Livestock stakeholder group in Ada’a, Ethiopia builds momentum

Three years ago when we set up stakeholder groups to work together on fodder/livestock issues in Ethiopia, we were worried about the sustainability question. Who would facilitate such groups after our Fodder Adoption Project and the Improving Productivity and Market Success projects phased out? With this in mind, this year we devolved facilitation of the … Continue reading →

Using participatory video with farmers in Ethiopia: Strengths and weaknesses

Earlier this year, Beth Cullen was commissioned to train farmers in participatory video (PV) – as a tool for capturing community views and perceptions on their collaboration with the Fodder Adoption Project over the last 3 years. More information on her work is here. She recently submitted a short report on the assignment, describing the … Continue reading →

Fodder adoption project in Ethiopia – community video tells farmers’ story

As part of the reporting on the Fodder Adoption Project, ILRI commissioned Beth Cullen to train farmers in one of the project sites in participatory video. So they can tell their side of the project story. This film was planned and filmed by project participants from Mieso woreda, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. More on Beth Cullen’s … Continue reading →

Final meeting of the Fodder Adoption Project in November 2010

The Fodder Adoption Project is drawing to a close at the end of 2010. Next week (15-19 Nov, 2010) we will hold our final co-ordination meeting in Laos PDR to review research findings and draw out some lessons. Some 30 participants from around the world will participate. As well as reviewing FAP we have also … Continue reading →

Fourth Ethiopia fodder roundtable focused on delivery of livestock services

On 22 june 2010, ILRI hosted the fourth in a series of Ethiopia fodder roundtables that bring different actors together to share knowledge on developments in the sector. We caught up on video with some of the participants: Amanuel Assefa from Agri Service Ethiopia explains how this NGO is supporting the development of community-based dairy … Continue reading →

Delivering AI services to Ethiopia’s livestock sector

The delivery of veterinary and artificial insemination (AI) services was a major focus of the ‘Fourth Ethiopian Fodder Roundtable’ held at ILRI on 22 June 2010 (the presentation by Kebebe Ergano explains how a project on animal feed and fodder came to be involved in the delivery of these types of services). Alemaheyu Lemma of … Continue reading →

How multi-stakeholder platforms help extend fodder options for livestock in Ethiopia

Speaking at the ‘Fourth Ethiopian Fodder Roundtable’ hosted by ILRI on 22 June, Kebebe Ergano of ILRI introduced the IFAD-Funded ‘Fodder Adoption Project’ (FAP) and how it uses multi-stakeholder platforms to bring together people working with livestock and fodder in Ethiopia. The project starting point is the recognition that feed/fodder scarcity is a major constraint … Continue reading →

High quality feed for livestock in Ethiopia – Some constraints

On 22 June 2010, ILRI hosted the ‘Fourth Ethiopian Fodder Roundtable’ on the effective delivery of input services to livestock development in the country. ILRI’s Alan Duncan kicked off the discussions with a reflection on the constraints facing the supply of high quality feed for livestock in Ethiopia. Among the constraints he identified: The overall … Continue reading →

Vietnam cattle marketing study shows benefits of embedding forage development within a larger market context

Although feed is a major constraint in smallholder systems, upgrading of feed resources is often driven by enhanced market access for livestock products. In one of our sites in Vietnam, intensive grass production for stall feeding to cattle has taken off in a big way. In part, this has been driven by enhanced access to … Continue reading →

Fodder fact sheets for Ethiopia

In our sites in Ethiopia we find a knowledge gap when it comes to growing high quality fodder. Livestock in Ethiopia are largely kept for subsistence purposes and there is limited tradition of using high quality feeds to enhance productivity. As systems intensify, this is changing but there is a need for provision of simple … Continue reading →