Keith Sones writes… As part of my support to the FAP end-of-project meeting I was asked to synthesise the outputs of the one-day mini symposium on ‘feeds in smallholder systems‘, held on 18 November as part of the wider meeting. The process for the mini symposium was innovative and useful (and one I plan to … Continue reading
This week, we were brainstorming – over dinner – with a group of livestock/feed enthusiasts attending the final meeting of the Fodder Adoption Project. How might we mobilize the scattered expertise and enthusiasms of forage and fodder (and related crop and livestock) people in the CGIAR and worldwide to focus attention on livestock feeding as … Continue reading
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
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
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
Forage seed supply is often raised as a key constraint to introduction of high quality forage in the smallholder systems we work in in Ethiopia. There is limited tradition of growing planted fodder and knowledge around the area of seed production and storage is rather limited. We recently organized and ran a short course on … Continue reading
Feeding innovation 