Tools for livestock feed assessment – lessons from ELF and QuickFeed projects

Earlier this year, ILRI joined national and international partners in two ‘feed assessment’ projects in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Livestock Feeds project (funded by ACIAR) and the ‘QuickFeed‘ early win project of the Africa RISING program both set out to  test a suite of rapid diagnosis tools to identify promising feed and fodder interventions. At the … Continue reading →

Fodder and feed in livestock value chains in Ethiopia – reports available

Three reports from the six-month ‘Fodder and feed in livestock value chains in Ethiopia – trends and prospects’ project were recently produced by ILRI. The project was led by ILRI and involved the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research, the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute and the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas. The … Continue reading →

MilkIT India advisory council reviews project plans, sites, partners

On 1 June, members of the MilkIT project advisory council held their first meeting in Dehradun. Nils Teufel of the International Livestock Research Institute introduced the project and its intended activities. View the presentation:   The subsequent question and answer session generated lively exchanges; the main questions – with answers – included: 1. What is … Continue reading →

Successful feed interventions are all about context: Ethiopian Livestock Feeds (ELF) project synthesis workshop reflection

On 28-29 May we wrapped up the Ethiopian Livestock Feeds Project with a synthesis workshop in Addis Ababa. This brought together the whole project team, the core of which  were colleagues from Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute. We have been working together on refining various tools including FEAST, Techfit and … Continue reading →

Project team gathers in Tanga to kick-start MilkIT project

On 24-25 April scientists from India and Tanzania gathered in Tanga, Tanzania for the inception meeting of the IFAD-funded MilkIT project. The project is implemented by ILRI and CIAT are a major partner. This was the first opportunity for the whole project team to get together, familiarize themselves with the project and begin to develop … Continue reading →

Synthesis of fodder innovation approaches published

Seife Ayele, formerly of the International Livestock Research Institute, conducted a synthesis study of “fodder innovation approaches” across the three countries where the Fodder Adoption Project based its activities. The work has now been published in Science and Public Policy and can be accessed here. The study concludes: … fodder innovation can be successfully triggered … Continue reading →

Understanding livelihood constraints to better target livestock feed interventions – the Africa RISING Quick Feed Project

Uptake of improved feeding strategies to support market-oriented livestock production does not happen readily in the Ethiopian Highlands. Livestock tend to be fed opportunistically with what is available and a large proportion of the diet is composed of low quality material such as crop residues. There are many valid reasons for this. See for example … Continue reading →

Australia funds scoping study on feed in livestock value chains in Ethiopia

There is a lot happening in the area of feeds for livestock value chains in Ethiopia at the moment. A number of new livestock research for development initiatives are on the horizon including: The Gates Foundation-funded East Africa Dairy Development Project extending its activities into Ethiopia The CIDA-funded LIVES programme The multi-donor Agricultural Growth Programme … Continue reading →

Inception of a new project on livestock feed development for dairy value chains in India and Tanzania

Following completion of the IFAD-funded Fodder Adoption Project, IFAD recently agreed to fund a further project on feed enhancement for dairy value chains in India and Tanzania. The project will be implemented by ILRI with CIAT as a major partner. We are calling the project MilkIT (Milk in India and Tanzania) and the grant agreement … Continue reading →

Innovation, scaling out and market development: Fodder adoption project synthesis report

Under the title ‘Enhancing Livelihoods of Poor Livestock Keepers through Increased Use of Fodder’, the goal of this IFAD-funded Programme was to improve the livelihoods of poor livestock keepers in Ethiopia, Syria and Vietnam in a sustainable manner through increased access to and adoption of fodder interventions. With activities in Ethiopia, Syria and Vietnam and … Continue reading →