to scaling it out to different parts of the country.

Collaborative Action Research Proposal Writting Workshop participants at the ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa (photo credit: ILRI\Aklilu Bogale)

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project conducted a Collaborative Action Research Proposal Writing Workshop from 15-17 June 2015 at the ILRI Campus, Addis Ababa.

Dr. Siboniso Moyo, Program Leader for Animal Science for Sustainable Productivity (ASSP) and Director General’s Representative in Ethiopia officially opened the workshop. Thirty-five researchers from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions attended the workshop.

The project’s livestock and irrigation experts presented more than twenty collaborative action research themes, proposed during a consultative meeting with EIAR and RARIs in Adama, Oromia Region. Following the interactive presentations, participants discussed the objective, design and theoretical framework of the respective action research themes.

During the last two days of the workshop, twenty-two proposals were drafted and circulated for further discussion among participants.  The workshop is the basis for the planned multi-locational thematic action research across the four regions with support from LIVES.

Written by Berhanu Gebremedhin

Partial view of meeting between LIVES and agricultural research instituted directors in Bahir Dar (photo credit:ILRI/ Zeleke Mekuriaw).

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) team recently met its key partners in Ethiopia to discuss progress in promoting LIVES’ project interventions in the country.

The second joint meeting between LIVES, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the regional agricultural research institutes (RARIs) of Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Tigray regions, discussed ongoing collaborative action research activities between LIVES and the two partners including efforts in promoting LIVES project activities in the national research system.

The directors general of EIAR and the agricultural research institutes from the four regions participated in the meeting, held 15-16 July 2015, at the Amhara Region Agriculture Research Institute (ARARI) in Bahir Dar.

Birru Yitaferu, the director general of the Amhara Agricultural Research Institute and Azage Tegegne, the LIVES project manager, officially opened the meeting.

The directors of the regional research institutes made brief presentations on the facilities and research activities of their respective research institutes. Yigzaw Desalegn and Zeleke Mekuriaw, from the Amhara region LIVES team, explained the overall regional LIVES research for development (R4D) activities in the region including the market-oriented development interventions that the project is promoting and integrating in existing development interventions in these regions.

Berhanu Gebremedhin, LIVES research coordinator, said the project had completed more than 30 research activities in the country and is already working with the national research system in collaborative action research with the national research system.

He noted that since the first meeting with the director, in April 2015, the project had identified more than 25 research topics and had held a proposal writing workshop, in June 2015, in which more than 30 researchers from the national research system participated. Proposals from the workshop are currently being revised and submitted to LIVES. The meeting also discussed the framework for the collaborative action research between the partners.

Director generals of regional agricultural research institutes and LIVES team  visiting an improved irrigated fodder field  site (photo credit:ILRI/ Zeleke Mekuriaw).

Additionally, participants visited field visits of LIVES market-oriented development interventions, where they experienced, first hand, the impacts of LIVES-led or supported interventions such as bio-gas electric generation, modern poultry housing and ration formulation using grinders for dairy improvement, private fruit seedling supply and improved irrigation of fodder.

The directors of the research institutes commended the results of the LIVES interventions and praised the project’s collaborations with various actors in the agriculture sector, which are improving agricultural value chains in the country.

 By Solomon Gizaw and Mesfin Tefera

Habil feeding his goats a fodder-based ration consisting of the protein-rich alfalfa and high-energy grasses (photo credit: ILRI\Solomon Gizaw).

The introduction of improved fodder species by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is helping smallholder livestock farmers in the country take up livestock fattening to boost their incomes.

In South Wollo zone of Amhara, Habil Abdu operates a specialized goat fattening enterprise in the Gerba rural kebele. Unlike in most fattening operations in the region, he finishes culled does for market. Yet, what makes Habil’s fattening operation exemplary lies in his market-oriented fattening practice. Traditional livestock fattening commonly involves fattening of a single or couple of yearling males or a culled buck using unbalanced fattening rations, with minimal market insight. Planned production using appropriate inputs and targeting niche markets is also uncommon among smallholders.

Habil bought six old does in May 2015, each for about ETB 600 (USD 30). The goats were fed intensively for a period of  three weeks. The well-finished goats were sold on average for ETB 1100 (USD 55) each. He is currently (June 2015) in the second cycle of finishing another seven old does.

Habil’s planned goat fattening operation was motivated by the introduction of intensive fodder production by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) in Gerba village.

He fed his goats a fodder-based ration consisting of the protein-rich alfalfa and high-energy grasses including Single Grass (Brachiaria Decumbens), Napier and Desho grasses, which he grows in his farm. He also sells fodder and shares forage planting materials freely with neighboring farmers. From his first harvest, Habil sold Napier grass worth ETB 4000-5000 (USD 200-250) and gave fodder planting materials to seven farmers. Habil’s farm is also a good example of smallholder farm intensification.

Smallholder farm intensification requires business orientation and intervention across the value chain. At the production level; larger scale of production, multiple cycles of fattening per year, short economical duration of fattening are key considerations. Efficient delivery of affordable inputs, services and information on niche markets serve as a pull factor for increased productivity and production. The ‘LIVES approach’ includes capacity building of value chain actors including skill training and coaching and mentoring. The project is also introducing new and improved technologies such as improved forage variety and seeds and establishing linkages with inputs/service providers and profitable market outlets.

Meeting between LIVES and agricultural research institute directors in Addis Ababa (photo credit:ILRI/Aklilu Bogale).

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project and Ethiopian agricultural research partners have finalized plans for 50 new collaborative action research projects in the country.

The plans and proposals were agreed at the third joint meeting of the LIVES team, the directors general (DGs) of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) from Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray in Addis Ababa on 17 Sept 2015.

At the meeting, held at the campus of the International Livestock Research Insitute (ILRI) in Ethiopia’s capital, participants agreed on final plans for the action research projects, which include plans for irrigated crops and livestock initiatives presented by Solomon Gizaw , LIVES’ livestock expert and Amare Hailessilassie,  LIVES irrigation expert, respectively.

LIVES and Ethiopian agricultural research partners have finalized plans for 50 new collaborative action research projects. Some of the research project topics are:

• Evaluating the effects of integrated agronomic practices on smallholders Banana productivity and economic performances
• Biological and economical evaluation of alternative dairy rations formulated from locally available feed ingredients
• Participatory evaluation and demonstration of alternative mastitis prevention and control strategies in urban/pre-urban dairy systems
• Evaluating the effects of capacity development and different organizational models on improving motor pumps supply and maintenance services in Ethiopia

In his opening remarks, Azage Tegegne, the LIVES project manager, said the research projects will generate useful information to enhance value chain development for livestock and irrigated crops. He added that the initiative would also aim to mainstream research findings by graduate students’ researches to benefit both the national research system and the collaborative action research projects.

Berhanu Gebremedhin, the LIVES research coordinator, said plans for the new projects started with a first meeting of the group in April 2015, where more than 25 research topics were identified and later narrowed down during a proposal writing workshop in June 2015. The proposals were then shared with LIVES senior technical staff for final review and prioritization. Berhanu expressed his optimism about the collaboration.

At the meeting, Muluhiwot Getachew, the LIVES project coordinator, presented the draft contract and agreements that will be used to develop financial and reporting guidelines. Official agreements with the respective research partners will be concluded later this month.

The LIVES project has allocated ETB 5 million  ( approximately USD 240,000) to the national research partners for the implementation of the action research projects in Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray.

Siboniso Moyo, program leader, ILRI Animal Science for Sustainable Productivity program and Gebremedhin Woldewahid, LIVES Tigray region coordinator, at the agriculture extension week opening (photo credit: ILRI\Beamlak Tesfaye).

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is showcasing its value chain development interventions and project outcomes at this week’s (12-16 October 2015) 2nd Africa-wide Agriculture Extension Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Themed ‘Reinvigorating extension services for market-led agriculture within the context of the Malabo declaration’, the event is organized by the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) in partnership with the Ethiopia Ministry of Agriculture, the African Union Commission’s Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture, the Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education, Ethiopian Society of Rural Development and Agriculture extension and the Swiss Development Cooperation in Ethiopia.

HE Tefera Derbew, minister of agriculture and HE Wondirad Mandefro, state minister, Ministry of Agriculture opened the exhibition and related side events.

The LIVES project and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) projects on FeedSeed, Africa RISING and N2Africa are exhibiting at the event, which is also attended by CGIAR Centres including the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the International Water management Institute (IWMI).

Dirk Hoekstra, LIVES senior project advisor, speaking at the AFAAS workshop (photo credit:ILRI\Beamlak Tesfaye)

Dirk Hoekstra, senior advisor for the LIVES project, spoke about the importance of facilitating access to market information and market linkages, and promoting collective marketing for agricultural transformation in Ethiopia in a presentation on market oriented extension services in Ethiopia. The work was co-written with Azage Tegegne, LIVES project manager and Berhanu Gebremedhin, LIVES research coordinator.

The event, which brings together more than 300 extension practitioners, policymakers, research and development partners, farmers and commodity associations is exploring ways of reinvigorating agricultural extension and facilitating information and knowledge exchange in agricultural extension across Africa and beyond.

AFAAS is a platform for mutual learning and innovation among agricultural extension and advisory service providers in Africa.

Azage Tegegne, the LIVES project manager, welcoming participants at the LIVES progress report review meeting in Axum (photo credit: ILRI\Aklilu Bogale).

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project will, in coming months, organize regional workshops and exhibitions in Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNPR to promote LIVES experiences in value chain development and encourage partners to further scale out these interventions.

This decision follows a meeting of LIVES staff and partners, from the four project implementation regions, that reviewed key project achievements, challenges, and opportunities so far, and their impact on the remainder of the project period.

The meeting reviewed progress from April to September 2015 based on project progress review presentations by LIVES regional coordinators and headquarter staff.

Azage Tegegne, the LIVES project manager, said the project needs to respond to opportunities offered by changes at the federal and regional level  in Ethiopia, to raise the profile of International Livestock Research Institute’s (ILRI) and LIVES contributions to agricultural development in the country.

Some of the major achievements reported at the meeting include increased vegetable production in Jimma zone in Oromia where potato and onion yields have increased to 555 quintals/ha and 267 quintal/ha from 200 quintals/ha and 80 quintals/ha, respectively, following LIVES project interventions.

Other LIVES achievements discussed include introduction and adoption of improved forage crops and new dairy technologies, adoption of young animal fattening practices, improved feeding and housing of livestock and adoption of multi-cycle fattening practices.

LIVES staff members visiting LIVES intervention sites in Laelay Maichew, Tigray region (photo credit: ILRI\Aklilu Bogale).

The meeting was held 19-22 October 2015 in Axum, Tigray. As part of the meeting, LIVES staff visited a number of LIVES value chain development interventions in Laelay Maichew woreda and surrounding areas. They visited Fisum Gebremariam, a model small-scale farmer who is growing fruits with the support of LIVES. Fitsum has established a private nursery and provides smallholders in his area with avocado, mango and orange seedlings. He has also been trained, coached and mentored on grafting and nursery management by the LIVES project.

Tadele Gobeze at his fruit nursery in Mecha District, Amhara Region (photo credit: ILRI\Yigzaw Dessalegn).

By Yigzaw Dessalegn and Teshome Derso

Tadele Gobeze is a young entrepreneur who is engaged in the supply of fruit seedlings in Mecha District of the Amhara Region. In 2010, he established a fruit nursery with an initial capital of ETB 1,300 (USD 65). The nursery is established on 2000m²  of leased land.

Unlike field crop, fruit crops were recently introduced in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. But the demand for fruit crops has steadily grown due to urbanization. To help supply more fruits to meet this demand, the regional government of Amhara has established a number of public fruit nursery sites and has also encouraged private fruit seedling suppliers.

Tadele said he started the business by producing and retailing budded sweet oranges, non-grafted mango and avocado seedlings, coffee, eucalyptus and other trees. But the price of tree seedlings is lower compared to fruit crop seedlings. Similarly, the price of grafted fruit seedlings is about 3-6 times higher than the price of non-grafted fruit seedlings. Despite this fact, most private and public fruit nursery sites supply non-grafted fruit seedlings mainly because of a lack of skilled fruit grafting personnel and lack of mother trees of improved varieties for scions.

The Livestock and Irrigated Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project identified shortage in the supply of grafted fruit seedling as a major problem in fruit value chain development in Mecha and it moved to establish private seedling suppliers in collaboration with the Mecha District Office of Agriculture.

LIVES is currently supporting Tadele and other private seedling suppliers with practical training on fruit grafting techniques and mentoring services. The project provided 18 grafted seedlings of improved varieties of mango and avocado to establish mother trees in Tadele’s nursery site. He was also provided with 4000 scion twigs of improved mango and avocado varieties for immediate use and the project also introduced scion twig marketing practice to the community. A study tour of the different fruit propagation methods at Melkasa Research Centre and Picolo public fruit nursery site in the district was also recently organized by the project.

In 2014, Tadele  started supplying grafted mango and avocado seedlings besides budded sweet orange seedlings for farmers in his neighbourhood. He supplied 3,600 budded sweet orange, 1,000 grafted mango and 500 grafted avocado seedlings. He sold sweet orange for ETB 30/seedling, mango for ETB 40/seedling and avocado for ETB 35 /seedling, and generated ETB 160,100 (USD 7,600). This year he expanded his grafting activity, and supplied more than 12,000 grafted mango and avocado seedlings. In addition, he  supplies sweet orange, guava, gravelia, gesho, eucalyptus, and coffee seedlings, and expects to earn about ETB 300,000 – 400,000 (USD 15,000 – 16,000). Currently, his capital has reached ETB 300,000 (USD 15,000).

Tadele’s experience depicts the feasibility of grafted fruit seedling supply business to employ educated but jobless rural and urban youths. After observing Tadele’s success, fresh university graduates  got inspired, and started grafted fruit seedling supply. However, access to a reliable market, land, capital, scion and irrigation water remain a challenge. But despite these challenges Tadele`s vision is to expand and modernize his fruit seedling supply business.

Practical training session for producers and development agents on fruit grafting techniques at Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre (photo by ILRI)

Market-oriented development is a relatively new strategy in Ethiopia and a lot of work is needed to help transform the country’s agricultural sector. As part of this process, the capacity development pillar of the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project have undertaken to strengthen innovation and the learning capacity of value chain actors and service providers to develop livestock and irrigation agriculture value chains.

Between April 2013 and March 2015, LIVES has trained and coached 17,202 (41% female) producers, 5,729 (78% female) input/service providers, and 717 (67% female) processing and marketing businesses.

The ILRI capacity development brief 7, Capacity development in the LIVES Ethiopia project, examines three aspects of this issue in Ethiopia: training and coaching value chain actors and service providers; LIVES capacity development scaling out strategy; and capacity development of public sector staff.

Using participatory processes to assess knowledge and skills gaps of value chain actors and service providers, LIVES staff identify capacity development interventions. Project staff then design and implement these interventions using a range of strategies, including training, coaching and mentoring, and training coupled with coaching and mentoring. The sequence and combination of learning activities depend on specific situations.

Innovation capacity development is crucial for value chain actors and service providers to gain knowledge and insights into the commercial system in which they engage. It also develops skills to analyse challenges and opportunities, and create market linkages. Between April 2013 and March 2015, LIVES has trained and coached 17,202 (41% female) producers, 5,729 (78% female) input/service providers, and 717 (67% female) processing and marketing businesses.

However, coaching and mentoring cannot be provided to all producers as not all of them adopt a market-orientated approach to production. Therefore, LIVES identified a few market-oriented input and output producers who had the skills, an entrepreneurial mind-set and resources, and showcased them as demonstration households. The project forms extension circles of trained and coached producers designed to facilitate the spontaneous dissemination and scaling out of knowledge and skills within and beyond project districts. In addition, LIVES develops learning materials to support self-learning of market-oriented producers and service providers.

Strengthening research and development partners through graduate training and research is a significant capacity development intervention of the LIVES project. Institutionalization of a value chain development approach within the public sector requires a critical mass of trained individuals who will champion implementation and scaling out. To date LIVES has supported value chain-based graduate training and research of about 200 public sector staff.

Consequently, intervention households have adopted a number of improved livestock and irrigation value chain practices, which has had a strong demonstration effect on other producers. A number of input/service providers—such as grafted seedling producers—have started to provide inputs/services to intervention and domain households. Study tours and training events have enabled public extension services to scale out value chain development interventions within and beyond the project intervention peasant associations and districts.

For more information, see ILRI capacity development brief 7, Capacity development in the LIVES Ethiopia project

By Solomon Gizaw

Researchers at Andassa Livestock Centre, drenching a cow with sex-fixer preparation 30 minutes before AI (photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

Though genetic improvement of dairy cattle has been underway in Ethiopia for decades, the delivery of improved breeds to the country’s smallholder farmers is poor. Improved dairy cows account just over 1% of the country’s cows. But the Ethiopian government hopes to produce 5 million improved dairy cows in the next five years under its Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II).

The Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project is working closely with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) to improve the efficiency of delivery of improved dairy genetics through modern reproductive technologies.

Producing more female than male calves is one intervention that would increase the supply of improved dairy cows to meet the government’s goal, in addition to increasing the amount of milk produced in the country.

The project recently introduced three technological aids: sex fixer, oestrous detector and pregnancy diagnosis kit that are being tested in an action research project in collaboration with the national research system. The project is testing a female sex-fixer technology (Aulprofem®) under artificial insemination (AI) and natural mating systems.

A researcher at Andassa Livestock Research Centre applies Karmar HeatMount detector (photo credit:ILRI\Solomon Gizaw)

The efficiency of AI services in Ethiopia is low (about 27%) and unsuccessful insemination limits the use and successes of oestrus synchronization technologies in some cases. A major reason for the failure of AI is the difficulty of accurately detecting oestrous in cows and poor timing of insemination. Visual observation for signs of oestrus is challenging, especially at night time. An age old technology, but new to Ethiopia, known as Kammar HeatMount® Detector was evaluated in the action research project. Early observations show that the technology could be of value in detecting ‘standing heat’, which is the right sign for determining AI time.

Later, a third technology that will include a simple, farm-side and instant early pregnancy diagnosis technology (Bovipreg®) will be tested. Pregnancy diagnosis through rectal palpation cannot be made before 60-90 days post AI resulting in loss of milk and calf production time, besides being very intrusive and disliked by farmers.

LIVES has introduced a pregnancy diagnosis technology before (Hormonost®) which is highly accepted by the MoLF. But the fact that the technology works with milk samples only limits its use to lactating cows only, whereas the Bovipreg® technology works with milk, blood and urine. The technology can also be used by individual farmers, unlike Hormonost®.

The next step after the action research will be demonstration of the technologies to livestock input suppliers/service providers, researchers and development partners for wider adoption and scaling up/out.

By Dirk Hoekstra, Yigzaw Dessalegn, Worku Teka and Beamlak Tesfaye

Kifle seems a bright young boy, whose father started onion seed production through observations and exchange of information with the neighbouring Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project intervention farmers. We met him on our recent visit to Gondar Zuria, in Amhara.

He was aware of the profitability of the onion seed production and we asked him if he would want to become a farmer, given the money he could make. His response was ‘If I fail, I will become a farmer’.

For us who are involved in promoting market-oriented agriculture, his answer suggests that money alone is not sufficient to attract young people to agriculture, let alone to attract them to food self-sufficiency agriculture. So exploring a bit more, he clarified his position and suggested that agriculture was ‘too hard’ work. Again, Kifle’s answer did not come as a complete surprise, since increased access to information through television and radio, shows alternative ways of making a living, often with less manual ‘hard’ labour. In this context, it is interesting to observe that in the past decade, partly as a result of the disappearance of youth from the countryside, many older farmers have shown a great interest in growing fewer labour-intensive tree crops. Therefore, if we want to attract and keep youth in agriculture, we will somehow have to make market-oriented agriculture ‘sexier’.

Etatu’s parents recently introduced a ‘local’ drip- irrigation system for fruit trees. Her parents were trained on fruit trees by LIVES and took part in a study tour to learn about and create interest in fruits. Etatu now helps her parents in refilling perforated jerry cans, which drip water in the planting holes of the transplanted fruit tree seedlings. The avocado trees seem to grow nicely so far but have not yet started producing fruits. Since the avocado trees are new in the area, we asked her if she knows how the fruits are used, and whether she learned about fruit trees in school. She answered negatively and quickly hid behind her father trying to avoid answering more ‘nasty’ questions.

It is understandable that Etatu is still a bit shy in telling/knowing about new fruits because she has never seen or consumed them. Still, in order to attract her interest, she and other children need to be ‘fed’ with information about the possible uses and market possibilities of fruits. One option is to engage the local schools in spreading the news by showing them videos on fruits, taking them to fruits farms and agricultural fairs. LIVES is planning to organize a trip to nearby Gondar town to demonstrate uses of avocado in the fruit juice shops. Etatu will be one of the participants.

Involving youth in future agriculture will require a drastic change from the present extension system and mechanization. Making use of modern diagnostic technologies and information technology (IT)-based information services needs to be part of this strategy.

by Dirk Hoekstra, Yigza Dessalegn, Worku Teka and Beamlak Tesfaye

Banana ripening house in Gondar town (photo credit: ILRI\Dirk Hoekstra).

In a recent field visit, we came across two interesting innovations in Gondar town. The first is a banana ripening house which we had heard about while visiting banana farmers working under the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) in Lay Armacheho District, North Gondar Zone. Such a ripening house would be required in the future, in the district, when banana production expands and home ripening techniques are no longer adequate.

A similar approach of setting up a ripening house was used after banana production expanded in Metema District. Banana farming was introduced there six years ago by the Improving the Productivity and Market Success of Ethiopian Farmers (IPMS) project which preceded LIVES. A banana ripening specialist was brought in from Atkilt tera (fresh fruit and vegetable marketing centre in Addis Ababa) to train traders from Gondar town and some farmers from Metema.

One of the trained banana traders did, in fact, start a ‘Chella‘ (banana ripening) house in Gondar town but it only functioned for a short time as a result of low prices offered to farmers and conflicting interests between traders. But by then, the IPMS project had ended and the development and scaling up of banana ripening was not pursued further. So it was quite a surprise to find a fully functional ripening house in Gondar which is operated by Fiseha Aregawi. We noticed many women retailers collecting bananas from the ripening house for sale in town. Another surprise was the fact that most of the ripened bananas were not from Metama (which we expected) but from Arba Minch District, where the project originally introduced banana farming.

Red Bombay onion seed in Gondar town (photo credit:ILRI\Dirk Hoekstra).

The second innovation we came across in Gondar town was industry packed Red Bombay onion seeds, which we found in Mohamednur Ahmed’s agricultural input supplies shop. We learnt that the seed is produced and packed in Mecha District, West Gojjam zone by a commercial company, Jemma Integrated Agriculture PLC, in Merawi.

It reminded us of an onion seed production initiative started by IPMS in Fogera in 2005. Starting with only three farmers, it had grown to 92 farmers in 2009/10, producing onion seeds worth ETB 2,361,000 ( approximately USD 110,000). To professionalize the sale of onion seeds, the project at that time worked with Adet Agricultural Research Centre and the Amhara Bureau of Agriculture regulatory department to train farmers to produce quality seeds. It even resulted in a brand name (FOSP) for the onion seeds which was used by some of the farmers. When LIVES started in the Koga irrigation scheme a few years later, it was found that one of the leading onion seed producers in Fogera leased land in the scheme to produce onion seeds. This person introduced onion seed production in Koga irrigation scheme.

The project in Fogera further expanded and a seed producers cooperative was established in support of Local Seed Business and AgroBig projects. In addition, an entrepreneur, Jemma Integrated Agriculture in Mecha District, started onion seed production, processing, packaging and marketing. The company is now selling packed onion seed to onion producers in west Amhara region at a lower price compared to imported seeds.

Our experiences in Gondar show that projects can plan, initiate and facilitate scaling up of interventions but it is ultimately up to the value chain actors to actually implement them and in their own ways, ensure their long-term success. In addition, innovation requires incubation period to takeoff.

By Mamusha Lemma and Beamlak Tesfaye

Tigist Gebrekidan shares her experience on the use and management of a knowledge centre with knowledge centre managers (photo credit:ILRI\Beamlak Tesfaye).

In Ethiopia, agricultural experts and development agents have limited access to up-to-date information and knowledge on agriculture. They also have limited skills to use information and communications technology (ICT) tools to access information and knowledge. Tigist Gebrekidan has been working as a secretary in Bahir Dar Zuria District in West Gojjam Zone of Amhara region in Ethiopia. After the establishment of an agricultural knowledge centre in the district by the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project, Tigist was appointed as an  ICT expert of Bahir Dar Zuria district Office of Agriculture.

Initially there was low demand for the knowledge centre services in the district. But Tigist came up with innovative ways to create demand and attract people to use the centre. Most were informal approaches including inviting some of her close colleagues to visit the centre. She supported them to create email and Facebook accounts. ‘Many were surprised to see photos of former acquaintances, said Tigist. This raised their interest to know more about using the internet and IT-based services. She continued to interact with them and help them explore the information they were interested in. Gradually, they became comfortable in using the internet, and developed computer skills.

Tigist also uses the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony to promote the knowledge centre and attract users. She sets up a sendel to burn fragrant aroma and offers free coffee to users in the knowledge centre. The coffee ceremony creates the opportunity for interaction during which she shares important messages about the use of the knowledge centre.

She also shares information on current issues and social affairs to create curiosity among staff as a way of encouraging them to find out more by using the resources in the centre. As a result of her efforts, more experts now come to the knowledge centre to use the internet, or read materials and do their work.

‘I feel good when users get useful information and develop skills and confidence to use computers and the internet’, says Tigist. She has also made contacts with development experts working in projects in the region who use the knowledge centre to access training and information materials.

The Bahir Dar zuria district knowledge centre is located in what was once a store, with inadequate light. She improved the room by fixing the lighting system.

The knowledge centre is now used by people from different sector offices of the district, and it is mentioned as a good example of a knowledge service in the district. Other government departments such as the health office are now proposing to establish other knowledge centres.

Tigist is a social linker with incredible interpersonal skills. She received appreciation and compliments from knowledge center users. They even encourage her to open her own internet café in town. She is also an active learner. She said that knowledge center users share with her relevant information and skills in ICT tools.

Tigist’s experience shows that though they may take time to catch on among users, knowledge centres can provide services that transcend personal development to include providing extension services. The use of social media in these centres can be an entry point that enables extension staff to become familiar with the use of computers and the internet and gradually use knowledge centre services for personal and community development.

A motorized chopper introduced by LIVES (Photo Credit:ILRI\Dereje Legesse)

Motorized feed choppers introduced by the Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project are helping the country   ‘s livestock farmers better utilize available feed resources to increase milk production.

Farmers in the Maresege Dairy Cooperative in Tikeldengaye town of Lay Armacheho District, North Gonder Zone were among the first to use the ‘LIVES chopper’ after a demonstration over a year ago. The cooperative members were interested in testing if the chopper could be used to start and sustain a feed production business. The LIVES team linked them with the Austrian-funded ‘Livelihood Improvement through Sustainable Resource Management Program’, which supported them to buy a motorized chopper.

In 2016, after two seasons, all 43 cooperative members (7 female) reportedly make use of the services provided. Also non-members use the chopper services and to accommodate potential users further away, the cooperative introduced a mobile service – i.e. transporting the chopper by cart to the dairy farmers in five (5) neighboring PAs – Kerker Balegzabhir, Tikel Dengay, Shumara Lomeye and Ayquachker PAs.

The machine is mostly used between December and May to chop crop residues and grind grains. According to Defre Alemnhe, the chairman of the dairy cooperative, in its first year, the machine  chopped 16,800 kg of crop residues and 5,775 kg of maize grains at a cost of ETB 1 (USD 0.05)/kg.

Purchased at an initial cost of ETB 35,000 (USD 1,597) and with an estimated salvage value after 10 years of ETB 5,000, the depreciation cost of the chopper is ETB 3,000/year. Even though there were no maintenance costs in the first year, it is expected that, over 10 years, the average maintenance cost will average 5% of the original investment cost. Two hired staff operate the machine and share 50% of the income generated (i.e. ETB 0.5/kg of chopped feed).

Based on observations elsewhere, the mechanized chopper uses about 1 litre of diesel fuel to process 450-500 kg of dry crop residues, up to 900 kg green grass and 200 kg of maize grains depending on the particle size of the powder. , 1 litter of oil is used monthly (at a cost of ETH Birr 55).

Based on this information, a chopper business annual  would look like this:

Based on these calculations, the chopping/grinding service seems a profitable business (even at this modest scale of operation) in Ethiopia. It is therefore not surprising to see several enterprises now using mechanized chopper to engage in small-scale feed businesses. For example, women-headed households in Mecha District have purchased a chopper with support from the AgroBig Project and are providing crop residue chopping / grain grinding service at ETB 70/hour and ETB 0.60/kg respectively.

Similarly, an entrepreneur in Bahir Dar town is using the chopper to run a commercial feed processing and marketing business. The Haik Estifanos monastery has also purchased the same machine to prepare feed for their cattle and poultry farms to save feed-associated costs. In all LIVES intervention Zones, a total of 39-businesses (Individuals, Groups & Cooperatives) showed great interest to purchase the chopper and looking for the money.

Responses from farmers in Amhara Region regarding the use of chopped feed is positive:

• Some farmers started using purchased chopped feed for their dairy cows at a cost of ETB 4.5/kg which is ETB 2.5 above the production cost of  ETB 2/kg, (ETB 1/kg for the residues and ETB 1/kg for services).
• Farmer’s also report less wastage, better intake, and possibilities for mixing concentrates with the chopped fodder to improve rations.

The next step in the further development of the chopper business in Maresege cooperative is the addition of effective microorganisms (EM) to the chopped fodder to increase its digestibility and also to expand the services to more clients.

by Worku Teka, Yigzaw Dessalegn, Dirk Hoekstra, Beamlak Tesfaye and Dereje Legesse

By Mamusha Lemma, Beamlak Tesfaye, Zeleke Mekuriaw, Yigzaw Desalegn and Teshome Derso

Increasingly, many smallholder farmers in Ethiopia are adopting intensive livestock keeping practices in response to population growth and changing farming systems that have reduced sizes of farmlands.

In West Gojam Zone of Amhara Region, for example, smallholder farmers have embraced backyard dairy and cattle fattening activities as an important livestock business. But cattle fatteners there have difficulties accessing quality inputs and profitable markets. Most of the region’s smallholder cattle fatteners sell individual animals in nearby markets or to local traders in their villages. They lack relevant market information, which means they have generally low bargaining power when selling their animals.

The Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project has piloted cattle fattening fairs in Amhara to help empower smallholder cattle fatteners by facilitating market linkages and providing them with the information they need to make informed market choices. In West Gojam Zone, these fairs have facilitated knowledge exchanges about improved cattle fattening practices, created linkages among input suppliers, farmers and livestock traders; and influenced policy actions to support and scale out cattle fattening value chains.

Organized and facilitated by LIVES and district offices of agriculture (Mecha and Yilmana Densa), the bureaus of agriculture, and trade, industry and market development; and the Livestock Resource Development Agency in Amhara, these fairs feature a competition for the best fattened animals.

Cattle fattening fair in Merawi, Amhara Region (photo credit: ILRI/Zeleke Mekuriaw).

Farmers with the ‘winning’ animals receive prizes after an evaluation by a panel of judges made up of experts from agricultural research, the livestock agency, traders and slaughterhouses. The animals are evaluated in terms of their body condition based on criteria agreed on by organizers and farmers in these events.

Farmers with the best animals then address participants and share lessons and experiences on animal selection, healthcare, housing, feeding and fattening practices. These events also bring together livestock traders and slaughterhouses to share information on market demands and quality standards. Traders and processors also give feedback to cattle fatteners on the condition of their animals. The fairs also create a positive competitive atmosphere among cattle fatteners.

Enyewu Getahun, a model cattle fattener at the Enamirt kebele, said he visited all cattle fatteners in Mecha District before attending the district cattle fair, which was held in 21 April 2016, to learn about their practices and judge where he stood compared to them. In the process, he created linkages with many other model cattle fatteners, which would not have happened without the fair. After learning about the practices of other cattle fatteners in the district, he was confident that he would win the competition. But since the cattle fattening fair also brings fatteners from other districts, he did not win. But he realized that he needs to do much more to improve his cattle fattening practices in order to raise his chance of winning in future.

After the fair, he decided to improve the design of his cattle shelter and expanded his fattening house. ‘I have found many more opportunities and connected with other cattle fatteners through this fair,’ said Enyewu. He has now become an ‘outfattener’ with linkages to other smallholder fatteners and buying fattened cattle for supply to processors in Addis Ababa.

The cattle fattening fairs have also influenced policy actions. For example, the Livestock Resource Development Agency has now committed to providing health services for model cattle fatteners in their farms. They no longer need to drive them to health service centres to access these services.

Additionally, the fairs, through engaging experts, traders and processors, have contributed to the development of cattle fattening standards for the market. As the cattle fatteners take part in the competitions, they learn about the need to improve their animal management practices and the farmer-to-farmer learning and competition to meet quality standards is also increasing demand for inputs and services.

As a result, the fairs have had wide-ranging effects as compared to training which has limited effects. This suggests that the public extension service should integrate such institutional innovations to create opportunities for men and women smallholder farmers to engage in livestock value chains. Overall, the experience of cattle fattening fairs shows how significant changes can be achieved in livestock value chain development by properly identifying key leverage points and solving critical challenges, such as market linkage facilitation.

But the opportunity to establish market linkages and exchange ideas should be the driving force for cattle fatteners and livestock traders to participate and finance such fairs. At the same time, organizers and stakeholders taking part in such events need to agree on and adopt quality standards. Such standards can inform the public extension service and empower cattle fatteners with the appropriate knowledge and skills in improved cattle fattening. Also, wider success of the initiative will require involvement of private sector actors, such as cattle fattening cooperatives, beef meat boards and association of abattoirs.

Editing by Paul Karaimu.

By Ephrem Tesema and Mesfin Tefera

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.